Ups / ffl?

My wife stopped by a UPS place today to ship a firearm to a gunsmith for me. I wanted to pay the extra for insurance. When my wife asked for the insurance, the person behind the counter stated that he had to know what was in the package. After she told the person what I was shipping, they informed her without an FFL number they were unable to ship the package. Has anyone else ran into this?

Well, UPS allows shipping to dealers of handguns.

Odd that they require a FFL # ... maybe some local manager issue or UPS requirement that they never followed with me.

Easy to find the FFL # though ...

http://www.atf.gov/content/firearms/firearms-industry/listing-FFLs

has a listing over every ffl, sorted by state

Thank you for the link. I have no idea why they asked. Who needs to know what I am shipping anyways? I called the gunsmith and he gave me his FFL. He seemed confused as well. It got shipped, I just wanted to know if anyone else had this happen to them?

Both UPS and FedEx are known to limit shipping of firearms to their major hubs, and make it impossible to send firearms from a local storefront. You are required to inform the shipper that the item is a firearm but they are not allowed to mark the package in any way to show/suggest wthe contents are a firearm. I can't prove it but the notification requirement is probably to ensure that you use the "correct" shipping options (next day air/second day air) which is mostly for their tracking purposes to try and keep the package from going walkabout in transit.

As for requiring a FFL number, I wonder where they would put that info. Perhaps they put it in their administrative records "just in case" there is a question of the legality of shipping the firearm. But yet they historically ignore the "adult signature required" and leave the firearm being returned to you on the porch.

stay safe.

NM, mis-read the OP. My bad. Sorry.

OneForAll said:

My wife stopped by a UPS place today to ship a firearm to a gunsmith for me. I wanted to pay the extra for insurance. When my wife asked for the insurance, the person behind the counter stated that he had to know what was in the package. After she told the person what I was shipping, they informed her without an FFL number they were unable to ship the package. Has anyone else ran into this?

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I'm wondering why they asked what was in the package. Was the package addressed to the gunsmith's name or was it a business name (i.e. John's
Gunrepair)?

A few years back UPS shipments of 'olive oil' from Kali to Texas were typically nice bottles of red wine, truth be told...


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gutshot said:

The person that is insuring the contents wants to know what he is insuring! They also want to know that what you are shipping is legal. They don't want to become a party to a crime. Have you got any idea how many illegal substances are shipped by UPS or Fed Ex? They include illegal drugs, stolen property, flammable substances, explosives, dangerous chemicals, corrosives, noxious substances, compressed gases, live animals, body parts........ That's why they need to know what you are shipping.

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They usually ask, "Are you shipping anything breakable, flammable, explosive...?" I've never had them directly ask, "What are you shipping?"

Rich2279 said:

They usually ask, "Are you shipping anything breakable, flammable, explosive...?" I've never had them directly ask, "What are you shipping?"

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I have never had them not ask. It seems that is part of determining the rate and acceptability.

The last time I did this there was a section on the form that said "contents".