Moving, shipping guns to myself

[45.308]

Moving this summer back to Alaska and need to ship my guns to myself and am finding it not as easy as I thought. FedEx and UPS will only ship to a FFL and USPS will not ship handguns. I know its done all the time so, anyone have any tips.

Thanks

 

[Bender]

Usps does ship handguns. I’ve done it myself.. but I wasn’t sending it to myself either. Lol.

 

[MtnCreek]

USPS only ships handguns from FFL's. Don't take handguns to USPS unless you're a dealer. If you get the wrong asshole they could make things bad for you.

 

[Fig]

Take the ferry!

 

[Bender]

USPS only ships handguns from FFL's. Don't take handguns to USPS unless you're a dealer. If you get the wrong asshole they could make things bad for you.

One of my good friends is a post man and he told me to take it directly to the post office, you just have to let them know upfront. I had zero issues. Make sure it’s already in the box and wrapped up obviously LOL

 

[MtnCreek]

One of my good friends is a post man and he told me to take it directly to the post office, you just have to let them know upfront. I had zero issues. Make sure it’s already in the box and wrapped up obviously LOL

So you fill out the form required for shipping a handgun via USPS attesting that you're a dealer or manufacturer?

This is bad info.

 

[powerspc]

Non-FFL's cannot ship a handgun through USPS, period. [18 U.S.C. 1715, 922(a)(5) and 922 (a)(2)(A); 27 CFR 478.31] You are committing a federal offense.

Shipping Firearms Without an FFL
For those of us who do not hold an FFL but want to mail a firearm, ATF terms us as nonlicensees. As a nonlicensee under basic federal law, your ability to mail a firearm through the U.S. Postal Service—USPS—without the involvement of an FFL is limited:

1. You can ship a firearm to yourself in a state where you plan “to hunt or engage in any other lawful activity.” You must address it to yourself “in care of” the out-of-state resident. Once it arrives, no one but you can take possession of or open the package, so you must be at the destination to receive it.
2. You can ship a firearm to another nonlicensed person in your state. While the post office will allow nonlicensees to mail long guns to other nonlicensees in the same state, it restricts its services for handguns and pistols to FFL holders. Nonlicensees who want to ship a handgun are limited to contract carriers, which—by the way—require that you ship the gun to or through an FFL holder.
3. You can ship a firearm to a person in another state only if you ship it to an FFL holder in the destination state. That is, if you wish to transfer a firearm to a nonlicensee who resides in another state, you must ship the gun to an FFL holder in your recipient’s state. The FFL holder will release the firearm to the person once they’ve completed the ATF Form 4473 and NICS background check. Even if you are shipping a gun for repair, if your gunsmith is out-of-state, they must either hold an FFL themselves or receive your gun through someone who does.

 

[Bender]

So you fill out the form required for shipping a handgun via USPS attesting that you're a dealer or manufacturer?

This is bad info.

Nope. I walked into the main post office and told them I just needed to ship the handgun. No paperwork to fill out. It was easy as pie.

 

[Bender]

I guess I got lucky. I walked in and shipped it. But it was going to an FFL. Maybe that was the difference

 

[MtnCreek]

Bender, Read up on shipping via USPS. Someone reading this could end up getting a year at club fed if they followed your advice.

 

[Redmanss]

Option 1: Take the ferry like Fig stated above.
Option 2: Contract with a shipping company licensed to transport restricted firearms through Canada.
Option 3: Fly.
Option 4: Use an FFL service.

If it were me, I'd probably use the ferry if I had five or more handguns, otherwise I'd cull the herd or store some with family CONUS. I would certainly contact a couple of the licensed moving companies for a quote though, especially if you have a large collection like some here do. But, as I'm sure you already know, there is nothing cheap about Alaska, including getting there with all your stuff.

 

[45.308]

Moving company is around 10K, don't have it. 2 different quotes.

Probably have to ship to FFL, thought this would be easy to ship my guns to me, they are mine.

 

[Rthur]

Mail the long guns take the pistols as checked baggage on the flight.

R

 

[MAGUA]

Use PODS www.pods.com/

 

[Redmanss]

Use PODS www.pods.com/

They don't go to Alaska, and U-Box (U-Haul's version) doesn't permit firearms. Any shipper has to be licensed to either bring the firearms through Canada, or they have to go via boat/air direct CONUS-AK.

I did a ton of planning for a move to AK when my lady was offered a job there, fortunately we ended up going to Wyoming instead and that move was easy. My plan was to take our firearms across via ferry since we would be taking the car anyhow, all the other alternatives were less than ideal. I never got a quote on shipping since she didn't accept the position, hearing $10K makes me even more glad we ended up where we did.

 

[Blackedout12v]

Moving company is around 10K, don't have it. 2 different quotes.

Probably have to ship to FFL, thought this would be easy to ship my guns to me, they are mine.

We'll hell, just ship them to me and I will pay the shipping, help you out a little. Seriously tho there is some good info in this thread and you brought up something I never even thought about. Hope you find a suitable solution.

 

[Frankly]

Just use FFLs and rest easy?

 

[Strykervet]

Mail the long guns take the pistols as checked baggage on the flight.

R

Well piss on that, take 'em ALL on the flight! I've flown with several firearms. It's not a big deal. That'd be the cheapest and least hassle I'd think. Of course it depends on the number and size... Ferry would be number two. Fucking with firearms and Canada isn't something I want to waste time dealing with, their red tape is just as bad as ours is.

 

[THEIS]

Hi,

@45.308 Are you all driving from lower 48 into Alaska?
If so, instead of spending the money shipping them from FFL to FFL, etc etc.....you can just utilize Canadian Non Resident Firearm Declaration at the border crossing and pass through Canada with your firearms.
Here is great article with respective links that may be helpful to you.
https://www.thoughtco.com/laws-for-taking-guns-into-canada-3321846
http://www.ezbordercrossing.com/the...ting-firearms/bringing-a-firearm-into-canada/
https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/de...g-or-transporting-personal-belongings-through

Sincerely,
Theis