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Thread: Possible Sketchy Gun Shipment from Seller - Help Needed

  1. #1

    Possible Sketchy Gun Shipment from Seller - Help Needed

    Hi all,

    Sorry for making another thread in this forum but I'm kind of at a loss on what to do here. Last week, I bought a Glock 19 Gen 5 at a decent price from what I believe to be a private seller on Gunbroker. After I made payment, I contacted my FFL, got a copy of their FFL for shipment, and sent it to the seller so he could legally ship me the gun. The seller shipped the gun to my FFL; however, upon looking today, it looks like this individual sent it via UPS SurePost. I immediately sent the seller an email but he has not responded. The gun is set to be delivered to my FFL on Friday.

    My understanding is that UPS does not ship handguns via Ground or SurePost, only Next Day Air, and that not declaring a firearm for shipment is against federal law (photo attached). I'm not trying to get this individual in trouble and I'm not trying to overreact, but I'm simply not willing to risk getting myself in any trouble here. I'll gladly eat the ~$500 loss if necessary. Can anyone tell me how to proceed?

    I can't really imagine someone being stupid enough to throw a handgun in a box and ship it standard UPS Ground (or worse! SurePost!) but here we are. Any help is greatly appreciated.

    Note: I also realize there is a very real possibility I was scammed, which concerns me much less than an illegally shipped firearm tbh. I can handle a scam with my local bank, as I have a great relationship with them and they will chargeback the money for the purchase.
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    Last edited by Kirk; 03-28-2024 at 02:25 AM.

  2. #2
    Site Supporter 0ddl0t's Avatar
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    I don't see how it could possibly blow back on you so I would just wait and see if the ffl gets it to legally transfer to you.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by 0ddl0t View Post
    I don't see how it could possibly blow back on you so I would just wait and see if the ffl gets it to legally transfer to you.
    This is probably solid advice. I am probably overreacting. Just never dealt with this and don’t want to get into any trouble

  4. #4
    It will be fine. We get them delivered that way all the time. People are not supposed to do it that way but they do.... Tac Swap traders are typically the worst offenders.
    "So strong is this propensity of mankind, to fall into mutual animosities, that where no substantial occasion presents itself, the most frivolous and fanciful distinctions have been sufficient to kindle their unfriendly passions, and excite their most violent conflicts." - James Madison, Federalist No 10

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by rcbusmc24 View Post
    It will be fine. We get them delivered that way all the time. People are not supposed to do it that way but they do.... Tac Swap traders are typically the worst offenders.
    Awesome, thank you so much for this information. This definitely makes me feel better. The ATF document definitely had me thinking the worst.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by rcbusmc24 View Post
    It will be fine. We get them delivered that way all the time. People are not supposed to do it that way but they do.... Tac Swap traders are typically the worst offenders.
    Yep. My lgs has the same experience. That's on the sender and nobody else. Honest error. Let that dog continue to sleep.

  7. #7
    It's my understanding that it's not actually illegal to ship via ground if it's declared, it's just shipping company policy. That's what I was always told. The image you posted doesn't say a thing about mode of shipment.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Spartan1980 View Post
    It's my understanding that it's not actually illegal to ship via ground if it's declared, it's just shipping company policy. That's what I was always told. The image you posted doesn't say a thing about mode of shipment.
    To add onto that, I believe UPS and FedEx instituted that overnight shipping policy because they were having a problem with sticky fingered employees. Their “solution” was to keep the guns in their system for the shortest time possible and with the highest level of scrutiny and tracking, at the customer’s expense of course.
    It is not legal for a non-licensee to ship handguns via US mail. But my FFL sends them priority mail sometimes.


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  9. #9
    We (07 FFL/SOT) ship pistols and NFA overnight by UPS or FedEx or USPS priority. Long Guns typically go UPS ground. All labels are created and purchased through PirateShip.com. If we miss the UPS guy due to him dropping off earlier than we are ready to ship it out then we can drop off at the hub a several blocks away...since it already has a label on it all I have to do is hand it to the counter people, no questions ever get asked. Pirate ship is great for us becuase it is typically much cheaper and it will email the recipiant their tracking info so we do not have to deal with that.
    "So strong is this propensity of mankind, to fall into mutual animosities, that where no substantial occasion presents itself, the most frivolous and fanciful distinctions have been sufficient to kindle their unfriendly passions, and excite their most violent conflicts." - James Madison, Federalist No 10

  10. #10
    Member TGS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Spartan1980 View Post
    It's my understanding that it's not actually illegal to ship via ground if it's declared, it's just shipping company policy. That's what I was always told. The image you posted doesn't say a thing about mode of shipment.
    That's correct but also not what the OP is worried about. The shipper almost certainly did not declare the firearm to the carrier, which is the illegal part he got the vapors over.

    Of course, this isn't likely to be a big issue anyways because the ATF and Postal Inspectors have bigger fish to fry than joe shmoe who can't read and is otherwise not engaged in nefarious business. (note on the latter: contract carrier parcels touch the US mail system more than we typically imagine due to how intertwined the shipping industry is these days, giving Postal Inspectors jurisdiction when we wouldn't think).
    Last edited by TGS; 03-28-2024 at 10:30 AM.
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