sending a gun through the mail

[fuzznut]

My parents have moved out of their home in Florida and we have just sold their house. Unfortunately, when we moved them out, we forgot about a .22 pistol he had. We had a neighbor go over and retrieve the gun. Question is... can he simply mail it up to PA to us? It was originally ours, (purchased legally about 30 yrs ago) but was given to my father at some point over the years. It was never registered to him.

Thanks for any help you can give.
Fuzz

[Southwind]

Unfortunately, no it cannot go in the mail. Regardless of proof of ownership, any firearm being shipped must be shipped to a federal firearms liscensed dealer (FFL). The only shipping company that will ship a handgun is UPS, and they must ship handguns with overnight service. The person with the handgun must provide a copy of the FFL to UPS when shipping the gun. The only part I am not sure about is whether or not the receiving FFL requires the owner do another set of paperwork on the gun since it has never changed ownership. With shipping and the dealer's expenses you are looking at about $50-$75.

[donnie_19]

The other option is to ship it UPS and don't declare its contents. You aren't selling or transfering ownership. I have shipped several to my friend in Texas back and forth as he didn't want to check them to fly. No problems at all.

[fuzznut]

thanks for the information! Guess we'll have to have someone pick it up and get it to us.
Fuzz

[claybuster_aa]

Long guns yes, hand guns no. However, the neighbors could go into a gun shop and have them ship the gun to another gun shop in your area, in other words FFL to FFL...gun shop to gun shop. Drawback there is like someone already mentioned my it will involve paper work (registration) and probably a transfer fee. I think your best option like you already mentioned is have someone try to bring the gun to you in PA. If they get caught traveling across state lines with the gun you will probably lose it and they could get in some trouble. If they get caught in a state like NJ, they'll probably throw 'em in jail.