How to Mail Guns Without Breaking Federal Law

To mail a gun legally, a private owner ships it to a Federal Firearms Licensee in the recipient’s state, uses a carrier that matches the type of firearm (USPS for unloaded rifles and shotguns, a private carrier like UPS for handguns), and gives the carrier written notice that the package contains a firearm without any external marking that says so. Federal law routes almost every interstate transfer through an FFL, and violating the shipping rules can mean up to five years in federal prison.¹

Who You Can Legally Ship To

If you don’t hold a Federal Firearms License, you can ship a firearm you legally own to any FFL in any state. That’s the exception Congress carved out for individuals in 18 U.S.C. Chapter 44: you send it to a licensed dealer, manufacturer, or importer, and they run a background check through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System before releasing the firearm to the buyer.²³ This is the same mechanism behind every online firearm purchase.

What you cannot do is ship a firearm directly to another non-licensed individual in a different state. That’s an illegal interstate transfer, no matter how well-intentioned. Sending a rifle to your cousin across state lines instead of routing it through an FFL is a federal offense.

Within the same state, the federal rules loosen. USPS allows rifles and shotguns to be mailed intrastate without the FFL requirement, though your state may add its own restrictions. Check your state’s transfer laws before shipping, even for same-state transactions.

Handguns and Long Guns Follow Different Rules

This is where people get into trouble. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1715, handguns and any other firearm that can be concealed on a person are nonmailable through the U.S. Postal Service. The exceptions are shipments between licensed manufacturers, dealers, and importers for trade or repair, and shipments to certain law enforcement and military officers for official duty.⁴ A private individual who needs to ship a handgun cannot use USPS at all. Use a private carrier and work through an FFL.

Long guns are more flexible. Non-licensed individuals can mail unloaded rifles and shotguns through USPS to an FFL in any state, and within the same state USPS treats them as essentially unrestricted mail, subject to state law.⁵

A note on components: a frame or receiver is the serialized part and is legally the firearm itself, so it follows all the same rules as a complete gun. Barrels, slides, and triggers generally ship as unregulated parts.⁶ Antique firearms — those manufactured in or before 1898, plus certain replicas that don’t use modern ammunition — are largely exempt from the standard shipping restrictions.⁷

Which Carrier To Use

Each carrier layers its own policies on top of federal law, and picking the wrong one for your situation is a common mistake.

USPS

The Postal Service is usually the most accessible option for individuals shipping long guns. You can mail unloaded rifles and shotguns to an FFL in any state, and to any recipient within your own state (subject to state law).⁵ Handguns are off limits to non-licensees under 18 U.S.C. § 1715.⁴ Ammunition cannot be sent through USPS at all.

UPS

UPS accepts firearms only from federally licensed shippers who have signed an approved UPS firearms agreement. There’s one exception for private individuals: if an FFL provides you with a pre-paid return shipping label, you can pack the firearm yourself and drop it off at a UPS Customer Center or a UPS Store, or schedule a UPS pickup.⁸ This is the normal route when you’re sending a firearm to a manufacturer for warranty work.

Handguns shipped through UPS must go via Next Day Air service (Next Day Air Early, Next Day Air, or Next Day Air Saver). No ground shipping for handguns. Ammunition must ship in a separate package.⁸

FedEx

FedEx has the most restrictive policy of the three. Only customers holding an FFL who have signed a FedEx Firearms Shipping Compliance Agreement, along with federal, state, or local government agencies, can ship firearms through FedEx. Non-FFL individuals are not eligible, even with a return label.⁹ If a manufacturer needs you to return a firearm for repair and they use FedEx, the manufacturer’s FFL handles the shipping arrangement — check with them for their specific process.

Shipping a Firearm to Yourself

Federal law lets you ship a firearm to yourself in another state for hunting or any other lawful activity. You don’t need to route it through an FFL, because you’re not transferring ownership. The gun stays yours the whole time.

Address the package to yourself with an “in care of” line naming whoever will hold it at the destination, such as a hunting lodge or a friend’s house. Only you can open the package and take possession when it arrives. Nobody else at that address may open it or handle the firearm, even temporarily, which means you need to be physically present at the destination when the package arrives.⁵ USPS requires these self-addressed shipments to use a mail class that provides tracking and signature capture at delivery. Through USPS, this only works for long guns; a handgun to yourself has to go through a private carrier under that carrier’s FFL rules.

Packaging and Labeling

Every firearm shipped through any carrier must be completely unloaded. Check the chamber, check the magazine, check any other compartment, then check again. Engage the manual safety if the firearm has one. If it breaks down easily, disassembly makes the package more compact and less identifiable by shape.

Use a sturdy, plain outer box. New corrugated cardboard works well. The outside must give no indication that it contains a firearm: no brand stickers, no gun-shop tape, no return address that identifies a firearms retailer. Secure the firearm inside with bubble wrap, foam, or packing peanuts so it can’t shift. A hard-sided gun case inside the box adds another layer of protection. Include a copy of the recipient’s FFL inside the package; it’s not always legally required, but it helps the dealer match your package to an expected transfer.

When you ship through a private carrier, federal law requires you to give the carrier written notice that the package contains a firearm. The same statute prohibits any label, tag, or marking on the outside of the package that would indicate its contents.² You tell them at the counter; they note it internally. Nothing goes on the box.

Never leave a firearm package in a public drop box or unattended collection point. UPS requires firearm shipments to go through a scheduled pickup, an on-call pickup request, or a direct drop-off at a UPS Customer Center. Pre-labeled returns from an FFL can also go to a UPS Store.⁸ Get tracking. Declare the value for insurance. Both UPS and FedEx require an adult signature at delivery, and carriers set the age threshold at 21 in practice for firearm deliveries.

What the Receiving FFL Will Charge

When your package arrives, the receiving dealer charges a transfer fee for running the background check and handling the paperwork. Most dealers charge between $25 and $50 per firearm, with home-based FFLs sometimes as low as $15 and some urban shops over $100. NFA items like suppressors typically cost more. Some states add their own background check fees.

Call the receiving FFL before you ship. Confirm they’ll accept a transfer from a private individual (not all do — some only handle sales from their own inventory), verify the fee, and ask them to email or fax you a copy of their license to enclose in the package.

Penalties for Getting It Wrong

The consequences are federal criminal charges. A willful violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922, which includes shipping a firearm interstate to a non-licensee, failing to notify the carrier, or transferring without a background check, carries up to five years in federal prison, a fine, or both.¹ Mailing a handgun through USPS in violation of the postal nonmailability statute carries up to two years in prison, a fine, or both.⁴ If you ship a firearm across state lines knowing it will be used to commit a felony, the penalty rises to ten years.

These penalties apply even when the mistake is procedural rather than malicious. Shipping a handgun through USPS because you didn’t know it was restricted is still a federal offense. The “willful” standard in § 922 cases generally means you acted deliberately, not that you knew the specific law existed.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 924 – Penalties
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts
3
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Federal Firearms Licensee Quick Reference and Best Practices Guide
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1715 – Firearms as Nonmailable; Regulations
5
Postal Explorer. Publication 52 – Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail
6
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Final Rule 2021R-05F – Definition of Frame or Receiver and Identification of Firearms Overview
7
ATF eRegulations. 27 CFR 478.11 – Meaning of Terms
8
UPS. How To Ship Firearms
9
FedEx. How to Ship Firearms (U.S. Only)