Shipping a firearm to MYSELF?

**fistv** · October 29th, 2008, 01:53 PM

When I was stationed at willow grove on shore duty I bought a .380 from Edlemans, all I needed was a letter signed by my CO at time of purchase. At the time my home of record was NJ. I also bought a 1911 while I was stationed at the sub base in pearl harbor the year before.
Back in the 70's the PX's used to sell guns, hand guns too, the states did not get in the picture at all, in fact you could order them thru the PX catalog and pick up at the nearest PX with that letter from your CO saying it was OK.

**bigbear** · October 29th, 2008, 02:35 PM

Okay, different situation. Say I have to make an emergency flight due to illness, etc. Could I UPS/FedEx a handgun to myself in another state? How about ammo?

**knight0334** · October 29th, 2008, 03:20 PM

Handgun yes, ammo yes - so long as both are legal to possess in the receiving state.

**Xringshooter** · October 29th, 2008, 03:47 PM

As a military member stationed in PA you are considered a PA resident. As a military member stationed in PA, if your home of record in OR then you are also considered a resident of OR. So, in this case you can go home on leave (that's military for vacation) and buy a handgun there as long as you meet all of OR's requirements. You can then transport the gun with you back to PA. Flying with guns is not hard at all, there are several threads on the forum that will explain how to do it (or call the airline you are flying). Once you get back to PA you are legally allowed to purchase a handgun here if you like because you are assigned here on military orders. So this is one time that the military member makes out, legal residency in 2 states without having to own property in either.

**Huggy** · October 31st, 2008, 07:20 PM

Originally Posted by Pa. Patriot

Handguns:
If you purchase a handgun from, or while, out of state, it must be shipped to an FFL in your state of residence for transfer. So the answer is moot for handguns since you won't be able to take possession of one out of state.
But other than your scenario, handguns can be shipped to yourself via common carrier(no USPS) as long as it is legal to possess the handgun in the state your receiving it in.

Long guns.
These can be purchased out of state. They can be shipped to yourself in any state (again, providing they are legal to possess in the state). Long guns CAN be shipped USPS.

I ran into a problem with the long gun scenario in NC about a year ago.
I was interested in purchasing a rifle, and asked if there was any problem with it since I'm a PA resident, and I knew the handgun situation, but was unsure about long guns. The "ATF Queen" (as the other clerk refered to her) starts squawking at me for even attempting such a thing, like I'm trying to eat a baby or something, and then started yelling at another clerk for asking me if I needed any help after I walked away from her.
I was kinda irritated by the situation, so I went to a gun show the following week, and just asked around at different booths, and got a few "not a problem" responses, but mostly "I'm not sure".
After alot of searching, IIRC, NC has some kind of law about only buying or selling between states that share borders with NC. There was also something about PA allowing it's residents to purchase in any state, but since PA has PICS, it is a partial point of contact for NICS, and dealers in other states can't use PICS, or some such BS. I don't remember everything exactly, and I don't know how accurate it is, so please don't flame me for it.
I'll try to find the info again, and stupid me for not saving it.