I had to send out a package today. I ran low on boxes, so I used an old carton of winchester super speeds.
I get home, and I get a message on my machine.
"YOU NEED TO COME AND PICK UP YOUR PACKAGE. THIS IS ILLEGAL TO SHIP."
****** morons.
I get down there and figure it out. ORM-D box = freakout. Gun = freakout.
One of the people that work there was all like ITS ILLEGAL TO SHIP A GUN! Besides that, all guns should go NEXT DAY AIR. And you cant even ship a gun unless you're a dealer. Or its going to a dealer. Or its going to a manufacturer. And you have to label your box accordingly so that people know you're sending a gun and you're a dealer.
So, she went from...
It's illegal
It's illegal, but we'll ship it via our most expensive service
By shipping via our most expensive service, you're also acknowledging that you're a dealer/manufacturer/otherwise
You also have to label your box accordingly that you have a gun in it
Therefore, I've written a nicely worded letter to UPS....
Dear UPS:
My name is Mr X, and I have been a UPS customer for many years. I have not had any major issues with UPS, until recently. I am writing today to express my concern with the way an issue was handled with a package at the X UPS center on October 3, 2006. I had packaged an item for shipping, dropped it off to be billed to my account. I was shipping a firearm, and I received a call after I got home at about 8 in the evening that my package was deemed ?illegal to ship? and that I must come down to the center to pick it up right away.
Firstly, UPS has been my preferred shipper of choice and having shipped firearms via UPS before to dealers and manufacturers ? I knew this to be incorrect. If what had occurred was so illegal, I can?t help but wonder why local law enforcement wasn?t informed. The person who called me had used a tone of voice as if I were attempting to ship child pornography across the country. For the record, I?ve never shipped anything illegal via UPS, and if I had the need to send something illegal ? UPS would probably not be my first choice.
Eventually, the discussion progressed to ? firearms are shippable via UPS, but only via overnight service. Naturally, this raised an eyebrow of mine because the conversation went from ?this is illegal? to ??but we at UPS can accommodate this, provided it?s sent with a premium service? in a matter of seconds. I was then told that in order to ship firearms via UPS NDA ? I had to be a dealer, manufacturer, or industry related business and the package had to go TO a dealer, manufacturer, or industry related business and the package had to be marked as such. As you may or may not know, these statements are clearly incorrect ? as individuals or non-firearm related companies frequently ship firearms to other dealers or manufacturers without incident or exterior declarations of content.
I could go on about how the conversation began to deviate farther and farther from reality, except the message to come pick up my package had interrupted my rendezvous with a medium rare porterhouse. This letter should serve to exemplify some of the problems regarding shipping firearms or related politically incorrect items that many others and I have had throughout the years. I read and hear about many instances of people having problems attributed to shipping firearms because of incorrect information or a misinterpretation of policy them by counter personnel, which drives away business to competitors.
As a shareholder and a customer, I trust that there can be something learned from this experience, so as a courtesy ? I have enclosed my personal copy of the 2005 ATF Federal Firearms Regulations Reference guide so that your company can be as well versed as to the legalities of firearms law as I am. I look forward to hearing your response.
Sincerely,
DoU
And here's a picture of the package i'm sending them....via US Mail.
http://pics.apartment808.com/users/dukeofurl/IMG_7129.jpg
I get home, and I get a message on my machine.
"YOU NEED TO COME AND PICK UP YOUR PACKAGE. THIS IS ILLEGAL TO SHIP."
****** morons.
I get down there and figure it out. ORM-D box = freakout. Gun = freakout.
One of the people that work there was all like ITS ILLEGAL TO SHIP A GUN! Besides that, all guns should go NEXT DAY AIR. And you cant even ship a gun unless you're a dealer. Or its going to a dealer. Or its going to a manufacturer. And you have to label your box accordingly so that people know you're sending a gun and you're a dealer.
So, she went from...
It's illegal
It's illegal, but we'll ship it via our most expensive service
By shipping via our most expensive service, you're also acknowledging that you're a dealer/manufacturer/otherwise
You also have to label your box accordingly that you have a gun in it
Therefore, I've written a nicely worded letter to UPS....
Dear UPS:
My name is Mr X, and I have been a UPS customer for many years. I have not had any major issues with UPS, until recently. I am writing today to express my concern with the way an issue was handled with a package at the X UPS center on October 3, 2006. I had packaged an item for shipping, dropped it off to be billed to my account. I was shipping a firearm, and I received a call after I got home at about 8 in the evening that my package was deemed ?illegal to ship? and that I must come down to the center to pick it up right away.
Firstly, UPS has been my preferred shipper of choice and having shipped firearms via UPS before to dealers and manufacturers ? I knew this to be incorrect. If what had occurred was so illegal, I can?t help but wonder why local law enforcement wasn?t informed. The person who called me had used a tone of voice as if I were attempting to ship child pornography across the country. For the record, I?ve never shipped anything illegal via UPS, and if I had the need to send something illegal ? UPS would probably not be my first choice.
Eventually, the discussion progressed to ? firearms are shippable via UPS, but only via overnight service. Naturally, this raised an eyebrow of mine because the conversation went from ?this is illegal? to ??but we at UPS can accommodate this, provided it?s sent with a premium service? in a matter of seconds. I was then told that in order to ship firearms via UPS NDA ? I had to be a dealer, manufacturer, or industry related business and the package had to go TO a dealer, manufacturer, or industry related business and the package had to be marked as such. As you may or may not know, these statements are clearly incorrect ? as individuals or non-firearm related companies frequently ship firearms to other dealers or manufacturers without incident or exterior declarations of content.
I could go on about how the conversation began to deviate farther and farther from reality, except the message to come pick up my package had interrupted my rendezvous with a medium rare porterhouse. This letter should serve to exemplify some of the problems regarding shipping firearms or related politically incorrect items that many others and I have had throughout the years. I read and hear about many instances of people having problems attributed to shipping firearms because of incorrect information or a misinterpretation of policy them by counter personnel, which drives away business to competitors.
As a shareholder and a customer, I trust that there can be something learned from this experience, so as a courtesy ? I have enclosed my personal copy of the 2005 ATF Federal Firearms Regulations Reference guide so that your company can be as well versed as to the legalities of firearms law as I am. I look forward to hearing your response.
Sincerely,
DoU
And here's a picture of the package i'm sending them....via US Mail.
http://pics.apartment808.com/users/dukeofurl/IMG_7129.jpg