The USPS has announced that yes, you can ship handguns via the United States Postal Service. I’m still not convinced that you’ll want to, mind you, but like most gun rights supporters, that’s beside the point. The fact that a governmental entity, even a quasi-private one like USPS, is, in theory, restricted guns like that was always going to be a bad thing.
Now, the rules seem to be changing, and the NRA’s Frank Miniter asked whether or not they’ll actually allow it. Plus, there are other…obstacles.
While it’s still too early to tell just how well the USPS will adhere to its own policies on the topic, the benefits are going to be significant.
The USPS says it is deferring to the DOJ’s constitutional analysis. “The Postal Service defers to OLC’s judgment as to the lawful scope of this criminal statute,” the proposal states.
The restriction has long forced gun owners into costly workarounds, such as routing handguns through FFLs for interstate travel or repairs. This change would simply restore Second Amendment-protected rights to transport arms, just as Americans have historically been able to do—a protection articulated by the U.S. Supreme Court in the NRA-backed case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022).
Gun-control groups and anti-Second Amendment state attorneys general have pushed back. The state AGs for Delaware, New Jersey, and New York argue the 1927 law is a safeguard against firearms trafficking, though it is hard to fathom why a criminal who already cannot possess a gun would be stopped by a ban on mailing firearms.
So, as the DOJ has declined to defend the 1927 statute, the AGs of Delaware, New Jersey, and New York asked a judge overseeing a legal challenge to this change (Shreve v. U.S. Postal Service) to allow them to defend the statute. As this was being written, the judge had yet to decide whether to allow these states to defend the federal statute.
Those are the obstacles I was talking about.
What none of these people realize is that the rules don’t bypass federal law on shipping guns from one state to another. They still have to be sent to an FFL holder. It just means that I don’t have to go to the neighborhood gun store or pawn shop and get them to send it for me, which means it’s out of my control, and I have no idea when they’ll actually get around to mailing it out.
And, as noted, the benefits for gun owners are significant.
Practical implications for gun owners could be substantial. Law-abiding citizens might more easily ship handguns for repairs, inheritance, relocation, or sporting purposes without relying solely on private carriers, which maintain their own (often stricter) policies; of course, all shipments remain subject to federal state laws.
That last sentence is what every anti-gunner wants to ignore. They’re doing it willfully, most likely, because anyone with more than half a neuron inside their melon knows good and well that the USPS can’t just unilaterally change federal law. That’s not how it works. They might be shipping the guns, but the person receiving the package still has to be legally eligible to receive one shipped from out of state.
Knowing I can walk into the post office and ship a handgun to Arizona for a class is important, should I want to, you know, go to take a class in Arizona. From Georgia, that’s a hell of a drive. I’ve done it before, and while it’s a beautiful vacation, it’s a long way to go for a shooting course, only to have to drive back.
While anti-gunners are prattling on about gun trafficking rising with the rule change, the truth of the matter is that it’s likely to have zero impact on them. It’ll just help us.
Which is probably why these state AGs really have a problem with it.
Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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