For those of us who do not have an 01 Federal Firearm Dealer license,  the occasional shipping of a firearm has in the last year become considerably more complicated, particularly if the firearm is a handgun but for long guns as well if you prefer NOT to ship via the U.S. Postal Service. 

As a direct consequence of the late Biden Administration’s publicly stated direction to every federal agency to use its authority to strengthen gun controls, the two remaining commercial carriers who were willing to transport firearms for non-licensees, Federal Express and UPS, changed their policies.  Neither will accept any firearm from any non-licensee for shipment, nor will either accept any firearm for shipment from an 01 Dealer or 03 Collector unless they have a contract signed in favor of the carrier indemnifying the carrier and containing certain other provisions.  

Here’s the catch, at least in the case of UPS.  I have a C&R 03 license so, according to the information published on Big Brown’s Website, I am eligible to contract with UPS to ship a firearm if I sign their contract.  After considerable time and effort trying to do just that, I’ve learned some interesting things:

1. I have a MyUPS account, available through online application,  and have shipped Restricted Items (limited quantities of live ammunition) using this account to buy UPS Ground shipping, insurance, and a required pickup fee.  However, that account does not have an account number. Without an account with an account NUMBER, you cannot even get a look at the firearm shipping contract.  

2. You cannot apply for a NUMBERED account online. There is no contact information online or any other way to contact anyone at UPS except by a single Customer Service number. If you call that number, you will eventually speak with someone whose English is, to be generous, difficult to understand. Given time and effort, I was able to convey my desire to apply for a NUMBERED account so I could then sign a firearms shipping contract with UPS. 

3.  I was told the only way I could apply for a NUMBERED account was to give the Customer Service person with whom I was speaking my contact information and what it was I wanted. Then, someone from UPS who could help me would call be back THE NEXT DAY. 

4. The next day never came.  It has become painfully clear that UPS wants only to deal with high volume customers of their choosing – although how the aspiring English speaker could determine how much I intended to ship, which we never discussed, I cannot fathom.  

5. I’d given up on shipping a firearm via UPS until I saw something from Gunbroker that as of the first of 2025 they’ve got a deal with UPS where any GB member can use the GB Shipping Tool to ship via UPS, whether they sold the gun on GB or not. And at a discounted rate. I think firearms have to go to an FFL, not a C&R, and there is some more fine print, but the shipping charge hits your monthly statement.  

HAS ANYBODY HAD EXPERIENCE DOING THIS WITH GB?