Is a seller required to have a gun dealer ship their firearm?

Unless the receiving gun dealer only accepts shipments from other gun dealers (rare), private individuals can generally ship a gun directly to the receiving gun dealer. However, there are some nuances:

• Long guns can be shipped by private individuals via USPS, or via FedEx/UPS with the help of a gun dealer.
• Handguns CANNOT be shipped by private individuals via USPS, only via FedEx/UPS with the help of a gun dealer.

A gun dealer can help in one of two ways:

• A local gun dealer will generally perform a formal transfer and then ship for you.
• An internet gun dealer like ShipMyGun will generate your shipping label without performing a formal transfer or shipping for you. This is a hybrid approach where a gun dealer is involved but the individual is still the one shipping.

These shipping constraints are not about federal law, but rather about carrier and FFL policies. Learn more on our shipping guidance page.

Federal law does NOT prohibit

Federal law does NOT prohibit private individuals from shipping a firearm “to a resident of his or her or her own state or to a licensee in any state.”

Carriers mostly prohibit

FedEx and UPS prohibit individuals from shipping guns unless they are doing so under an FFL account like ShipMyGun. USPS prohibits individuals from shipping handguns, but accepts long guns.

Receiving gun dealers sometimes prohibit

Also, some FFLs have a policy of only accepting shipments that have been sent by other FFLs. GunTab considers it the buyer’s responsibility to confirm that the FFL they have selected will accept the shipment and conduct the transfer. GunTab will prompt the buyer to ask this question.