It's correct. The Trump Dept of Justice will not prosecute this although the typical commie states are appealing. Lots of backup Google it. The formal process is summarized below. As it says it will take a while but since the DOJ is not prosecuting, an individual can and should ship
Lawful gun owners may soon be able to ship pistols through the mail.
On Wednesday, the United States Postal Service (USPS) released a new proposed rule in the Federal Register that would reclassify handguns as “mailable” under its regulatory standards. The USPS said the change was necessary to conform with a recent Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel (OLC)
guidance that found the restrictions violated the Second Amendment.
“The Postal Service defers to OLC’s judgment as to the lawful scope of this criminal statute and worked in consultation with OLC to develop the proposed revisions to our mailability regulations,” an
unpublished version of the proposed rule reads. “The proposed revisions expand the scope of mailable firearms compared to the existing regulations by allowing lawful handguns to be mailed under the same terms and conditions as lawful rifles and shotguns.”
The proposed rule represents a victory for gun-rights advocates, who have been active both in challenging existing mailing restrictions in court and in pressuring the Trump Administration to do more to advance Second Amendment rights. In practical terms, it could soon make it easier for regular gun owners to transport the most commonly owned type of firearm.
For nearly a century, federal law has largely barred the mailing of handguns and other “concealable” firearms through the USPS for most citizens, with limited exceptions for law enforcement service or licensed dealers and manufacturers. Most private carriers, meanwhile, have since adopted their own policies of refusing to ship firearms for private citizens. That has left gun owners wishing to send and receive handguns reliant on licensed dealers to act as shipping middlemen, often for an additional fee.
Under the proposal, “lawful” handguns would be removed from those restrictions while other “concealable” firearms, such as those regulated under the National Firearms Act, would continue to be classified as “nonmailable” for non-authorized entities.
The proposed change comes after Gun Owners of America (GOA) challenged existing federal handgun mailing restrictions last July in a case called
Shreve v. USPS. Ben Sanderson, the group’s deputy director of federal affairs, told
The Reload that the proposed rule does not go far enough because it does not extend to short-barreled rifles or suppressors. He added that the group would continue pursuing its lawsuit.
“Gun Owners of America has only preliminarily reviewed the proposed rule, but we do not believe it delivers a full victory for the Second Amendment, as our lawsuit
Shreve v. USPS intends to,” he said. “This latest proposed USPS rule would allow handguns to be mailed through the postal service, but spins a complex web of regulations with which gun owners must comply.”
Six months after GOA’s suit was first filed, the Justice Department OLC issued a memorandum opinion that sided with the group’s position, at least as applied to handguns.
“Section 1715 of title 18, U.S. Code, is unconstitutional as applied to constitutionally protected firearms, including handguns, because it serves an illegitimate purpose and is inconsistent with the Nation’s tradition of firearm regulation,” Assistant Attorney General T. Elliot Gaiser wrote in
the January opinion. “The Department of Justice may not, consistent with the Constitution, enforce section 1715 with respect to constitutionally protected firearms.”
Gaiser’s opinion also honed in on the practical difficulties that current mailing restrictions can have on handgun owners, including possibly exposing them to legal jeopardy when they travel. He noted that somebody flying from California to Vermont with a properly stored and declared handgun, but who got diverted to New York City, could be arrested for illegal possession if they took possession of their checked luggage. He also said someone driving from Wisconsin to Michigan who stops in Chicago for two days with their gun could also face arrest since federal traveler’s protections only apply to continuous trips.
“In these cases (and many others like them), a person has no ability to travel with a firearm, leaving shipment of the handgun to a destination as the only viable method of transportation,” Gaiser wrote. “But the person cannot use a common or contract carrier to ship himself the handgun because, currently, the large common carriers that deliver parcels refuse to ship firearms for private citizens. And section 1715 forbids mailing the handgun. The Postal Service’s ban on mailing handguns thus stifles the legitimate transportation and carriage of handguns for self-defense or any other lawful purpose.”
The proposed rule is not yet a formal legal change. Once published, the USPS will first have to accept public comments on the proposal. The agency encouraged commenters to focus on implementation issues rather than on the legal merits of the rule change.
“As noted, the Postal Service defers to OLC’s judgment as to the lawful scope of this criminal statute and worked in consultation with OLC to develop the proposed revisions to our mailability regulations,” the proposal reads. “Comments regarding the merits of OLC’s opinion, including the scope of firearms that are mailable and nonmailable under the Second Amendment, are therefore outside the scope of this rulemaking. Comments on all other aspects of the proposed changes, and in particular the clarity and understandability for users of the mail, are appreciated.”
After the public comment period ends, the Postal Service will review and address the input it received before issuing a final rule with an effective date. The process will likely take months to complete.
