Article Info
USPS Proposes Mailing Handguns Rule
| Scope | |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Federal |
| Impact | national |
| Key Entities | |
| Proposed the rule change to allow handgun mailing | U.S. Postal Service (USPS) |
| Issued January memo declaring 1927 handgun-mailing ban unconstitutional | DOJ Office of Legal Counsel |
| Tracks gun trafficking investigations; data cited in rule analysis | Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) |
| Currently the required intermediary for interstate firearms transfers | Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) |
| Legal Issues | |
| |
| What It Means | |
| |
| Timeline | |
| January 2025 | DOJ OLC memo declared 1927 handgun-mailing ban unconstitutional |
| 1927 | Federal law banning handgun shipments via USPS enacted |
| 2025 | USPS published proposed rule to allow handgun mailing and expand rifle/shotgun mailing terms |
| Related Laws | |
USPS Proposes Mailing Handguns Rule
A century-old ban on mailing handguns may end — and the background check system that makes gun transfers safe would go with it
From The Boise Gun Club Handbook
The U.S. Postal Service wants to let people mail handguns for the first time since 1927, and the rule is messier than it sounds.
Driving the news: The DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel issued a memo in January declaring the 1927 federal handgun-mailing ban unconstitutional, and recommended USPS rewrite its regulations to match. USPS did exactly that — and went further.
Catch up quick:
- Federal law has barred handgun shipments through USPS since 1927
- Rifles and shotguns are already mailable, but only to people who can legally possess them or to FFLs in other states
- Private carriers (FedEx, UPS) only accept firearms from licensed dealers — who must run background checks on the receiving end
That last point is the one worth sitting with. The current system routes transfers through FFLs not just as a formality — it's the mechanism that requires a background check and creates a paper trail for crime gun tracing. The USPS proposal doesn't replicate any of that.
The fine print: The proposed rule allows unlicensed individuals to mail handguns, rifles, or shotguns to themselves or another person in another state for "lawful activities." No FFL required. No background check on the recipient. No log entry. The phrase "or another person" is doing a lot of work in that sentence.
By the numbers:
- 4,082 gun trafficking investigations by ATF between 2017–2021 where transportation method was identified
- 179 (4.4%) involved private common carriers
- 131 (3.2%) involved the U.S. mail — under the existing, more restrictive system
Reality check: This isn't a win for law-abiding gun owners trying to ship a pistol to themselves before a hunting trip. That's a narrow use case. The real impact is structural: it creates a channel where no background check is required and no record exists. Straw purchasers don't need a sophisticated operation — they need a USPS account and an address.
What Idaho owners should know: Nothing in this rule gives you rights you don't already have. You can transfer firearms through licensed dealers now. What changes is the ability to bypass that system entirely — which, if it goes bad, tends to make life harder for everyone who follows the rules.
What to watch: The proposed rule is in a comment period. It is not final. If you have opinions about it — in either direction — that's the time and place to make them. ATF and Congress will both be watching how USPS responds to public input before any implementation moves forward.
The bottom line: The existing system isn't perfect, but it works because FFLs are the chokepoint. Remove the chokepoint, and you've removed the system.
- Phils Custom Handloads(Swartz Creek, MI)
- Gls Guns(Sumner, IA)
- J & L Gunsmithing(Chesapeake, VA)
- Oliver Firearms(Spartanburg, SC)
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