USPS Proposes Allowing Mail Delivery of Handguns for First Time Since 1927

The United States Postal Service proposed a new rule last month that would allow anyone to mail concealable firearms like pistols and revolvers for the first time in nearly 100 years. Congress passed a law in 1927 barring the USPS from mailing such firearms unless they came from licensed dealers.

The postal service currently permits mailing of long-barreled rifles and shotguns if they are unloaded and securely packaged. The Department of Justice in January revisited the 1927 law, calling it unconstitutional and arguing that it violated the Second Amendment.

The Department of Justice said that as long as Congress chooses to run a parcel service, the Second Amendment precludes it from refusing to ship constitutionally protected firearms to and from law-abiding citizens, even if they are not licensed manufacturers or dealers.

It argued that the patchwork of state laws around guns makes it difficult to take them across state lines for lawful purposes like target shooting, hunting and self-defense.

Under the proposed rules, someone could sell and ship a gun to a person within state lines. For mailing guns across state lines, people could only mail it to themselves in the care of another person and would be required to open it themselves. The restrictions are designed to assist people who are traveling to another state where they might want to use a gun for recreation.

The Department of Justice said that in many cases, people have no ability to travel with a firearm, making mail the only viable method of transportation. Similar protections that apply to long guns would be in place for handguns, which have evolved since 1927.