The Accurate Reloading Forums
Teaching a postal clerk
01 September 2009, 04:33
Duane WiebeTeaching a postal clerk
I atempted to ship two rifles, both Registered.
The clerk told me you can't register packages.....I don't make this up! then that the postal service could not ship guns.
Now sure enough, this got me just a little hostile, but damned if the postmaster didn't agree! Well, at least that's what the lunatic told me.
I went back to the shop and printed out 57 pages of postal regulations. clearly allowing the shipment of firearms.
Armed with this I went back to the post office and would you believe the idiot was "out to lunch" Appropriate!
Anyway, another clerk actually knew the regulations and the rifles were shipped, registered,...but I actually wasted five hours with this BS!
I don't expect a discussion...just wanted to impress on everyone...Don't let these bastards get by with ANYTHING!
PS a polite letter of complaint has been sent
01 September 2009, 04:39
meteThe future health care will be the same !

01 September 2009, 04:39
Dall85Duane,
Just be glad you don't get all the government you pay for! Dealing with the post office has caused high blood pressure and death in some folks1 Be careful, we need you!
Jim
01 September 2009, 05:38
Chuck1911....seems to be an epidemic. John (TOOMANYTOOLS) just went through this last week
Chuck
Chuck Warner
Pistolsmith
/
01 September 2009, 06:04
jeffeossoThanks Duane .. though he might have heard his boss's boss's boss doesn't like guns
01 September 2009, 06:11
ScrollcutterIt seems like I run into some BS of somekind everytime I go to the PO...very frustrating.
Roger Kehr
Kehr Engraving Company
(360)456-0831
01 September 2009, 06:28
butchlambertI have a good knowledgeable post office in both Rowlett and Quinlan, Tx.
Butch
01 September 2009, 06:30
jeffeossoapparently people believe if you say it enough, then it becomes true .. like ted k not being a drunken murderer, and michael jackson being a hero
01 September 2009, 06:32
MJinesquote:
Originally posted by Duane Wiebe:
I atempted to ship two rifles, both Registeredhave a small but concerning skin blemish checked by the doctor.
The clerkreceptionist told me you can't register packagessee the doctor for two months, he is fully booked.....I don't make this up! then that the register packageshealth committee would have to consider my request.
Now sure enough, this got me just a little hostile, but damned if the postmasterclinc manager didn't agree! Well, at least that's what the lunatic told me.
I went back to the shop and printed out 57 pages of postal regulationsmedical text discussing the need for prompt diagnosis and treatment. clearly allowing the shipment of firearmscalling out the need for immediate treatment.
Armed with this I went back to the post office clinic and would you believe the idiot was "out to lunch" Appropriate!
I don't expect a discussion...just wanted to impress on everyone...Don't let these bastards get by with ANYTHING!
PS a polite letter of complaint has been sent
. . . change the names, same crappy result.
Mike
01 September 2009, 06:34
fla3006I've had it happen too. I go to a different postal branch or come back at a different time and get a different clerk. And yes, wait til healthcare is delivered the same way.
NRA Life Member, Band of Bubbas Charter Member, PGCA, DRSS.
Shoot & hunt with vintage classics.
01 September 2009, 06:45
Duane WiebeSomeone posted that the postmaster made him unpack the rifle to check if unloaded...pure bullshit...all you gotta do is furnish an affidavit.
Fight back! or..shoot back first!
01 September 2009, 07:08
jeffeossoif the post master had it opened, he just violated several laws... MAIL TAMPERING .. being the first of many .
01 September 2009, 07:19
gunmakerAsk them to look into the camera and say it again.
Pretty funny (NOT!) to think that the persons that don't have a clue how to do their job can't be fired.
01 September 2009, 07:28
Toomany ToolsIt is posted clearly on the USPS website that the sender may be required to open the package in order for the postal office to verify the rifle or shotgun (no NFA) is unloaded. I seriously doubt the package were opened without the sender being present. I belive that would take a Federal search warrant.
John Farner
If you haven't, please join the NRA!
01 September 2009, 07:37
Nomo4meI think the USPS will view a polite letter of complaint not as a sign to improve training but rather as one indicating that guns are not worth all the hassle of accepting for transporting.
I would imagine that USPS will cease to accept gun packages from walk-in's within a few years.
01 September 2009, 08:02
kcstottI have had to explain the regs to UPS and the USPS both tried to argue and lost as I had a copy of the regs in my hand and showed them they were wrong right there and then. I also had to explain to them that a AIR PISTOL doesn't fall under the same regs as a Firearm. It amazes me that not only do they not know the regulations but they don't even know enough to go look it up and find out exactly what it is.
There is something wrong with this world when we just start assuming too much and taking things for face value. I would never trust someone to tell me the specs on a rifle off the top of their head. I would expect them to go grab a book and show me though. Which is the same that I do. I have a very extensive library of engineering and toolmaking reference books. And I use them. If i need to pull up a spec on something I can and do.
www.KLStottlemyer.comDeport the Homeless and Give the Illegals citizenship. AT LEAST THE ILLEGALS WILL WORK
01 September 2009, 08:21
ForrestBquote:
Originally posted by kcstott:
I have a very extensive library of engineering and toolmaking reference books. And I use them. If i need to pull up a spec on something I can and do.
You are clearly not qualified to work at the Post Office.
______________________________
"Truth is the daughter of time."
Francis Bacon
01 September 2009, 15:23
D HumbargerThank God our postal clerks are fine with guns as long as the rules are followed & yes they know the rules. Then again we are "rural" & they are all hunters too.
Doug Humbarger
NRA Life member
Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club 72'73.
Yankee Station
Try to look unimportant. Your enemy might be low on ammo.
01 September 2009, 15:30
Frank MartinezI have been asked on more than one occasion by different clerks to open a box to prove contents. I refuse to step out of line to do so and always turn to inform the people in line that the clerk is requiring me to do so because they don't believe honest citizens.
Really pisses the people in line off and I've heard more than one make a comment about it to the clerk. One clerk especially is an ass and I always think I should save up all my packages for tax day and then wait for his line to mail.
Frank
01 September 2009, 17:08
YaleDear Mr. Weibe:
Unfortunately, your experience in postal officials pushing back on firearms appears to be a state and/or locale specific problem.
Although I've never shipped a firearm, etc. from Philadelphia, here, a bit out of the main urban areas, the postal service vis a vis firearms is really non-chalant.
Its great that you had the printed out CFR on firearms for the postmaster at your branch to read.
What would be real fun is to bring in a local Federal District Court case or federal appellate decision for Washington state that is specific to your issue. Liberals hate it when judges rule against them!
Sincerely,
Chris Bemis
01 September 2009, 17:57
DMBDuane,
I went thru the same BS with local UPS drivers making up their own rules that rifles could not be shipped.
So, I drove 50 miles round trip to another UPS drop station and shipped the rifles.
01 September 2009, 18:10
fla3006quote:
Nomo4me: I would imagine that USPS will cease to accept gun packages from walk-in's within a few years.
Probably so.
NRA Life Member, Band of Bubbas Charter Member, PGCA, DRSS.
Shoot & hunt with vintage classics.
01 September 2009, 18:13
Dall85If members of Congress can't/won't read their own bills, what makes anyone think the enforcers will? Leadership by example appears prevalent in this case.
Jim
01 September 2009, 18:27
Masteriflemanquote:
apparently people believe if you say it enough, then it becomes true .. like ted k not being a drunken murderer, and michael jackson being a hero
AMEN!
"I ask, sir, what is the Militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effective way to enslave them" - George Mason, co-author of the Second Amendment during the Virginia convention to ratify the Constitution
01 September 2009, 18:55
VFR1Two of the clerks at my local PO are shooters/collectors. I open the action to show them it is not loaded, and off it goes. No questions asked. I live in an area with a large military presence, including AFSOC HQ, so the sight of firearms in a post office does not raise much of an eyebrow. Bob
01 September 2009, 19:32
gunmakerquote:
Originally posted by Duane Wiebe:
I actually wasted five hours with this BS!
Send the postmaster an invoice for your time.
01 September 2009, 19:50
Duane Wiebequote:
Originally posted by jeffeosso:
if the post master had it opened, he just violated several laws... MAIL TAMPERING .. being the first of many .
Actually, they ARE allowed to open the package to see if it's unloaded OR a statement from the shipper that it is uonloaded..."OR" is the part to remember
01 September 2009, 21:00
Doc224/375Duane Wiebe ; A subject I'm perhaps more familiar with than most .
My Wife works for the blasted USPS !. I can assure each and everyone of you who have posted here
the Quality of help ,lack of sufficient training has greatly contributed too the inept Idiots now being
employed at said facility .
I received a Rifle through my P O Box at the Post Office
From the Dept. of the Army !. U S
Government issued no less a few years back !. It was held at the Post Office inside their safe .
I received a note in my P O box asking I contact the clerk regarding this manner .
I presented the note signed and walk out the door with it !.
Any of you out there who received DCM or now CMP Rifles more than likely got them through the Postal Dept. .
Next time save the label from that shipment and ask a surly troublesome clerk
if they violated their own policy , when shipping Rifles out !. I can't wait to see the look on the
supervisors face , when the clerk tells their supervisor the U S Government made a huge mistake !.

As the supervisor mumbles under his or her breath " Yes when they hired you " !.

01 September 2009, 23:03
StonecreekI have had virtually the identical problem with the post office that Duane describes, and came to the identical resolution (but it only took thirty minutes and five supervisors in ascending order of authority). However, I have had the same, if not worse, problems with UPS and Fedex. FWIW, I've found the post office more responsive to my polite insistance than the private carriers.
02 September 2009, 01:43
Customstoxquote:
Originally posted by DMB:
Duane,
I went thru the same BS with local UPS drivers making up their own rules that rifles could not be shipped.
So, I drove 50 miles round trip to another UPS drop station and shipped the rifles.
DMB, actually you skated on that one. UPS regs do not allow you to ship a firearm from one of their drop stations. They also will not honor your insurace if you do send it from one. You have to got to one of their business centers (where all the trucks load each day).
02 September 2009, 03:11
DMBquote:
Originally posted by Customstox:
quote:
Originally posted by DMB:
Duane,
I went thru the same BS with local UPS drivers making up their own rules that rifles could not be shipped.
So, I drove 50 miles round trip to another UPS drop station and shipped the rifles.
DMB, actually you skated on that one. UPS regs do not allow you to ship a firearm from one of their drop stations. They also will not honor your insurace if you do send it from one. You have to got to one of their business centers (where all the trucks load each day).
I wasn't aware of that. I have shipped rifles for the last 13 years from our Grayling UPS Drop Station, and when the driver told me he wasn't allowed to take the rifle, I argued with him.
The guy at the Drop Station in Gaylord, 25 miles north of here, didn't even flinch when I told him I was shipping two rifles.
That's interesting.
Thanks for the clarification.
Don
02 September 2009, 03:18
kcstottquote:
Originally posted by ForrestB:
quote:
Originally posted by kcstott:
I have a very extensive library of engineering and toolmaking reference books. And I use them. If i need to pull up a spec on something I can and do.
You are clearly not qualified to work at the Post Office.
Yeah, I have a few to many brain cells

www.KLStottlemyer.comDeport the Homeless and Give the Illegals citizenship. AT LEAST THE ILLEGALS WILL WORK
02 September 2009, 03:35
srtraxI dont have any such problems as of yet. My postmaster is the wife of a good prairie dog hunting friend.

_____________________
Steve Traxson
02 September 2009, 04:46
flacoI know, I know.
I'm always the contrarian.
Our shop has good relations with both USPS--and let's hope these poor bastards keep their jobs, we need mail delivery (how will I pay my bills?)--and it's a thankless task.
Anyway, we ship FedEx Ground, and ship enough--knock on wood--to get a good discount. Yep, they hate to pay for damage.
Guess what?
We pack really well, and self insure.
Did I say we save a pile of money that way?
Vis a vis USPS, we don't much like waiting in line. My boss called the poor bastards and dressed them down for not having an internet compatible service.
They didn't know it, but they do.
We use a program called Rush Ship, and print out our own postage. With Signature Confirmation, no less.
Mainly, though, we don't ship firearms USPS.
Except to Alaska.
Then Priority has the best rates.
Most recently we sent a Biathlon rifle to some tiny Eskimo village, for their school district.
What could be better than a bunch of Eskimo kids on skinny skis, shooting biathlon?
I loved this.
flaco
N.B. I guess I should add that my boss is a dignified 6'5", gracious and intelligent, and the postal clerks like him.
Or those that express any emotion do.
LOL.
02 September 2009, 06:31
tin canquote:
-and let's hope these poor bastards keep their job
their
buy-out, OTOH, will be attractive, I'm sure...
quote:
and it's a thankless task
save for paid days off, benefits, and of course, ample retirement.
Taxpayer-provided.
jus' my .02
02 September 2009, 19:33
DManson"Civil Servant" & "Postal Worker"--two of the original oxymorons.
DManson
02 September 2009, 22:08
BohicaHey Duane!!
I had VERY much the same conversation so I printed out a sign for the office here in Coquille--It actually stayed posted on the door for a week before one of the functual idiots took it down!
"HIRE THE HANDICAPPED"
"THEY`RE FUN TO WATCH!"
The epidemic of stupidity runs deep here too.
Aloha, Mark
When the fear of death is no longer a concern----the Rules of War change!!
02 September 2009, 22:52
CAS IIDang, I must be the luckiest guy in the business. I have a great relationship with the ladies at the Post Office. All of them know what I do, all know the rules, and most of the time if there is a line they call me to the front to drop off my packages, because they know they are ready to go and have sufficient postage.
My carrier is even better. She also knows what I do (I've worked on her husband's guns) and she will call me on my cell if I am not around to receive a package.
Even UPS is good here, as the guys at the Service Center are both hunters and shooters, one of them even holds an FFL of his own. My two regular drivers are also both shooters, and have brought high value items to my office if I'm not home, just to save me the trip to the Service Center.
FedEx on the other hand, well they've left multiple rifles on the doorstep, and claim they left a $2000+ spotting scope that could never be found.
02 September 2009, 23:11
Doc224/375Again let me assure each and " EVERYONE " of you unless you're the post master or post master general !.
save for paid days off, benefits, and of course, ample retirement. This statement is BS !!!.

A postal clerk makes depending on when they were hired and pay scale steps , $12.50 - $22.50
They also pay a % of their wage for their health care ( No eyeglasses no dental ) .
Now the Juicy part ,the retirement Old contracts 2% per year so 30 years = 60% of salary . NO SS !.
They didn't pay into it !!!. Newer contracts SS and savings plans which employer matches up too 5% on any
" ONE Plan ". that 5% is Total not per year or weekly !!.
Now let us explore Police and Fire Politicians retirement ?. Fire Dept. How about up to 110% of their
highest averaged last 3 years of working pay ( Including over time holidays and such ) Sweet huh !!!.
Police and Fire averages 92 % of their highest salaries upon retirement which can occur after 50 !!!.
We all know what scum bag politicians get " FULL TILT BOGEY " after a single term !!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Keep it real !.

03 September 2009, 02:35
jsl3170does anyone have a link to the post office regs re firearms shipment?