Quoted:
I had a customer buy a gun. He wanted it shipped to an ffl. I send my copy of the ffl they send their copy back. I ALWAYS ship guns to the mailing address unless told otherwise. The mailing address is a po box.
The other ffl stated the gun is lost. I explained I mailed it to the po box address and always ship to the mailing address unless told to ship to the premise address.
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<----Home based FFL who uses a UPS box as his mailing address.
I've found that far more licensees want the firearm shipped to their premises address than mailing address. Those that don't (like me) make damn sure it obvious on our FFL of where to ship to.
What would you do?
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My first question is....how does that FFL know its lost? Second, how long has it been missing or when did tracking stop updating? USPS tracking was used to find Osama Bin Ladin, therefore it may take a while to update. USPS is going to tell you to give it X days before filing a claim.
What you can do right now:
1. Where does the tracking show it last? Contact that post office, tell them its a firearm and they need to let you know by this time tomorrow that they lost an assault weapon. It doesn't matter if it is or isn't an assault weapon.
2. Ask for the name and phone# of the USPS Postal Inspector office for that area.
3. Go to usps.com and send them a message telling them they lost a firearm shipment. That post office/distribution center/etc will now be getting messages of "what the hell happened?" from every direction.
4. Either party can file a claim for loss/damage/theft......but since the receiving dealer never received it, it falls on you. Buyer deserves to get what he paid for or a full refund.
5. Notify ATF the minute you think the gun really is lost. It most likely isn't "lost", just bouncing along from loading dock to loading dock.