I go to the local FED-EX station today to ship a long gun instate to someone I'm trading with and I even didn't seal the box in case they wanted to check to make sure there was no ammunition in it. The conversation goes like this:
fedex:are you shipping this ground?
me:yes
fedex:what are u shipping?
me:a rifle
fedex:is there any ammunition in the box or firearm?
me:no
fedex:are u a dealer?
me:no
fedex:are u sending this to a dealer?
me:no, its to an instate party
fedex:well I can't let you ship it then, one of you has to be a dealer.
me:is that fedex's rule or is that the law?
fedex:i think thats the law
me:OHIO law states that you can ship a firearm to another person in state without a federal firearms license.
fedex:let me check with someone(makes phone call)
fedex:you have to go to a dealer and they have to ship it for you, or you can contact a dealer and they can call in a pickup and fedex will come to your house and pick it up.
me:people ship firearms through fedex all the time, you dont have to be a dealer to ship it.
fedex:they are probably not declaring that it is a firearm. IF you ship it and lie about whats in the box you can get in big trouble.
me:OHIO law states that I can ship this to an instate party without being a dealer.
fedex:I'm sorry but you'll have to contact a dealer to ship this for you.


so thats what happened, has this ever happened to anyone else.I'm going to talk to a supervisor on monday and see where that gets me.

Why don't you ship it throught the post-office, cheaper than fedex and they will allow you to do it no problem.  If there is doubt they have the postal reg book there to look it up.

one of you has to be a dealer

That's their rule, not the law. UPS has an identical rule. The only penalties from violating it would at most be a suspension of your shipping priveleges with them. Big deal.

Why don't you ship it throught the post-office, cheaper than fedex and they will allow you to do it no problem. If there is doubt they have the postal reg book there to look it up.

Exactly. They are my exclusive long gun shipper of choice with no hassle and fast service.

Same thing happened to me in Kingsville TX.  I was shipping firearms addressed to myself as permitted by Federal law.  I contested the min-wage worker behind the counter and they called the regional manager.  They both said it was "the law" until I provided a copy of BATF regulations that I printed from the net.  They reversed their statement that it was "the law" and admitted it was just their policy only to ship to an FFL or from and FFL to and FFL.  I told them what I thought of their policy and left.