Can BB guns be shipped via USPS or FedEx without using an FFL?

[SwampDude]

I'm buying a Daisy BB gun on line from an individual. Can it be shipped to me in Indiana without involving an FFL to receive the air gun for me? My hope is that the firearm rules don't apply to BB guns designed for kids.

 

[Bigtanker]

Yes.

For what it's worth, muzzle loaders can be shipped sans a FFL also.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Another yes. Since you dont have to fill out the 4473 to buy one, and you can buy one on Amazon, etc. There is no difference between private parties. Its not a firearm.

 

[Mgderf]

No federal or state (Indiana) laws prohibiting such a sale.
Local municipality may be another matter.

I did once buy a Daisy Red Rider BB gun from someone on GunBroker.
It was used, and the price was right. For $25 I thought it was a deal, so I bid and won.
Then the seller tells me he will ONLY ship to an FFL.
He wants to ship it overnight, and charge me $65 to do so.
I told him I would rather take a non-paying bidder hit than to pay that asinine shipping.

I told him there was no law governing BB guns. He argued that it was his butt, and he would not ship a "dangerous weapon" to anyone other than an FFL.
I got a local FFL to send the guy his info. and told the seller I would NOT pay overnight shipping.
He finally agreed to ship it for $20, but it still had to go to an FFL.

That FFL still tells people about my "dangerous weapons" purchase, and this was 8 years ago!

You shouldn't have any problems, unless you bought from the same seller I did.

 

[Topshot]

About the only issue with transporting/shipping air-powered firearms is when flying to another country on an airline that may consider it a firearm. I thought I was making my life easier when I decided our team would only take our air rifles to Germany so I didn't have to deal with the firearm paperwork. Imagine my surprise when US Airways wouldn't let us take them because airline policy considered them firearms and to enter Germany with a "firearm" you needed to have all the paperwork. Even having them talk to the German consulate in Chicago did no good. It eventually did work out (they shipped them the next day), but added a whole lot of stress to the start of the trip.

 

[SwampDude]

No federal or state (Indiana) laws prohibiting such a sale.
Local municipality may be another matter.

I did once buy a Daisy Red Rider BB gun from someone on GunBroker.
It was used, and the price was right. For $25 I thought it was a deal, so I bid and won.
Then the seller tells me he will ONLY ship to an FFL.
He wants to ship it overnight, and charge me $65 to do so.
I told him I would rather take a non-paying bidder hit than to pay that asinine shipping.

I told him there was no law governing BB guns. He argued that it was his butt, and he would not ship a "dangerous weapon" to anyone other than an FFL.
I got a local FFL to send the guy his info. and told the seller I would NOT pay overnight shipping.
He finally agreed to ship it for $20, but it still had to go to an FFL.

That FFL still tells people about my "dangerous weapons" purchase, and this was 8 years ago!

You shouldn't have any problems, unless you bought from the same seller I did.

Thanks gents for your quick response. I'm an old peckerwood who is buying a Daisy BB gun like the one I hunted sparrows and starlings with 65 years ago as a small-town kid. Now I'll shoot chipmunks and house-destroying woodpeckers with a Daisy because my pellet gun isn't allowed.

 

[Hkindiana]

Now I'll shoot house-destroying woodpeckers with a Daisy because my pellet gun isn't allowed.

It is not a good idea to openly state illegal acts that you plan to do, on an open forum:

https://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/files/fw-Nuisance_Bird_Info_Woodpeckers.pdf