UPS Will Ship Suppressors, Treat Them as Firearms

In a world growing ever more hostile towards liberty and the tools thereof, United Parcel Service (UPS) has taken a rare, though small, step away from the ridiculous, by reversing a decision regarding shipping of firearm sound suppressors, a.k.a. silencers.

Last month, we learned that UPS announced that, although they had heretofore only shipped suppressors from one Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) to another, they were going to cease even that service. In short, they refused to ship suppressors at all.

This sparked a bit of controversy, and UPS re-examined and changed its policies. Now, they will ship suppressors–but will treat them as firearms.

Suppressors are becoming ever more popular these days for a number of reasons.

Although the United States government has for decades taken the stance of requiring citizens to essentially beg and bribe them in order to stay out of jail for owning a silencer, the $200 fee associated with their ownership has become much more affordable in recent years, thanks to inflation. When that number was first plucked out of thin air in the 1930s, it was an exorbitant amount which meant two things: there was considerably more money for the Feds to waste, and silencer ownership was limited to the rich.

Also, the use of suppressors for hunting has become more acceptable and popular of late, and more and more states have made their use for hunting legal. This makes sense as it protects the hearing of hunters and reduces disturbance of nearby wildlife and people.

With the current sorta-kinda boom in suppressor popularity, there is money to be made for plenty of folks–including UPS. That may be one reason they reversed their stance; we don’t really know.

I do find it silly to treat a suppressor as if it were a firearm. On the other side of the coin, I believe both should be freely shipped and exchanged with no restrictions, and that would mean both would be treated the same. I guess I should have said I find it silly to place stiff restrictions on the shipment or transportation of silencers or firearms.

Many will disagree as they believe such restrictions magically make them safer.

At any rate, for details on their current requirements and restrictions you can examine UPS firearms & ammunition guidelines.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.