Disappeared, did it? Well maybe it went through UPS' Baltimore hub and Eric Bruneau found it.
UPS employee caught with stolen guns taped to his legs, police say
Caught stealing two, known to have stolen at least two more. And out on bond as we speak, because apparently stealing guns in Maryland isn't as bad as merely possessing a standard-capacity AR-15 magazine.
And there are a lot more Eric Bruneaus out there, folks. They work for UPS, Fed-Ex and the airlines. It's not uncommon for street gangs to have their members apply to be package handlers specifically to look for and steal firearms. And when they succeed, the carrier shrugs and sets new policies that just charge us more for "secure" shipping--while letting the same people handle them--and the Obama types blame you and I and the NRA.
This is why when I ship a gun, I try to do the following:
1. Don't use a gun-sized or gun-shaped box if possible. If it's a long gun, consider breaking it down and using a shorter, wider box. It it's a handgun, use a larger box that's harder for a thief to conceal, and use a ton of tape. They need to take your box to an out-of-the-way pace and cut your gun out of the box fast, and anything that you can do to make it harder, the better.
2. When shipping to an FFL, leave the word "gun" or "guns" out of the recipient's address. The thieves are looking for those, especially on gun-size boxes.
3. Tracking numbers and insurance. Always.
4. I personally send long guns via the post office. They won't take handguns or ammo, but their theft rates are less than UPS or Fed-Ex, both of whom often hire off the street.
5. When traveling with a long gun, consider shipping the gun separately via post office (or even UPS / Fed-Ex) instead of putting it in airline baggage. Most thefts by far come from airline workers, who are often screened even less than UPS hires.
You can't stop all of the Eric Bruneaus out there, folks, but you can lower his chances of getting your guns with a little forethought.
That's why we didn't even bother trying to ship our guns and ammo to Blogorado this year. I took over 10,000 rounds of ammo (mostly rimfire, for the benefit of those in the area who are still experiencing a .22LR drought) and ten guns. The cost of shipping all that would have been prohibitive, and the thought of trying to get it through the TSA at the airport, while funny, wouldn't have ended well.
ReplyDeleteWe ended up hiring a nice car and driving out. The cost of hiring it, fuel and hotels probably ended up balancing nicely with what we'd have paid for air fares plus shipping charges - and we got to see some nice stretches of country while we were at it.
Pfffft. No matter what you do, you aren't safe. Whatever happened to Charter Arms' loss during the NRA show this year? Never heard what happened to their four crates that went missing.
ReplyDeleteAnd I dread remembering what happened to a buddy moving households commercially. The assistant truck driver broke into the truck and stole a bunch of stuff, including some rare guns and personal items.
Wandering Neurons
Agree with both Peter and WN... sigh
ReplyDeleteYeah you can never completely avoid this threat. Having flown with checked firearms on more than a few occasions I can avoid the big pitfalls but there are always things you can't control. I use locked bags that are too big to conceal, too small to get noticed. Hard cases are made to look like well worn tool boxes. I avoid connections. My phone number is always on the outside so the TSA won't try to break the lock. Then you go to the counter and the yahoo checking you in Yells across the room, "This guy's gotta check his nine!"
ReplyDeleteAnd the bad part is all a crook has to do at an airport is put it on the wrong cart and tell his buddy which claim to check. Your gun can be out of the building before you even board the plane.