Shipping pocket knives USPS illegal

Esav Benyamin said:
Well, who knows when locals make up their own rules.

Check James Todd's post # 9 above. First of all, it implicitly does allow shipping knives because it says they must be packaged to protect the sharp points and edges from cutting through the outer packaging during normal Postal Service handling.

Second, it implicitly provides for shipping switchblades since it says no marking of any kind that indicates the nature of the contents may be placed on the outside of any mailpiece containing a switchblade knife.

So either superseding regs have come out not reflected on the website or some yokel is playing games I would have taken him off the assignment for in my station.
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Those regs are from before 911. Since 911 things have changed.
 
So Customs is going to try to cut way down on the kinds of knives we can have, and the PO will only let us ship knives to each other with the fear of possible prosecution and relinquishment of loss/damage protection hanging over our heads. :rolleyes:

Love my country, hate the bureaucracy.
 
OliverH said:
I]Knives are on the "restricted article" list, so it looks like the regulations do leave room for local application of the regs. However, it still seems weird that they could claim that knives are per-se unmailable.
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Yes all knives are unmailiable to individuals unless it is a registered maker or manufacturer. So the post office they will not accept any knife shipped to an individual or between two private parties. . You must lie and say there is nothing hazerdous in the box.
 
jujigatame said:
So Customs is going to try to cut way down on the kinds of knives we can have, and the PO will only let us ship knives to each other with the fear of possible prosecution and relinquishment of loss/damage protection hanging over our heads. :rolleyes:

Love my country, hate the bureaucracy.
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Yes . Like I said. the same thing happened to my business when shipping snakes was not allowed. I can not even be registered to ship snakes. At least a manufacturer of knives can register to ship knives.
 
colubrid said:
Yes all knives are unmailiable to individuals unless it is a registered maker or manufacturer. So the post office they will not accept any knife shipped to an individual or between two private parties. . You must lie and say there is nothing hazardous in the box.
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Out of curiosity I called about 4 different local post offices and they all repeatably assured me that shipping pocket knives, sharp objects, machetes, razor blade sculptures, etc are NOT hazardous materials as long as they are packaged properly.
 
MikeH said:
Not only does my local post office know that I ship and receive knives regularly, but my lady mail carrier gets out of her car and carries the package to my front door because she knows I receive valuable collector knives.
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I used to ship snakes the same way. But now if I get caught i am responsible and violation of federal laws and the Lacy act.
 
Josh K said:
Out of curiosity I called about 4 different local post offices and they all repeatably assured me that shipping pocket knives, sharp objects, machetes, razor blade sculptures, etc are NOT hazardous materials as long as they are packaged properly.
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All you have to do is look at the the chart i posted. I can call post offices and they will tell me the same with Small harmless reptiles. It all depends on who you get. Unfortunatly this does not save you if a postal employee gave you the wrong information.

Don;'t forget this provision is new as it went into effect AFTER 911.
 
colubrid said:
All you have to do is look at the the chart i posted. I can call post offices and they will tell me the same with hamless reptiles. It all depends on who you get. Unfortunatly this does not save you if a postal employee gave you the wrong information.
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You, and your local PO's employee, are misreading that chart.
 
markksr said:
You, and your local PO, are misreading that chart.
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How is that?

I spoke to the postmaster and even recorded some of it. Do you want me to email it to you?

The conversation was pretty lengthy and pretty thorough. There is no doubt.

Where or what on the chart do you think is misleading?
 
colubrid said:
How is that?

I spoke to the postmaster and even recorded some of it. Do you want me to email it to you?

The conversation was pretty lengthy and pretty thorough. There is no doubt.

Where or what on the chart do you think is misleading?
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On that same chart (http://www.usps.com/cpim/ftp/posters/pos138/pos138_back.html), you will find several "N's" after "Handguns" (and "Illegal Drugs"), meaning that they are prohibited.

After "Knives", you will find several "Y's", and yet you are trying to convince us that this also somehow means prohibited...

I seriously doubt that "Y" and "N" mean the same thing on this chart...
 
markksr said:
On that same chart (http://www.usps.com/cpim/ftp/posters/pos138/pos138_back.html), you will find several "N's" after "handguns", meaning that they are prohibited.

After "Knives", you will find several "Y's", and yet you are trying to convince us that this also means prohibited...

I seriously doubt that "Y" and "N" mean the same thing on this chart...
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Ahh , I asked that same question. The "Y" means they are not completly restricted- as registered manufacturers can ship knives or You and I can ship to a manufacturer. The "N" mean under NO cicumstance can that item be shipped. Like snakes.

Read the full chart again. I posted pics of the top portion that explain that.
 
Man, I hope you have another PO near by. Yours sounds nuts,lol.

Shipped a knife this morning, and spoke with my post master about it. He said as long as the knife is packaged well it was no problem at all. He said he had just shipped one to a family member a few weeks ago.
 
markksr said:
On that same chart (http://www.usps.com/cpim/ftp/posters/pos138/pos138_back.html), you will find several "N's" after "Handguns" (and "Illegal Drugs"), meaning that they are prohibited.

After "Knives", you will find several "Y's", and yet you are trying to convince us that this also somehow means prohibited...

I seriously doubt that "Y" and "N" mean the same thing on this chart...
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If you read the link YOU POSTED, it shows that:

Taken from your link:

Sharp instruments Knives, razors, switchblades Y Y Y 601.11.5 44 601.11.5 Only if sent between authorized parties. International mail subject to ICL restrictions/ prohibitions.
 
Ken44 said:
Man, I hope you have another PO near by. Yours sounds nuts,lol.

Shipped a knife this morning, and spoke with my post master about it. He said as long as the knife is packaged well it was no problem at all. He said he had just shipped one to a family member a few weeks ago.
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Like I said before. I ship knives all the time with no problem.

I shipped snakes for many years under this same assumption. My post office knew what i was shipping. Until one person i sent a snake to made a complaint and all hell broke loose.
 
colubrid said:
Until one person i sent a snake to made a complaint and all hell broke loose.
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Maybe you shouldn't have shipped a snake to someone who wasn't expecting a snake.

And why would you ship a living creature through the mail? That seems soft of cruel.
 
Psychopomp said:
And why would you ship a living creature through the mail? That seems soft of cruel.
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Typical questions I would get on a different board. Kinda like going to a Snake forum and talking knves or guns. You will get these types of uniformed reflex responses and misconceptions und sometimes even facts and intelligent talks will not reverse somebodies mind. Like here:

http://fieldherpforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=18719&hilit=gun


i shipped thousands,,,THOUSANDS of snakes through overnight express. It get handled no differently than Fed Ex. Matter of fact Fed ex was hired out to handle express shipping for the USPS.

A small colubrid (ie ratsnake , kingsnake, milksnake ect) is only 8-10" and fits into a deli cup. That deli cup is packed tight (snake like tight places, colubrids are fossorial most of their lives) tape is put over it 9and yes it has holes) and that is placed into larger box that is insulated and also packed tight so the deli cup does not rattle or bounce around. There is zero sterss on the animal unless someone does not know how to package a snake. They are not like hamster or other warm blooded animals.

Today I use Fed Ex and they handle all boxes that ship overnight the same way that USPS does. No different..



Maybe you shouldn't have shipped a snake to someone who wasn't expecting a snake.
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And oh my. I would never send a $10,000. snake to someone for free. Would you would send a custom pcket knife to someone who is not expecting it?? LOL!...well you can with me , and I won't even report you, okay?

What i am saying is it only take a couple incidents to make it harder for this communirty and the laws rthe governing laws to keep knives. Right now there is new legislation for assist openers. It is just bad press for us to ship USPS.

Plus I am never shiiping knives with insurance again. That is all up to the buyer and if he wants to pay extra for Fed Ex or UPS PLUS insurance then fine.. That is what i did with snakes. i just passed the shipping costs to the buyer. But the care of shipping is the same wether it is USPS or UPS or any other private carrier.
 
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Knife Crazied said:
WOW some people really getting into it.
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I guess i should never have mentioned the snake. i have been a breeder for 40 years and am well known in this business. I have lots of experience shipping.

But back to the real topic which is knives ARE illegal to ship USPS.

I think it would be a good idea for this thread to be made a sticky.
 
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