Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 04:10:19 -0400 (EDT)
From: [B--dy--d] at [aol.com]
To: Multiple recipients of list <[n--b--n] at [Mainstream.net]>
Subject: Gun Shipping Pointers

    I received this in the mail. It contains pointers concerning the
shipment of firearms. I considered the information appropriate
to post to the list.

Regards,
Dennis Baron

Forwarded Mail

As a gun owner and an 11-year UPS driver, I get a lot of questions
from people regarding the safest way to ship and insure firearms
through UPS. Theft of firearms and other items by UPS employees,
though rare, unfortunately does occur but there are a lot of
surpisingly simple and inexpensive ways to virtually gurantee
that you wont be a victim. Please pass this information along to
anyone who may benefit from it.

There are 2 ways that things get stolen from UPS...pilfering and
overlabeling. Pilferers are mostly thieves of opportunity.
Handguns, jewelry, cameras and prescription narcotics are their
favorite targets because they are easily identifiable and can
quickly be shoved into a pocket or inside of a shirt due to the
SMALL SIZE of the packages they come in. The red and black "adult
signiature required" (ASR) labels that are legally required to be
on these package are often a dead giveaway.They are also called
"steal me stickers" by thieves. Since most UPS facilities are
fenced in and require employees belongings to be searched upon
exiting, the size of the item is critical. The BEST way to
protect your handgun is to simply put it in a big box. One
gunsmith on my route "disguises" his handguns by putting them in
used Amway boxes!! This works VERY well. Look at the box you are
shipping your handgun in...if you can stick it inside your pants
or under your shirt easily, it is vulnerable.

As far as the ASR labels go, you are required by law to have them
on firearms shipments. What many customers dont know, however, is
that they can get a more "discreet" ASR label that is
incorporated into the UPS tracking label. These are better
because the words "adult signiature required" are very small and
unnoticeable. More importantly, this barcode will electronically
"prompt" the driver at the other end to get a signiature...if he
accidentally tries to "release" the package on the customers
porch without getting a signiature he will be unable to do so
since the DIAD (that electronic clipboard that you sign) will
read the barcode and will force him to get a signiature in order
to complete the delivery. You can order these special tracking
labels through your Customer Service rep, or you can print them
yourself with the UPS shipping software.

Another more sophisticated method of theft is "overlabeling".
This involves several conspirators who plan ahead and may get
jobs at UPS for that very purpose. What they do is to print up a
bunch of fake labels, with generic barcodes and phony return
addresses, that are all addressed to a storage unit or apartment
that they have rented in advance. One or more employees who are
sorting and processing these packages will then slap the phony
label over the authentic one, and the package will then proceed
along its merry way to the "destination" where an unsuspecting
driver will deliver it to another accomplice who signs for it
using a fake name. This will go on for a week or so until the
thieves move on to another address to avoid suspicion. Since the
original barcode is covered up, it is impossible to even trace
these packages and they simply "vanish". The theives who do this
will also target handguns and jewelry, but since they arent
trying to sneak it past a guard they have the freedom to target
larger packages such as rifles, TV's and computers.

How do you avoid this? Its simple...put an address label on ALL 6
sides of the box. A package so labeled will be passed up by a
prospective thief, since he must now try to cover up 6 labels
instead of only one. This is too risky, since the areas where
these packages are sorted are often under electronic
surveillance.

If you are a gunsmith or store owner who ships UPS, and the
package you are shipping is worth over $1000, then inform the
driver who picks it up and have him initial the pickup record.
These "high value" packages are audited,segregated from other
packages, they are not sorted or run over conveyor belts, and
they are subject to a chain-of-custody type procedure that will
prevent their being stolen.

I feel 100% safe in saying that a handgun that is shipped in a
larger- than-normal box of good quality, with a discreet ASR
barcode and address labels on all 6 sides, will NEVER get stolen
or lost. Its an unfortunate that a few of the 16 million pieces a
day that we ship are in danger of being stolen, but if you take
these simple precautions you won't be a victim.