A small, family-owned firearms business in Columbus, Ohio, ran afoul of a rogue U.S. Postal Service worker who decided that she was not going to process their legal shipment of a firearm to an out-of-state buyer.
Why did she refuse to even touch the package? The postal worker claimed, "Because of my religious beliefs, I cannot process your package."
The details of the story:
Eric Delbert and his father Philip are part-time police officers and co-owners of LEPD Firearms & Range, a gun store and shooting range in Columbus. Both men hold the Federal Firearms Licenses (FFL) required to buy and sell guns locally and around the country. Last week, the Delberts sold a gun to a buyer in Kentucky and were doing what the law requires them to do in order to ship the purchase. The steps involved (according to Eric Delbert) include:
The buyer in the remote location selects a weapon for purchase and it is set to be shipped to a store or FFL dealer in the purchaser's area.
Shipping a weapon requires very specific paperwork be filled out, brought to the post office.
The shipper must attest to the fact that they have an FFL and fill out the appropriate forms before the package can be stamped by the clerk.
The weapon is shipped to the other licensed dealer where a background check will be performed.
The Delberts followed all of the legal requirements, prepared their package and dad Phillip took the box to a Columbus branch of the USPS. It was at the branch that Mr. Delbert encountered a postal clerk identified as "Juide." He showed her the box, and the already completed form. That's when she refused to touch the package and told Phillip, "Because of my religious beliefs, I cannot process your package."
The clerk instructed the elder Delbert to take his package and step aside to an unattended window. He did so, waiting for another clerk to come out from the back and help him.
No one came.
Delbert waited and waited as his son grew concerned and called his father on his cellphone to find out what was going on. Eric Delbert then called the station, managing to reach another person in the back of the branch. That postal worker came out and processed the order.
Following the incident, Eric Delbert reached out to TheBlaze. After verifying the incident happened, we tracked it all the way to the regional offices of the USPS. We spoke with postal representative David Van Allen who also investigated the claims.
A few hours after being contacted by TheBlaze, Van Allen told us that the incident had been confirmed and he admitted that "it never should have happened." We were told that the employee had been "talked to" and that "the situation will not be repeated." David Van Allen also offered a sincere apology to the Delberts, adding, that they should contact the manager of the local station for a personal apology.
Follow Mike Opelka on Twitter - @stuntbrain
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