Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 56F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph..

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 56F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.

TRAVERSE CITY — A gun was unable to be located by UPS on its way to another licensed dealership in Texas, according to a report from the Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Office. 

Lieutenant Brandon Brinks said the missing gun was a Colt 1911 that Fieldsport in Traverse City tried to ship to a customer in Texas earlier this week. According Brinks, the last known place of the firearm was at a UPS facility in Arlington, Texas. 

The sheriff's office said they have contacted UPS and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which are both conducting separate investigations. 

For Fieldsport, shipping firearms to other licensed dealers in different states is part of their normal business practice, store owner Bryan Bilinski explained. He said on average they ship firearms to approximately 75 percent of their customers because they specialize in high-end collectable rifles, shotguns and handguns.

"The customer bought this gun from us, and then we had to send it to a dealer of his choice in Texas," Bilinski said. "Then, about three days later he said, 'You know, where's the gun?'" 

The UPS website stated that firearms can only be shipped between licensed importers, manufacturers, dealers, collectors and government agencies. By law, Bilinski said because UPS was unable to locate the package, he needed to report the incident to his local sheriff's office. 

Since Bilinski reported the serial number of the missing firearm to deputies, they inputted it into the national Law Enforcement Information Network, also known as LEIN. If the gun turns out to be stolen, its serial number will appear in LEIN. 

This is the first time in Bilinski's 28 years of business that a firearms package has been misplaced by UPS. 

"This doesn't mean that this firearm has been stolen," he said. "It just means at this point, UPS can't locate it and they haven't delivered it to the dealer." 

Bilinski said firearms are packed in typical brown, rectangular boxes, like Amazon boxes, for shipment with UPS. He said the only way someone would know if a box contained a gun, is if they read the shipping label very carefully. 

"UPS has safety protocols in place to ensure the safe transport of firearms in our network," UPS Corporate Communications associate Michael Scott said in a statement to the Record-Eagle. "We work closely with our customers in these situations, but we don't share information about their deliveries." 

As of the afternoon of July 29, the investigation was still ongoing. 

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