Title 39 — Postal ServiceRelease 119-73
§3002 Nonmailable motor vehicle master keys
Title 39 › Part PART IV— - MAIL MATTER › Chapter CHAPTER 30— - NONMAILABLE MATTER › § 3002
Summary
You must not send through the mail a motor vehicle master key, anything used to make one (like a design, mold, or copy), or ads selling them. The Postal Service can allow exceptions to this rule when it thinks they are needed. motor vehicle master key — a key (not the carmaker’s original key, a replacement lock key, or an exact duplicate of those) that opens 2 or more different vehicle ignition, door, or trunk locks.
Full Legal Text
Title 39, §3002
Postal Service — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, any motor vehicle master key, any pattern, impression, or mold from which a motor vehicle master key may be made, or any advertisement for the sale of any such key, pattern, impression, or mold, is nonmailable matter and shall not be carried or delivered by mail.
(b)The Postal Service is authorized to make such exemptions from the provisions of subsection (a) of this section as it deems necessary.
(c)For the purposes of this section, “motor vehicle master key” means any key (other than the key furnished by the manufacturer with the motor vehicle, or the key furnished with a replacement lock, or any exact duplicate of such keys) designed to operate 2 or more motor vehicle ignition, door, or trunk locks of different combinations.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
Section effective July 1, 1971, pursuant to Resolution No. 71–9 of the Board of Governors. See section 15(a) of Pub. L. 91–375, set out as a note preceding section 101 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
39 U.S.C. § 3002
Title 39 — Postal Service
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73