Dennis,
I have always thought they would accept firearms/long guns for ground delivery,in fact a friend who owns a gunshop switched over to them after UPS destroyed a gun stock on a Browning and would not pay.
I do wonder however if they have changed the policy as it now shows,and this is from their website;
"If your shipment contains firearms, select the Direct Signature Required or Adult Signature Required Delivery Signature Option, depending on the requirements of your shipment. See the Delivery Signature Options section for details. Firearms shipments are not eligible for signature release or indirect delivery.
Firearms must be shipped via FedEx Priority Overnight service. FedEx Express cannot ship or deliver firearms C.O.D. Firearms shipments cannot be placed in a FedEx Express Drop Box.
Upon presenting the package for shipment, the person tendering the shipment to FedEx Express is required to notify FedEx Express that the package contains a firearm. The outside of the package must not be marked, labeled or otherwise identify that the package contains a firearm."
I have been happy with USPS (registered0but it would be nice to have at least one other option that was safe and does not require overnight.
