I let my import license expire when the UK changed the rules on shipping from using the Royal Post Office to air freight. That jumped the price way up.
It would be interesting to find out whether these are just (similar) national regulations, or whether an international accord of the IPU is behind it.
As to national regulations:
- I knew that in the USA, USPS did carry long arms as a common carrier, but generally not handguns (there ARE some very technical exceptions to that handgun prohibition, yes, and most postmasters are not aware of them). Very old US Americans (80 years plus, I guess) might still remember Railway Express.
- In Germany, DHL as successor to the former Deutsche Post, does not accept firearms from private customers, but only from business customer accounts. No international traffic whatsoever. Ammunition is often sent, but technically, it is interdicted merchandise.
