well, i'm not blond. i'm mostly gray and largely bald (and i didn't get to this point by being stupid) but i've bought quite a few from dealers. they've all arrived safely and all but one or at the most 2 were exactly as described if not better. i've taken to using gunbroker instead of wasting my money on consignment sales or taking a thrashing economically trying to sell them at gun shows and so far the 6-8 i've sold have all gotten there in perfect condition and not a single one has been rejected. and i can't drive from FW to seattle (the furthest sale) and back in a weekend and don't want to be in a car with anyone who tries.
i don't know what experiences you're using as a frame of reference but considering the thousands of guns going across the country by common carrier i doubt they're the norm. the horror stories stand out in everyone's mind, while the thousands of times things go right don't even get brought up.
