The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Conference Center > General Discussion Forum

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old January 5, 2013, 12:35 PM   #1
rptrower
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 5, 2008
Location: Mid Missouri
Posts: 211
ATF Background Check Delays

I recently ordered an AR Complete Lower which was delivered to my local FFL on Thursday. The FFL is a pawn shop which recently changed owners. I called late Thursday to check on the lower and the clerk told me they did not receive all the info they needed from the seller and it should be emailed to him on Friday. On Friday I called again and he indicated that he still did not have the info. I questioned him on what info he needed and he finally told me to come in Sat. to pick the lower. On arrival at the PS on Sat. the clerk said he was experiencing delays on calls to the ATF Background Check line for as long as an hour. He did not want to tie up his phone line for that long. He asked me to fill out the 1st page of the ATF Form and said he would call me when he received approval. Has anyone experienced delays on receiving ATF approval?
rptrower is offline  
Old January 5, 2013, 01:52 PM   #2
Skans
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 20, 2008
Posts: 11,132
At the gun show I just left, people were having to wait up to 4 hours to get processed and background checks approved.
Skans is offline  
Old January 5, 2013, 02:31 PM   #3
rptrower
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 5, 2008
Location: Mid Missouri
Posts: 211
I figured with the present high sales volume there would be delays. I may have to camp out at the pawn shop and hold the phone while they carry out their normal business.
rptrower is offline  
Old January 5, 2013, 02:36 PM   #4
BarryLee
Senior Member
 
Join Date: July 29, 2010
Location: The ATL (OTP)
Posts: 3,944
So, don’t some places use the internet to do the check? I wonder what is involved and why everyone would not use the internet instead of sitting on a phone.
__________________
A major source of objection to a free economy is precisely that it ... gives people what they want instead of what a particular group thinks they ought to want. Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.
- Milton Friedman
BarryLee is offline  
Old January 5, 2013, 02:56 PM   #5
ClydeFrog
Junior member
 
Join Date: May 1, 2010
Posts: 5,797
Huge sales & process times....

The US shooting sports(firearms) industry is going thru a huge upswing now & there are record sales. Many common items like spare magazines or ammunition are low or sold out on firearm/product websites.
Gun owners or new buyers need to wait & learn to accept these factors.
I've learned over the years that the shooting sports industry & the stores-companies are time not customer service based. The ammunition & firearms companies don't produce a lot of items & won't hire more staff/enlarge to meet the demands. If a shop or gun range doesn't have a product or item, they tell you to leave. It's not like TVs or cars or cell phones. Firearms & ammunition have legal requirements & restrictions put on them.
It's a annoying & hard to deal with but that's what it is today.
Clyde
ClydeFrog is offline  
Old January 5, 2013, 06:17 PM   #6
drail
Junior member
 
Join Date: February 2, 2008
Posts: 3,150
Way back in the mid 90s I was working at gun shows for a local dealer and the Illinois State Police started trying to shut down gun show sales by always having the excuse that their computers were temporarily "down" when we would call for a NICS check. But only on Saturdays and Sundays when the gun shows took place. On Monday morning they all miraculously started working again. Next weekend they would go down again. Uh huh. What're you gonna do?
drail is offline  
Old January 5, 2013, 06:34 PM   #7
Don P
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 17, 2005
Location: Swamp dweller
Posts: 6,187
Purchased a hand gun the other day and the check was done by computer and the reply was a done deal in less than 5 minutes. ATF does not do the back ground checks and has nothing to do with NICS. Sounds like your dealer is yanking your chain.
NICS is agency a FFL dealer calls when a firearm is being purchased and that is what you are buying.
__________________
NRA Life Member, NRA Chief Range Safety Officer, NRA Certified Pistol Instructor,, USPSA & Steel Challange NROI Range Officer,
ICORE Range Officer,
,MAG 40 Graduate
As you are, I once was, As I am, You will be.
Don P is offline  
Old January 5, 2013, 06:50 PM   #8
rebs
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 10, 2012
Posts: 3,881
NCIS checks are done with a fax machine at gander mountain
rebs is offline  
Old January 5, 2013, 09:33 PM   #9
dogtown tom
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 23, 2006
Location: Plano, Texas
Posts: 3,062
Quote:
rebs NCIS checks are done with a fax machine at gander mountain
Not FBI NICS checks.
FBI NICS are done only via telephone or through the Echeck (online).
__________________
Need a FFL in Dallas/Plano/Allen/Frisco/McKinney ? Just EMAIL me. $20 transfers ($10 for CHL, active military,police,fire or schoolteachers)

Plano, Texas...........the Gun Nut Capitol of Gun Culture, USA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pELwCqz2JfE
dogtown tom is offline  
Old January 5, 2013, 09:54 PM   #10
Tom Servo
Staff
 
Join Date: September 27, 2008
Location: Foothills of the Appalachians
Posts: 13,057
The NICS system has been pushed past capacity several times over the last few weeks. The Saturday before Christmas, we couldn't get through at all. There was actually a recording directing dealers to call back later.

There were also some ~60 minute delays today. It's just a function of drastically increased traffic.

Oh, and guys, the NICS system is run by the FBI, not the ATF.
__________________
Sometimes it’s nice not to destroy the world for a change.
--Randall Munroe
Tom Servo is offline  
Old January 6, 2013, 05:13 PM   #11
Mr.Scott
Member
 
Join Date: March 9, 2011
Posts: 55
Remember folks, the numbers reported are only for nics checks. Some states that issue chl/cwp don't require nics checks when purchasing.
I know it irks some people when I bye a gun and am out in the time it takes to fill out the 4473, yet they have to wait on a phone call.
Mr.Scott is offline  
Old January 6, 2013, 05:32 PM   #12
HiBC
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 13, 2006
Posts: 8,273
I have heard in Colorado the backlog is over 10,000 transactions and folks are having to wait a week or more for the background checks to clear.

BTW,that also applied to the Denver Tanner gun show.Funny,it made the news folks would have to make arrangements for later pickup,but we still get propaganda about loopholes.

Colorado Gov Hickenlooper is pushing a $10.50 background check fee to cover the costs incurred by the state for the background checks.

One of those permanent solutions to a temporary problem.I've not seen many fees that did not remain permanent and increase.

Better we should be patient.Maybe tell the Gov "no thanks,I'll wait"
HiBC is offline  
Old January 6, 2013, 06:25 PM   #13
Ken - Oh
Senior Member
 
Join Date: August 2, 2006
Posts: 280
Quote:
So, don’t some places use the internet to do the check? I wonder what is involved and why everyone would not use the internet instead of sitting on a phone.
My local FFL does. He took my driver's license and by the time I had the 4473 filled out, he had the approval done. My last purchase was a week after Sandy Hook and I was out of there in ten minutes including checking the gun and filling out the 4473.
__________________
"The more law-abiding people that have guns, the better off we are," Hamilton County [Cincinnati] Prosecutor Joe Deters said. "Because the bad guys always have guns, You look at these school shootings or church shootings, the ones that have been stopped, it was because someone there had a gun."

Last edited by Ken - Oh; January 6, 2013 at 07:14 PM.
Ken - Oh is offline  
Old January 6, 2013, 07:03 PM   #14
MagnumWill
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 18, 2009
Location: Central Colorado
Posts: 1,001
I got my wife's AR last Thursday in Colorado, and I submitted for the background check - on Dec. 20th. A whopping 336 hours. It was a real mess.
__________________
Those who hammer their swords into plow shares will plow for those who didn't...
MagnumWill is offline  
Old January 6, 2013, 07:11 PM   #15
jimbob86
Junior member
 
Join Date: October 4, 2007
Location: All the way to NEBRASKA
Posts: 8,722
Quote:
Remember folks, the numbers reported are only for nics checks. Some states that issue chl/cwp don't require nics checks when purchasing.
Quote:
Colorado Gov Hickenlooper is pushing a $10.50 background check fee to cover the costs incurred by the state for the background checks.
Sure is nice just showing the salesguy your Carry Permit so he can write the # down on the 4473....... pay and go. Y'all oughta fix that ..... call your state Reps: It would be a permanent fix to a recurring problem, and would not cost a penny.
jimbob86 is offline  
Old January 6, 2013, 08:18 PM   #16
Tom Servo
Staff
 
Join Date: September 27, 2008
Location: Foothills of the Appalachians
Posts: 13,057
Quote:
Some states that issue chl/cwp don't require nics checks when purchasing.
True, another factor is that a single NICS check can cover the purchase of several firearms.
__________________
Sometimes it’s nice not to destroy the world for a change.
--Randall Munroe
Tom Servo is offline  
Old January 7, 2013, 04:52 PM   #17
southjk
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 5, 2012
Location: Memphis
Posts: 468
I bought a M&P at my LGS on Dec 22 and the guy said they've been running slow on the background check and may take a few hours. Said he'd go to the back to get it started and then let me know. Came back in 5 minutes in shock that it was already approved. Good for me.
southjk is offline  
Old January 7, 2013, 11:41 PM   #18
dogtown tom
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 23, 2006
Location: Plano, Texas
Posts: 3,062
Quote:
HiBC ....Colorado Gov Hickenlooper is pushing a $10.50 background check fee to cover the costs incurred by the state for the background checks.
He might be interested to know the FBI NICS is a toll free call and a free service.
__________________
Need a FFL in Dallas/Plano/Allen/Frisco/McKinney ? Just EMAIL me. $20 transfers ($10 for CHL, active military,police,fire or schoolteachers)

Plano, Texas...........the Gun Nut Capitol of Gun Culture, USA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pELwCqz2JfE
dogtown tom is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:42 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.18104 seconds with 10 queries