For a handgun they are not only doing a 4473, but also a MD 77R. That's a second form that comes with more liabilities and record keeping. Now they also have to store and be liable for that firearm for 7 or more days while you wait for approval. On top of that they have to navigate the many grey areas of the MSP handgun roster.
To give an example, every time a manufacturer introduces a new sub-model of an existing handgun, dealers are playing roulette whether or not the MSP will want it listed separately on the roster and if it's blanket covered by the broader model being listed. For instance Sig just came out with the Legion P320. So should that be good to go under the approved "P320 9mm" on the roster OR since it has a different sku the stock P320 that was approved by the board does it need to be added separately? The answer to that seems to vary from gun to gun with MSP.
I filled out my portion of the 77R online before I came into the store. Took them 2 minutes to do their portion after I gave them my application ID and PIN. Liabilities and record keeping? This is the digital age, are you saying it's difficult to save something to a hard drive? Because it's not.
I get it, 7 more days of storage. So yes, you need a big gun room.
And how is the dealer playing roulette with the handgun board? If someone ships in a gun that's not on the approved roster, won't the dealer just ship it back (then also charge you for this error) ?