Has anyone been having glitches with the NICS 4473 process lately?

PF Flyer · Mar 10, 2019

I'm frustrated and confused.

In early December of last year, I picked up a Remington 870, submitted the 4473, it flew through, and I walked out happy, total of half-an-hour. My first long gun purchase in a very, very, very long time.

On February 17th, I went back to pick up a Ruger 10/22 LR -- I'm an empty- nester, the kids are gone, so I have lots of time on my hands to get back to my hunting/shooting days.

It is now March 10th, 3 weeks in, and my NICS 4473 still comes back as "delayed." I don't get it. NOTHING happened between December and now, and I'm going into my 9th year as a Federal Government employee, and as a result have been security clearance vetted up the wazoo as a condition of my employment.

And I was price shopping so have been dealing with Dick's Sporting -- perhaps a mistake -- and they told me today that as a matter of corporate policy, they won't complete the transaction after a three business day delay per what I guess is the Brady Law and as is stated on the ATF's website. So now, my only option appears to be to wait the full 30 days before questioning the appeal, which means among other things, getting rolled fingerprints, and wait some more.

What the hell???

motorcoachdoug · Mar 10, 2019

First Problem was dealing with Dicks Sporting Goods... They are very much anti 2A and they will NEVER get a penny from me...

PF Flyer · Mar 10, 2019

Yeah, I'm learning the hard way from that mistake. When I pushed the manager on the "3 + delay good-to-go-rule," he responded "It's not just Dick's corporate policy, most all FFL's now won't complete the transaction that way." Is this true?

sxs · Mar 10, 2019

It's entirely possible that you were originally delayed due to your clearances. There is nothing that explicitly states this anywhere, but I gave noticed customers with clearances get further review far more frequently than others and some if those further reviews will turn into delays. That said, it is pissible someone with a similar name may have done something. It is also my experience that NICS usually does get back fairly quickly regarding a delay and virtually always before the release date. I've even had a retyrn response occur before the customer leaves our business. So it us possible Duck's simply failed to process the response to your original delay.

Niw you know why they are named Dicks.

JimB · Mar 10, 2019

Don’t give Dicks your money! They are DICKS!!

andy41567 · Mar 10, 2019

I regularly deal with one guy and have purchased many guns and parts from him with no problems! Then 3 weeks ago I go to purchase a shotgun he had on sale and I was delayed as well! First time in 23 years. It was only delayed 12 hours... I picked it up the next morning. No clue why. But was told it happens.

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danb · Mar 10, 2019

Dicks are dicks. Tell them to cancel.

Transactions can be delayed because someone with a silimar name got into trouble.

herkybird72 · Mar 10, 2019

Dick’s, the name says it all. Seriously, I don’t think saving few bucks is worth giving them any business. IMOP

fabsroman · Mar 10, 2019

Picked up a rifle last night and it went smooth.

You might want to ask some of the ISP gun dealers on here to see what they are seeing. My experience last night is not even close to a valid statistical sample. Now, if the gun dealers are seeing a lot more delays, then that will give you a better picture of it.

Not to beat a dead horse to death thrice, but I have not set foot into a Dick's since its policy change on "assault weapons" and a person having to be 21 to buy a firearm from it.

dblas · Mar 10, 2019

PFlyer said:
Yeah, I'm learning the hard way from that mistake. When I pushed the manager on the "3 + delay good-to-go-rule," he responded "It's not just Dick's corporate policy, most all FFL's now won't complete the transaction that way." Is this true?

That's BS.

madchestermonkey · Mar 11, 2019

I have posted on here before about my dicks experience, anyway long story short, I got delayed due to the kid screwing up the phone call with my info, I called NICS after about a week to see if I could get any information, went back to the store and demanded that they called to follow up. They were told that I had cleared the same day but no one at the store picked up. Last gun I ever bought there.

buellsfurn · Mar 16, 2019

was at my go to gun shop hang out today and noticed another delay for one of his customers last week the same thing .I asked is this happening more often haven't noticed it before .Three weeks back he got standard three day delay last week it was a five day delay meaning they tell him when it can be released today it was a seven day with a released date. something is going on

dblas · Mar 16, 2019

buellsfurn said:
was at my go to gun shop hang out today and noticed another delay for one of his customers last week the same thing .I asked is this happening more often haven't noticed it before .Three weeks back he got standard three day delay last week it was a five day delay meaning they tell him when it can be released today it was a seven day with a released date. something is going on

Under federal law, they CANNOT tell him when to release it if the NICS check is delayed, the federal law already states that. If a delayed comes back and NICS does not contact the dealer in three days, they can release the firearm at anytime after the three days. There is absolutely nothing in federal law or regulations that gives any federal LE agency the authority to tell a dealer they have to hold a firearm and can release it after x number of days.

lazarus · Mar 16, 2019

madchestermonkey said:
I have posted on here before about my dicks experience, anyway long story short, I got delayed due to the kid screwing up the phone call with my info, I called NICS after about a week to see if I could get any information, went back to the store and demanded that they called to follow up. They were told that I had cleared the same day but no one at the store picked up. Last gun I ever bought there.

Partly why I only shop at dedicated FFLs. I don’t like dealing with “corporate policy”. If an FFL won’t release after 3 days, that is totally up to them. But I’d rather be dealing with THEM deciding they won’t for some reason (their FFL, their rules so long as they aren’t breaking the law). I don’t want to deal with some butt covering one size fits all corporate policy.

That and I’ve never had a fast transaction at a corporate store. Actually Dick’s was the fastest for my 10/22 and it still took about 45 minutes with an empty store to get it done (lay off, this was before I knew about their anti-gun stance and also before their latest anti-2A BS). First time at Dick’s were my first firearms I ever bought on a Blackfriday without a ton of foot traffic and they weren’t doing real-time 4473. “Fill out a paper 4473 and we will call you in a day or three to drive 45 minutes back to the store to pick them up”.

Bass Pro was the week after Thanksgiving and of course they were busy at lunch time. Had to stand around for an hour. Even then it took over an hour after starting to be “served” to get all the corporate red tape done (only 3 to fill out the 4473).

My typical turn around with non-corporate FFLs if they aren’t busy is about 10 minutes total.

buellsfurn · Mar 16, 2019

dblas said:
Under federal law, they CANNOT tell him when to release it if the NICS check is delayed, the federal law already states that. If a delayed comes back and NICS does not contact the dealer in three days, they can release the firearm at anytime after the three days. There is absolutely nothing in federal law or regulations that gives any federal LE agency the authority to tell a dealer they have to hold a firearm and can release it after x number of days.

That's what started the whole conversation .They have been an FFL for years as stated something different is going on.The second long gun he released before stated date but more than 72 hours nothing yet. I'm thinking more scare tactics and or a way to discourage the buyer

dblas · Mar 16, 2019

buellsfurn said:
That's what started the whole conversation .They have been an FFL for years as stated something different is going on.The second long gun he released before stated date but more than 72 hours nothing yet. I'm thinking more scare tactics and or a way to discourage the buyer

It is only scare tactics if the buyer does not understand or know the law. And if the dealer doesn't want to abide by the law, by releasing after 3 days, that is their choice, but I would be finding a new dealer after that. Delayed by statute is one thing, but delayed by a dealer waiting on a response after the statute days, is grounds for a new dealer.

fabsroman · Mar 16, 2019

dblas said:
Under federal law, they CANNOT tell him when to release it if the NICS check is delayed, the federal law already states that. If a delayed comes back and NICS does not contact the dealer in three days, they can release the firearm at anytime after the three days. There is absolutely nothing in federal law or regulations that gives any federal LE agency the authority to tell a dealer they have to hold a firearm and can release it after x number of days.

You are killing it this weekend. Another one I just did not feel like replying to. Just so much incorrect information out there. Three days on a NICS and then hand me my gun. Granted, never had to deal with this personally, but my brother has had it happen to him a couple times. Some dealers are alright with releasing it, others want the "green light" from NICS. Kind of like the entire 2013 debacle with MSP on the Not Disapproved stuff. Granted, MSP was actually asking dealers to wait beyond the 7 day waiting period for the Not Disapproved before releasing the firearm. There was a lot of speculation on here about the MSP coming down on dealers that released after 7 days, but I have seen none of that in the 5+ years since it went down.

dblas · Mar 16, 2019

fabsroman said:
You are killing it this weekend. Another one I just did not feel like replying to. Just so much incorrect information out there. Three days on a NICS and then hand me my gun. Granted, never had to deal with this personally, but my brother has had it happen to him a couple times. Some dealers are alright with releasing it, others want the "green light" from NICS. Kind of like the entire 2013 debacle with MSP on the Not Disapproved stuff. Granted, MSP was actually asking dealers to wait beyond the 7 day waiting period for the Not Disapproved before releasing the firearm. There was a lot of speculation on here about the MSP coming down on dealers that released after 7 days, but I have seen none of that in the 5+ years since it went down.

That is because MSI, AGC, and NRA took them to court over it and they admitted in chambers that it was not the law and that is was simply a request. That dealers that did release after 7 days would not suffer any reprecussions.

lazarus · Mar 16, 2019

dblas said:
That is because MSI, AGC, and NRA took them to court over it and they admitted in chambers that it was not the law and that is was simply a request. That dealers that did release after 7 days would not suffer any reprecussions.

But I think the point is they CAN ask. They can’t demand it or offer repercussions if the dealer doesn’t agree.

buellsfurn · Mar 16, 2019

fabsroman said:
You are killing it this weekend. Another one I just did not feel like replying to. Just so much incorrect information out there. Three days on a NICS and then hand me my gun. Granted, never had to deal with this personally, but my brother has had it happen to him a couple times. Some dealers are alright with releasing it, others want the "green light" from NICS. Kind of like the entire 2013 debacle with MSP on the Not Disapproved stuff. Granted, MSP was actually asking dealers to wait beyond the 7 day waiting period for the Not Disapproved before releasing the firearm. There was a lot of speculation on here about the MSP coming down on dealers that released after 7 days, but I have seen none of that in the 5+ years since it went down.

I dont remember asking for your reply Fabs.As far as incorrect info I simply stated something I witnessed three times in the past two weeks.

Has anyone been having glitches with the NICS 4473 process lately?

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