Mr H
Banana'd
First off, understand that this is a tale of my 1911 purchase, and not a rant against the FFL from which I got it. If it degenerates into FFL bashing, I have no qualms about having the mods delete the thread. I'm putting this out because people have been interested in my experiment, and I'm simply following up as promised.
In fact, the more I think about it, the less inclined I am to name the dealer--but I'll play it by year.
On Monday, May 6, there had been talk that dealers were considering what they would need to do in order to provide releases without having to wait for NICS. So, just to go put my ear to the ground, I went out to one of the FFLs to see if there was any chatter.
Well, it just happened that they had a Remington 1911 R1 I'd been looking at, and at the best price I'd seen, so........
As it turned out, the MSI/AGC/MLFDA lawsuit was filed (IIRC) later that week. I wasn't aware of it, so at that point I made a commitment. I decided I would let my purchase sit, and see where it ended up. I didn't check on it, and in fact I've avoided the shop completely for better than 3 months.
I've tried to have confidence in them, that they would honor their backlog, and let people know 'in order received' that they would be able to come pick up their guns, if they were willing to sign the waiver. Unfortunately, it was starting to sound like there was chatter that this was not the case. But, I stuck to my commitment, hoping it was not the case.
I went by this evening, simply to pay my balance and check the status. The young lady I spoke with was professional and knowledgeable, and very nice, but insisted that they were not releasing anything until MSP returned the ND, and were still releasing only into late April... until I starting asking her about their announced policy and I mentioned the word "waiver."
At that point, the entire conversation changed, and she started pulling together papers, retrieved the pistol from storage, and got dots and tittles in place. Again, she was most pleasant and professional, and we'll probably get on fine as time goes on. But, needless to say, I was disappointed in the shop, as it was admitted that they were not calling anyone until MSP gave the ND to them.
I ended up doing exactly what I had not wanted to, which was jump the line over people (including many of you) who are waiting patiently, and for that I apologize. But it goes to prove my greater point, I suppose... that there are FFLs out there who may/are not keeping an orderly pace on their releases.
In short, yes I have my 1911... no I am not a fan of my FFL's integrity.