24 Hour Gun Sales?

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Mot45acp

Mot45acp

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I am working nights and got off early one night/morning. I went to my local big box retailer that sells firearms and is open 24 hours. I ask the GM on duty about the 870 sittin in the display case.

Response:"Oh we cant sell weapons until 10:00 for your criminal check."
Me:"Ma'am, I am a Texas CHL licensee. My paperwork does not have to be called in."

Response:"It is illegal to sell firearms between 6:00 pm and 10:00 am."

I dejected walked out without my 870.

Is this law or just someone not up to snuff on firearms laws? I have come to terms that not everybody possesses working laws of firearms, and have a general fear of them:( but, does this have any merit??

ps they wouldnt sell me a PSP either because no one had keys to the electronics dept.
 
my understanding is that NICS is 24-7 anyway. I've never called later than 9:45, but there was someone there. Regardless, it was probably company policy, or there was no one there who could do the details.
 
I think they had that confused with the Sunday morning liquor law. :neener: While it's probably rare for people to buy guns in the middle of the night, I don't think there's a law against it. Corporate policy, perhaps, that they confused with law?

Springmom
 
Class, what is the law regarding gun dealers? Anyone, Bueller, Bueller?

Right! Kirk's Law! And what does Kirk's Law say about gun dealers? Class? Anyone, Bueller?

"People do not go into the gun business to make any money, people go into the gun business to tell other people 'NO!'"
 
Respectfully request to speak with the store manager about it, and to clarify if it is "store policy" or some specific "law". Some clerks don't know the difference, some don't care, some say something is the law when in fact it is just store policy and they don't want to argue with a customer. I once had an automotive parts store clerk tell me it was illegal for him to sell me a catalytic converter for a truck, so I just went to the other clerk standing there and bought the thing.

As to the hours, could be the store just has a policy to call in all transactions to avoid having to verify if your permit is valid or forged. By calling it in they transfer liability to the agency and away from the store. At least that's my opinion on why they might have this policy.
 
Infrequently I have had a clerk at BigBox inform me about a non-existent law that just happened to be a store policy. I expect absolutly zero expertise when trading at one of these places. You should take anything declared by a clerk at BigBox with a grain of salt.
 
It's entirely possible that there was no one at the store authorized to conduct gun sales at that time. Which I suppose would make it illegal just for different reasons.
 
Probably store policy. If you had a store with hundreds of employees, would you trust each and every one to be able to correctly fill out all sales records and bound books?
 
Wal-Mart has a US map behind the clerk - it shows hours in various states that firearms can be bought - don't know if this is law or a Wal-Mart thing...
 
The NICS is closed during the early morning hours. Also, Walmart is probably going to demand NICS checks for everyone... regardless of CCW permits... if for anything just to cover their a**. They also probably want the store manager, or their second in command, to be present for every firearms sale... resulting in daytime sales only
 
They probably got confused with one of Chris Rock's old lines about ATMs, something to the effect of....

'Banks shoulda never came out w/ 24 hour ATMs, can't nothin good come of you havin access to all your money at 4 in the mornin, whattya gonna use $500 for at 4 in the mornin, think about it'

If you've ever been young and/or had lapse judgment in the wee hours of the night, I'm sure you can find humor in that. Of course straight edged law abiding CWP holders like us, see nothing wrong with getting money out of the ATM at any hour, aside from the tactical issues of being exposed to a violent crime (which is probably one of the many reasons Chris thought about btw), or with buying weapons at any hour of the day or night.

I don't think it should be a law or anything, but I'm not so sure it's a bad idea to have restrictions on third shift wal-mart employees w/ little or no training or support from management handling firearms, let alone selling them, and jumping through the hoops, let alone putting themselves out there for someone to pose as a buyer and turn into something else (whip out their own ammo or mag etc.) or the normal guy who is legal but has a bad night, maybe had a few drinks and decides now would be a good time to buy a gun.

Again, I'm on the OP's side really, but I can understand why a company who gets a lot of flack already for all kinds of stuff (and weren't they even singled out in that trash Michael Moore film for selling guns?), to have some parameters on buying certain things.

Like the OP said, he couldn't even buy the PSP from the electronics dept. I shop at stores like that a lot, and often late at night. I lived for 6 years less than half a mile from a 24 hr upscale gorcery store, and a 24 hr wal mart. Dating my now wife during that time, and her working in the service industry w weird hours, and me living like a batchelor, we went together, and I went alone, into these stores at all hours. You get the convenience of no crowds, but you do deal w/ a few weirdos, have to negotiate restocking isles, and get just as bad, if not worse 'service' but it is what it is...

I know my local Wal-Mart stops selling ammo at 10PM, and I've barely made it in time to pick up a few boxes of WWB practice ammo when I was in the area, and I've barely missed the cut off time to, and walked away empty handed. One time, when they rearranged the store, I went there like 4 times before 10PM, only to find they hadn't rebuilt the ammo case, and the only on site manager w/ a key was MIA.

So, I learned buy more, and go less often.

Good luck getting your new 870...

karz
 
Here in Utah, I know that after 8pm, they can't check your CCW license number. I don't know about a regular background check.
 
What they REALLY mean is the person who has to verify that all of their paperwork has properly been filled out, check the serial number and log the purchase out of their book only works from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm.

I have asked for ammo at Big Box Mart to be told no. I promptly ask WHY NOT? The sheepish response was that someone lost the key to the cabinet.

I have also purchased a couple of firearms at retail stores. The process takes 45 minutes and UP. Whenever I go to a gun shop, the process takes 10 minutes, max.
 
Hmmm....

I just dug through the book of federal rules that I got with my C&R. As others have said, NICS has a closed time, however, it mentions a web interface for checks that is available 24hrs. Anyone else ever hear of this?
 
Some good info here, I shoulda asked: "Well then, can you point me to the isle with ski masks and butcher knives?"

I never said it was Wal Mart.

I can see the validity of making sure someone is there who can ensure the paperwork is filled out properly. I have a feeling it could come back to haunt me as well as (insert name of establishment here)
 
There is no law that says that they can't sell you a gun after a certain time, but many of the state's NICS systems close earlier then the gun shops, so yes they can sell you a gun after that time, but you can't take delivery until it's called into the state in most states. Many states with their own check system don't allow gun shops to use the national system unless they are down for an extended period of time.

Also if you are talking about Walmart, generally only Sporting Good employees know the ins and outs of logging the books, selling permits (for hunting and fishing), and laws relating to sales of other restricted items in their department. So it's company policy often to stop the sale of those items at a certain time when those employees leave for the day. Locally that time in 9pm, which also happens to be the time that the State NICS call center closes.
 
Here in central Florida, WallyWorld will not sell ammo after 10PM. They said it was a county ordinance.
 
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