Denied purchase of firearm info

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cpuckett812

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I recently moved to Washington state from Virginia, and visited the local gun store. I found a great deal on a glock .40cal, which I placed on layaway, and intended to buy a new ruger 10-22. I was suprised when I was informed that there had been a 72 hr hold placed on my purchase. I thought that it perhaps was in relation to my recent change of residency, and was sure that all would go through after my 3 day wait was over. I went ahead and placed a deposit on the guns, and told the dealer Id be back in three days. When I returned, the dealer politely told me that the feds had called back, and denied my ability to buy. I experienced a whirlwind of mixed emotions including dread, anger, confusion, and despair. I insisted to the dealer that I was legit, and couldnt think of any reason to justify my denial. I am a honorably discharged gunners mate gulf war vet of the USN, never charged with a felony, no domestic violence charges, restraining orders, or outstanding warrants. I was instructed to go to the local PD and be fingerprinted, and to send that along with some other info I received from the dealer to the FBI, which I did. About 3 weeks later I received a letter from the FBI, saying that they had received my packet, and saying they were reveiwing my information. It has been about 3 weeks since I received that letter. Has anyone else been through this? Any clue how long this is going to take? I have been forced to miss hunting season because I have been unable to purchase a suitable rifle here, as all my other guns are still in Va with my parents. Any info or testimony is most appreciated
 
You are in the middle of a NICS appeal process. I haven't personally been through one, but I know people who have. Time lines vary greatly, from about a month to the better part of a year. The shorter time was a name mix up, the longer time involved court paperwork that had been filed incorrectly (or something like that) and the courts had to straighten out their mess before the FBI would even touch it.
 
Congressional

Send a letter your two Senators and your member of the House of Reps asking them to look into the matter and if there is anything they can do to expedite the processing.

Congressional inquiries get you case moved to the top of the pile in any Executive branch agency.

VA Herder
 
OP,

Did the FBI say why you were denied?


vaherder Send a letter your two Senators and your member of the House of Reps asking them to look into the matter and if there is anything they can do to expedite the processing.
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This will be a waste of time.
 
While it's only a guess, it might very well be someone with the same or close name and some identifiers close to yours came back as a prohibited individual.

Prints are the only way to determine actual identity. NJ recently changed over to a private company using live scan which cut down those waits from weeks to a few hours.

Were you told it was a Federal agency looking into this? Seems odd as the states usually handle it.
 
No info regarding why I was denied. I did get stopped on a bicycle on evening, and upon checking my ID, the officer accused me of being a felon, which I denied, and upon further checking, the officer apologized and said he had the wrong guy. I do think there is a felon up here with the same name as me, but I would think that the FBI could easily straighten that out since I sent them my fingerprints. I like the contacting senator idea, except the senators for Wa state are anti gun lefties, so Im not sure how much help theyd be. Hopefully after the election, I ll have a more constitutionally devoted senator to contact
 
In the future, you might want to ask why you were denied, in order to better decide how to handle it.

But as you said, it seems like you have a common name, perhaps shared by a local bad boy.

Did you put your SSN on the 4473? If not, doing so next time will likely help things go smoothly - it gives the NICS people another layer of info to help verify you are who you say you are.

Good luck!
 
IIRC, both Senators from WA are so anti-gun, they would probably have you arrested for daring to even contact them.

Jim
 
Question for the OP: When you filled out the paperwork, did you include your SSN, or opt out?
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That's what I want to know too. If the OP is still around, can you provide an answer please?
 
yes I did include my ssn, but according to the paperwork I received back from the FBI, they are not used to verify identity. They state that they use your name and physical description, no other mention of any other sources
 
I did just do a search on publicdata.com of my name, and there were 6 felons with the same first and last name, in five other states. Hopefully it is a case of mistaken identity, instead of identity theft.
I paid 9.95 for 400 searches over a one month period. I think theres still 350 left, if anyone else has the problem I have, or any other legitimate reason, PM me and I'll share my user name and password. I ll never use all the searches, but some states are very limited on the info they share, such as WA. But others like NC TX CA to name a few, have lots of info
 
the last time I had a customer denied in the store he was a local police officer and in uniform. I gave him the form for NICS review and in two weeks he came back with a letter stating everything had been remedied. I ran another check which passed. I was surprised that only the customer received notice
 
rscalzo said:
While it's only a guess, it might very well be someone with the same or close name and some identifiers close to yours came back as a prohibited individual.

Prints are the only way to determine actual identity. NJ recently changed over to a private company using live scan which cut down those waits from weeks to a few hours.

Were you told it was a Federal agency looking into this? Seems odd as the states usually handle it.
Click to expand...
Not sure whether its the state or the fed looking into it. I assumed it was the feds since I sent them my fingerprints, but I could be wrong. If the state is the one looking into it, what department would be doing the investigation or verification?
 
vaherder said:
Send a letter your two Senators and your member of the House of Reps asking them to look into the matter and if there is anything they can do to expedite the processing.

Congressional inquiries get you case moved to the top of the pile in any Executive branch agency.

VA Herder
Click to expand...
I'm sorry but this would very likely be a complete waste of your time, I contacted one of mine(Betty McCollum)over another issue and aside from a form email, never heard back, despite numerous attempts to follow up on my part.
 
cpuckett812 said:
No info regarding why I was denied. I did get stopped on a bicycle on evening, and upon checking my ID, the officer accused me of being a felon, which I denied, and upon further checking, the officer apologized and said he had the wrong guy. I do think there is a felon up here with the same name as me, but I would think that the FBI could easily straighten that out since I sent them my fingerprints. I like the contacting senator idea, except the senators for Wa state are anti gun lefties, so Im not sure how much help theyd be. Hopefully after the election, I ll have a more constitutionally devoted senator to contact
Click to expand...
You need to discover WHY you were denied, likely, you should contact an attorney familiar with the process...
 
if you were "harrassed" by the local cops for being a felon then its pretty obvious are you are being mistaken for said felon through the check - Its a matter of verifying your name, middle name, date of birth, physicals, etc - Its actaully not a long process - look at how fast the local fuzz took to figure out the mix-up - Its more a matter of who-ever is doing the appeal actaully getting it done. I would check up on it from time to time to make sure it is being done - Good luck - Hopefully the shop holds on to your purchases until they can get ya cleared!!
 
DenaliPark
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mainsail
Question for the OP: When you filled out the paperwork, did you include your SSN, or opt out?
Click to expand...
Another complete waste of time, I've never seen a single denial, or delay countered by producing a SSN, not one!
Click to expand...

I have.

Customer completed the 4473 and left the SSN# blank. I called FBI NICS and was kicked up to a NICS examiner who said to stand by while he researched....when he came back he asked if the customer was willing to give his serial number. Customer did, customer went home with his gun.
 
I was denied once and having never been convicted of a felony, restraining order, DV, etc. it was just my natural reaction to be surprised and ask why and the gun shop owner replied very rudely: "This aint no barber shop, I don't know your business, your history is your history, how the hell would I know". I felt like a felonious scoundrel or something at first and I was pretty embarrassed but it wasn't my local shop so I really don't care.
 
Another complete waste of time, I've never seen a single denial, or delay countered by producing a SSN, not one!
Click to expand...

Like dogtown tom, I've seen it a couple times. Same scenario: run the check, get delayed, ask customer for SSN, wait 15 seconds, and get a proceed.


I was denied once and having never been convicted of a felony, restraining order, DV, etc. it was just my natural reaction to be surprised and ask why and the gun shop owner replied very rudely: "This aint no barber shop, I don't know your business, your history is your history, how the hell would I know". I felt like a felonious scoundrel or something at first and I was pretty embarrassed but it wasn't my local shop so I really don't care.
Click to expand...

While there is no need to be rude, NICS will not tell your dealer the reason for the delay or denial. That's between you and the FBI to discuss.
 
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