Did there ever used to be a federal waiting period?

[cfabe]

My brother and I are going out tomorrow morning to pick up his first handgun, and my dad was surprised there wasn't a waiting period. I've only been a shooter for a few years, but was there ever a time that there was a federal gun purchase waiting period?

 

[Lone_Gunman]

no?

 

[TheOtherOne]

Wasn't there suppose to be a 7 day waiting period when the Brady Bill was first passed but between the the time it was passed and the time it went into effect they had ruled that part unconstitutional? Or something like that anyways?

 

[Justin]

Before NICS was instituted there was a madatory seven day wait period as outlined in the original Brady bill. Once the "instant" criminal background check system came online, the federally mandated waiting period was done away with.

 

[Lone_Gunman]

How long was the period between the Brady Bill and NICS?

I must not have bought a gun then.

 

[RoyG]

You'd be surprise at the number of people that think there is a waiting period for handguns.

One of the mega sporting good chains I was in the manager told me they couldn't carry handguns because they had no place to store them during the waiting period.

I just look at him and told him in NC there is no waiting period.

He said are you sure? Well there use to be maybe it ended after the AWB expired.

:banghead:

 

[tg_26101]

there roughly was a five year period between passage of Brady (probably 94-99; i'm getting old, memory isn't precise) and implementation of NICS background check. there was a five "working" day wait to buy a handgun, but not for long guns. five "working" days was actually 7 days (working days not including Saturday or Sunday), and didn't include the day the application was faxed, so in effect was actually 7-8 days.

 

[VARifleman]

NICS was started in 1998 if I remember correctly.

Royg, it's very possible that he could have the pisol purchase permit confused with a waiting period. The Brady Bunch has that listed as a "waiting period" of sorts. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

 

[RoyG]

No he knew about the purhase permit because he told me if I had one on my he could bypass the call to NICS and just use the serial number off the permit.

 

[Lone_Gunman]

I am not sure the 5 year period between 1994 and 1999 had a mandatory 5 day federal waiting period.

I know I bought handguns in Alabama between 1994 and 1997 and never had a federal waiting period, just a state waiting period of I think 2 days.

Between 1997 and 1999 I know I bought handguns in GA with no waiting period at all, even before I got my pistol permit.

 

[Brett Bellmore]

There is in fact a federal waiting period of sorts; When the NICS doesn't respond to a request, the dealer has to wait "three business days" before they can proceed with the sale without approval. That's up to five days, if the initial attempt to purchase was on Saturday.

At least, that's how I understand it.

 

[Hkmp5sd]

How long was the period between the Brady Bill and NICS?

I must not have bought a gun then.

The Brady Act took effect on November 30, 1993. It Imposed a mandatory 5 day waiting period on the sale of handguns only. It gave 5 years for the government to get the NICS system up and running and provided an exemption for states that already had some type of background check procedure in place.

In 1998, the "interim" process was replaced with the current NICS system and expanded to include all firearms transferred through a dealer.

 

[Missourigunner]

Did there ever used to be a Federal waiting period

No. In Missouri, even with Brady and NICS, there is an "up to Seven working days waiting period." for purchase of a handgun, no waiting period for a Rifle or shotgun. CCW's usually take about 45 Days to process and issue.

 

[Majic]

The waiting period was only for those states without instant check. It never applied to us in Virginia.

 

[Magnuumpwr]

I know for a fact that in Texas sometime between 1994 and 1998 there was a five day waiting period on all handgun purchases. I purchased several during that time and that is how I know. It was called a "cooling off period". Anyone that lived in Texas and bought a handgun during that time can attest to my above experience.

 

[Ridge]

It never applied in Kentucky either.

 

[racenutz]

The waiting period was only for those states without instant check. It never applied to us in Virginia.

Or to those states that already had a waiting period for a pistol permit. Iowa has had a 3 day wait for pistol permits for years & you don't have to go through NICS to purchase any firearm as long as you have a pistol permit.

 

[TheOtherOne]

You'd be surprise at the number of people that think there is a waiting period for handguns.

I know I use to think that before I started buying guns. Alot of it comes from the media/hollywood and they probably get it because so many of the states with big cities actually do have a waiting period for handguns.

I was just watching Terminator (1984) and in the beginning when Arnie goes into the gunshop to get pick out all his weapons the guy behind the counter tells him that he can take the rifles now but there's going to be a 15-day wait on the handguns. Of course, being The Terminator, he wasn't about to wait to take them or even pay for them! Does anyone know if Cali actually had a waiting period back in the 80's?