Got a phone call from the ATF today...

[forindooruseonly]

...and it seems the examiner has misplaced my pending Form 1. I received a call from a supervisor asking if I was indeed the person who filed the Form 1 and whether I had received any correspondence or paperwork concerning my application. I hadn't. Had I done anything with the gun yet? Nope, still sitting in the safe ready to be shortened. The supervisor informed me that he was doing checks on an efficiency initiative and would be in contact with me when he received more information.

I've never gotten a call from the ATF, so I began to wonder whether I was denied, or if something got lost in the mail, or whatnot. Maybe I had filled out the paperwork wrong, or any number of issues. Great. What really bothered me was the fact that they called me, without me checking up on it. I hadn't bothered to call on my status. I figure the stamp will get here when it gets here, and harassing them over it won't help the process.

A couple of hours later the gentleman calls back. The examiner can't find the Form 1, and he is having the other examiners under him check their stacks for my paperwork. He apologizes, says to give them a week and if it doesn't emerge by then, he will have me resubmit and they'll expedite it through.

Anyone have this happen to their application? The man was very polite about the mix up and seemed to be handling it in a very professional manner. Apparently they have something like 26,000 applications in his group right now to process! Wow. I was pretty impressed that they called me, out of the blue, without me getting to the point of wondering what happened to my application. This is my first actual contact with anyone from the ATF, despite the multiple NFA items I have. I have to say I'm impressed - not that they lost the paperwork - but that they at least caught it and are actively seeking a solution before any outside agitation. I've dealt with other government agencies that wouldn't have bothered...

So I guess I'll hang out and wait a little longer and see what develops.

 

[1KPerDay]

Wow... I imagine that was a bit nerve-racking. I'd probably hang up and go check outside for black helicopters.

 

[GoingQuiet]

You have to remember that this happens sometimes.

The ATF accidentally destroyed a bunch of Form 3's a few months ago and a lot of forms had to be resubmitted.

 

[dprice3844444]

nothing new

 

[forindooruseonly]

I'm not surprised with the volume of forms they receive, it just never has happened to me or anyone I know before. Now I'm just curious to see whether it turns up or if I'll have to resubmit, and how long the turnaround is. I guess since I've always done Form 4s where someone else is transferring the gun to me, I was never the point of contact. This is my first Form 1 where my number is listed on the paperwork.

If anything, I feel it was a positive experience chatting with the guy. They are obviously trying to keep track of things and get something done in a timely manner.

 

[ATCDoktor]

I'm wondering how they know you submitted a form 1 if they cant find it?

I wonder what kind of routing sheet or custody protocol for they have?

 

[cyclopsshooter]

^^ That is a good question.

 

[Bubbles]

I'm wondering how they know you submitted a form 1 if they cant find it?

Part of the process is that the forms get assigned a doc control number, scanned, and saved digitally. So, the original was lost or destroyed, but the ATF still has a record of it being submitted.

BTW you are not the only one who has received such a phone call. We've had to re-do some F2's and F3's, and other SOT's are reporting the same.

 

[forindooruseonly]

Part of the process is that the forms get assigned a doc control number, scanned, and saved digitally. So, the original was lost or destroyed, but the ATF still has a record of it being submitted.

That's essentially what he said when I asked the same thing. He clearly knew it was an Ithaca and was supposed to be shortened into a SBS.

Bubbles, do you know what the turn around time is after resubmitting?

 

[Bubbles]

The F2's and F3's we resubmitted were turned around in 10 days.

 

[forindooruseonly]

Thank for the info. The ATF just called me back and asked me to resubmit, so now I'm just waiting on the CLEO to call me back once he signs it and then I'll mail it off.

 

[stxhunter]

Wow! Hope everything goes better the second time around.

 

[V1ROT8]

Not a real fun event.

 

[Luftgewehr]

As with any organization, there is the occasional misplaced or lost paperwork. Several years ago my fingerprints somehow got separated from my application and I had to go have them taken again. Fortunately the local State Police barracks cheerfully does this at no charge, but it naturally caused a delay in my application being processed ..no big deal. The examiners deal with the proverbial mountain of paperwork ..my Class 3 dealer told me that this examiner had around 1500 or more applications to process at the time, so it's easy to see how the occasional error will take place. In general I've found the examiners to be very pleasant and helpful, in spite of the enormous amount of paperwork they deal with daily. -LG