Purchase Denied

[Leathermarshmallow]

Over the years I have purchased many firearms. Never had a problem. I recently paid for a firearm, and upon doing the paperwork, I was not only delayed but DENIED. I forgot to put my SS# on the papers. I have been confused with a known felon in the Detroit area who has the same name and same date of birth.

The FBI says that it will take up to 178 days to review and determine. In the mean time I have a gun that I can't take home. The gun store owner says that he will refund my money, but is sure that the gun will be sold almost immediately because it is not a super common gun.

I am just venting....Have any of you ever had similar experiences?

 

[Master Blaster]

SO is there a reson why the gunstore owner who knows you from prior purchases cannot submit another background check with your SSN?
If the registry sees your name without the SSN as a different person and has approved you with the SSN in the past I cannot see any reason why a new Background check cannot be done. The denial was for that other person not you.

 

[Freightman]

Looks like the dealer should have been looking at the form as I always did when I was in the business to make sure there were no mistakes, or left out information. If you want the gun wait them out if not get your money back.

 

[El Mariachi]

Do most of you guys write down your S/S number on the form? 'Cuz all three FFL's I've used here in Cali recommended that I should not?.....

 

[FourTeeFive]

There have been a number of other threads about this. SS number is NOT required information. I personally never give it, but then again I don't have a really common name so I'm not too concerned about being confused with someone else.

 

[fehhkk]

If you know your dealer's reputation, and you do lots of business with them, i don't see why not putting your SSN should be a big deal.

 

[NavyLCDR]

Looks like the dealer should have been looking at the form as I always did when I was in the business to make sure there were no mistakes, or left out information. If you want the gun wait them out if not get your money back.

The form 4473 was complete and accurate as submitted by the purchaser. Social Security Number is OPTIONAL.

 

[mortablunt]

No, but it happens to a lot of people. It seems like all the Brady Bill and the NCIS actually do is inconvenience people so often that nobody even bats an eye at it.

 

[BCCL]

Neither the FFL or Leathermarshmellow have made a mistake here, the government in all it's glorious centralized "organization" has............

 

[deadin]

I have been confused with a known felon in the Detroit area who has the same name and same date of birth.

Did you know this going in? If not, it appears that you will need to either give up your SSN, get a PIN or don't plan on buying any guns through dealers.
If you did know, why are you surprised that you were denied?

 

[gpr]

i try not not have DOB and SSN on the same paper...it is optional, but in your case, it may be to your benifit...gary

 

[JohnBT]

I got my SS# from the government. Why would I make a feeble attempt to hide it from them?

John

 

[FourTeeFive]

I got my SS# from the government. Why would I make a feeble attempt to hide it from them?

The form that it is on gets seen by a lot of eyes, mostly the in the gun shop and at your local police department. I prefer not to spread my SS number around if I don't have to.

 

[AEA]

I see no reason why the dealer cannot hold the gun for you as long as it takes. You have paid for it, it is not your fault that you were denied. The seller has the money for that gun, so he should be happy. He should hold it in his safe for you till you get this sorted out.

 

[AethelstanAegen]

I don't particularly like giving it out, but I do when filling out the paperwork at my local FFL. I have a pretty common name (not John Smith but common enough I have met a good number of people with the same name) and so I just like to avoid the hassle of a false delay/deny etc if I can help it.

 

[browneu]

Man that stinks and I hope you get it straightened out. I always give my SSN on the form because having Brown for a last name makes it easy to misidentify me.

I would try filling out another form with your SSN on it again.

 

[kdave21]

The form that it is on gets seen by a lot of eyes, mostly the in the gun shop and at your local police department. I prefer not to spread my SS number around if I don't have to.

Ive never heard of the police looking at a 4473 before. I dont believe this is true, and I would be surprised if it has ever happened in anything but the most unusual of circumstances. A dealer is required by law to turn his records into the ATF upon closure, not the local PD.

 

[mgmorden]

I've always put my SSN down. I'm sure that I would get denied if I didn't, because much like you there's a guy in the same state with the same birthdate as me who has a pretty bad rap sheet.

While its never caused an issue with my gun buying, I HAVE had a cop confuse me with him on a traffic stop. Situation got pretty tense there for a while as the guy he had me confused with was SUPPOSED to be in prison at the time, and to make matters worse I was actually on the way back from the range, so while my gun was in a case in the trunk, he had already seen my target in the front seat and had asked and knew I had a gun in the car.

It all turned out fine (and he actually let me out of the speeding ticket due to the confusion and hassle of the mixup), but when he came back to the car and asked about my narcotics charges (and I realized he wasn't joking) I got pretty panicky for a bit.

 

[mgmorden]

Ive never heard of the police looking at a 4473 before. I dont believe this is true, and I would be surprised if it has ever happened in anything but the most unusual of circumstances. A dealer is required by law to turn his records into the ATF upon closure, not the local PD.

As a worker in government IT, I can assure you that many (probably the majority of) LEOs have access to a database called LexisNexis that will let them easily get your SSN if they wanted it.

 

[olafhardtB]

purchase id

If this is a frequent problem you might try getting a passport. It takes a little time and money but it is the gold standard in id papers and provides virtually no other info about you.

 

[sansone]

The form that it is on gets seen by a lot of eyes, mostly the in the gun shop and at your local police department. I prefer not to spread my SS number around if I don't have to.

nobody sees the 4473 after it is filed. Even the dealer will not look at that form ever again.
Unless your firearm shows up at a crime scene, that 4473 is just sitting in the dealer's filing cabinet. When the ATF inspects dealers they can go through the 4473's looking for DEALER errors, not writing down socials. Your dealer has jumped through a hundred hoops to get that license, I doubt identity theft is of interest to him

 

[hso]

Why would you want a refund and risk loosing the rifle?
You know that you'll clear so what's the problem with having it sit there until you do?

 

[USAF_Vet]

I'll echo some of the sentiments of the thread. Wait it out, resubmit and you should be okay. You paid for the gun, it's yours, even if there is something getting in the way of you taking possession of it. Make sure you hold onto the receipt, though.

Sometimes I put my SSN, sometimes I don't. Takes about the same amount of time either way. If people are so concerned over their SSN getting out, I advise using lifelock or some of the other ID theft protections. Getting an SSN is easy if you know where to look.

 

[J.A.D.]

The reason why the SS# is optional, is because SS itself is optional. You can opt out citing religious reasons. There are people of the older generations that never had a Social Security number, who still purchase firearms.

 

[mgmorden]

If people are so concerned over their SSN getting out, I advise using lifelock

You do know that the CEO of Lifelock had his identity stolen right?