Some places charge for a NICS check?

[Jeff H]

I don't know of any shops here that charge, but its not "free" to the dealer, unless of course you believe time is worth nothing.

^^This. It does cost the dealer something so you, as the consumer, are paying for it. Directly or indirectly.


Only shop that I have had actually charge me for running that NICS test in Ohio is Aim Surplus. Their main business isn't walk up gun sales and you have to make an appointment, but their prices are so good it doesn't matter to me.

 

[JTHunter]

stchman - the last gun I bought was in 2012 and, unless it was part of the sale price, there was no "fee" to run the NICS. And this was in "money-hungry" Illinois.

 

[ConstitutionCowboy]

If I'm doing a transfer, I charge for the NICS check to cover my time logging the gun(s) in and out and the time on the phone (It's a flat $25.00). If it's a gun I've sold, I don't charge for the NICS check since I've covered my expenses and time into the profit from the gun sale.

Woody

 

[mgkdrgn]

When I have purchased a fire arm I have never paid a fee for the NICS check. But I have always dealt with a FFL dealer. But I have noticed that on-line auctions list a $25 fee for a NICS check. The auctioneer has the FFL and it another way for Kernerl so & so to make another buck.

Ummm, unless you live in the same state as the "on-line" auction, and intend to go pick the item up ... they won't be doing a NICS check on you. Firearm has to be shipped to an FFL in your home state (that YOU choose) to complete the transaction.

 

[mgkdrgn]

If I'm doing a transfer, I charge for the NICS check to cover my time logging the gun(s) in and out and the time on the phone (It's a flat $25.00). If it's a gun I've sold, I don't charge for the NICS check since I've covered my expenses and time into the profit from the gun sale.

Woody

^^^^ What he said. But then, nobody charges -me- for the NICS check either.

 

[johncantiusgarand]

The ATF likes the POC states, because they claim that the states have access to more information and can deny folks who would otherwise pass the NICS check. I'm in Tennessee, and I think TICS does a lousy job. Despite a squeaky clean record, ever since a guy with the same date of birth as mine and a similar (but different) last name got convicted of a felony in New Jersey, I've been denied 4 times. My appeals get the denial overturned within a day, and once TBI even telephoned the dealer before I left the store to tell him to go ahead with the sale. But it is still an embarrassing hassle, and one I have to pay $10 for each time. Tennessee has one of the highest--if not THE highest false positive firearm background check rates.

Also, state law allows for a fee of no more than $10. Naturally, though I know it doesn't cost Tennessee nearly that much to actually do the check, the TICS began charging the maximum fee allowed since its inception. It will never go away; it generates too much revenue.

 

[natman]

TANSTAAFL - it might not be an immediate direct cost, but you ARE paying for that "free" Federal check one way or another

As it should be. Whatever benefit is generated by NICS checks benefits everybody so the government should bear the cost. Charging the buyer in order to exercise a constitutional right is similar to poll taxes and they've already been ruled unconstitutional.

 

[MacTech]

I've bought firearms in Maine and Vermont, never paid a NICS check, could they be rolling the cost of the check into the price of the gun? Possibly, I have no way of knowing...

 

[johncantiusgarand]

As it should be. Whatever benefit is generated by NICS checks benefits everybody so the government should bear the cost. Charging the buyer in order to exercise a constitutional right is similar to poll taxes and they've already been ruled unconstitutional.

I agree. Tennessee's scheme is doubly unconstitutional, because it also violates the state constitution which says “[t]hat the citizens of this State have a right to keep and to bear arms for their common defense; but the Legislature shall have power, by law, to regulate the wearing of arms with a view to prevent crime.” By regulating the purchase of arms and charging a fee, the legislature has exceeded its constitutional authority.