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My brother and I went to the gun show about 3 weeks ago. We each tried to buy handguns. Both of us were called in at the same time by the same person for the background check. My brother was given the go immediately, but they said I had to wait for further processing. I keep calling the dealer who did the check, but three weeks later I still have no answer. They say they has six people with the same holdup the same day and none have their answer yet.

So, my questions:

1. Is this normal? I live in Fort Bend County, my brother in Harris.
2. Is this some kind of indication that I am on some kind of "black list"?
3. Is this the same check they do for a CHL?
3a. If so, once passed (which I am sure I will since I have never done anything wrong that I know of), will they have the info readily available when I send in my CHL application or can I expect more mysterious "black list" delays?

Thanks for any feedback!

--Steve

sbates wrote:2. Is this some kind of indication that I am on some kind of "black list"?

Not necessarily. Your name or other information could be similar to someone who is.

sbates wrote:3. Is this the same check they do for a CHL?

Not even close.

sbates wrote:3a. If so, once passed (which I am sure I will since I have never done anything wrong that I know of), will they have the info readily available when I send in my CHL application or can I expect more mysterious "black list" delays?

Expect more of the same. I have a friend who used to always get delayed. It happened every time he bought a firearm for years until he got his CHL and they stopped calling NICS.

I am not a dealer, so I do not have all of the correct answers. BUT, as I understand it, the most common reason for a delay is when your name shows up with a potential problem. This does not necessarily mean you, but it could be another person with the same name or one very similar. The delay is while they check to verify if it is you or not.

A very common delay is when there there is a misdemeanor conviction for assault. They almost always hold up the first time until they verify that it was not domestic violence. From your statement, this would not apply to you.

And you might want to check again with the dealer. I thought, and I may be wrong, that if he did not receive a "No" answer within 3 business days, he could release the weapon to you. Three weeks means there is a definite problem somewhere.

But the check for the CHL is more thorough than the check for NICS. In addition to other misdemeanors that do not apply to firearms, it includes things like owing taxes, child support, or back due student loans, which are not reasons for stopping a purchase of a pistol.

And getting this cleared up will not affect the CHL background check, per se, but it will help you know what might cause a problem for the CHL. They are two separate systems run by two different agencies.

I used to get delayed every time. Then i figured out what the problem was. I am a Jr and I would forget to put Jr on the name. Every darned time I would get delayed.By the way, I am pretty sure that NICS denies, approves or delays the first check. If they delay approval, you are automatically approved after a certain number of days unless they contact the seller and deny your purchase.

Change your name to Asfehfowhefasjdhf so there will be no conflicts ;)

03Lightningrocks wrote:By the way, I am pretty sure that NICS denies, approves or delays the first check. .

The first gun I bought from a store was in November ( always bought them privately before ), and I walked out of the store gun in hand 20 minutes later

There seems to be no rhyme or reason. I got delayed at a show then walked to another table and was cleared in minutes. It appears to be random and entirely depends on who answers the phone.

rm9792 wrote:There seems to be no rhyme or reason. I got delayed at a show then walked to another table and was cleared in minutes. It appears to be random and entirely depends on who answers the phone.

I was told at one point that what causes the delay is availability of a supervisor. Certain items cause the application to get flagged for a supervisors approval. If a supervisor is available, you can get approved right there and not ever know they had an "issue". If one is unavailable, they put you on hold or delay until the supervisor can check it out. I was told by the fine folks at Bullet Trap that if the NICS doesn't call BT within a certain time frame, they can go ahead with the sell. I think they said it was three days. The point is, if a dealer is waiting for NICS to call back with approval, it won't likely happen. No callback is the default for approved.