I'm not sure if I had the same exact thing happen, but I have been turned down twice on the NICS. The first time, the gun shop called me back the next day to let me know that I was cleared to purchase. The next time, at the Portland gun show, there was a dealer from the other side of the state that happened to have an appealing model 1912 Winchester at a very compelling price. Well, I failed the check, and the dealer offered a refund, but since he was a regular at the PDX gunshows, I said let's keep the deal in progress, call me when I'm cleared, and let's finish the transaction at the next gun show. Well, it all worked as planned, but oddly this time, it was weeks before I was cleared. Since those two times, I have always been immediately approved. So I guess the system has improved. Apparently, if your last name is Smith, Jones, Johnson, Anderson, or Williams, (the 5 most common surnames in America), there are more people out there with your exact full name than you would ever believe, and one or more of them probably has a criminal record. I guess they were red-flagging a lot of innocent people for closer scrutiny in the earlier years of the NICS program just to be sure they weren't that person .