Not another background check delayed thread...

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Ludwig Von Mises

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Heres the deal. I bought a Mossy 500 in 2010, background check went through perfectly, 30 seconds and I was a "Proceed". Then some craziness went down with an insane (literally, adjudicated criminally insane) ex girlfriend which ended in some DV charges, later dropped completely, with the only remaining charge being an agg. disorderly conduct.

Anywho, I had to sell the gun right after these charges because I did not want to be in violation of any laws, and didn't try to get another one until a long time after this stuff went away, about 2 weeks ago now. Between the time that I sold it and now, I caught that disorderly conduct, an underage purchase of alcohol, and a criminal mischief, pretty much all from an unruly drunken summer freshman year of college.

I've been off of that kinda stuff for a while, the inside of a jail cell teaches one many lessons, and I have been off probation and reliably sober for over a year now on both fronts. My lawyer as well as many cops I know say that I should be good to go, under both state and federal guidelines, as I do not have any felonies, drug charges, or domestic violence convictions, and I have never been committed or anything, so it absolutely baffles me that the FBI has still not made a decision after exactly 14 days of analysis.

The one shop does not sell without a proceed, so I went to gander mountain and they said they would do it after their store policy 8 days, as the salesman said "because we have had it come back with a "deny" 6 or 7 days after the initial check." I will be ok there, on friday, but my main question is, what could make it take this long, and regardless of the brady law, am I risking being in violation of federal law a week or two after I purchase the gun if the feds get their act together? And if so, how would I even find out if I was denied?

Sorry for the long post, but I did an extensive search, and found alot on the delays, but not much on really long ones. Thanks for any input. Glad to be here.
 
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My understanding of the law is that a "delay" becomes a "proceed" if the gun seller doesn't hear otherwise in 3 days. In other words, the store can sell you the gun if a "deny" doesn't appear in 72 hours.

There are far more knowledgeable folks here who will weigh in shortly.
 
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Here in VA, the state police have five business days to make a decision. If none is made, the transaction may proceed and the state police will be notified when the transaction has been completed.
 
Most people processing a request like yours would probably delay it as much as they can. Recent charges, even if misdemeanor, can be troubling. I believe here in VA if you'd have any charges at all in the last 5 years it raises a flag. As you probably know, alcohol, disorderly conduct, and firearms do not go well together.

Be patient my friend. It will come through eventually. I had some wild times in my twenties. By choice I waited well beyond them before ever purchasing a firearm. I'm squeaky clean in recent years. Every time I purchase a gun I'm delayed 24 hours. I don't mind. I'm fortunate enough that I didn't screw up so bad when I was younger that I can't own one at all.
 
My understanding of the law is that a "delay" becomes a "proceed" if the gun seller doesn't hear otherwise in 3 days.
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Not exactly. The dealer may release the gun if he doesn't hear back. The operative word is "may." Some dealers will not release the gun until they've gotten back an actual "proceed" result.

The whole idea is that the NICS system can't put someone on delay and leave them hanging indefinitely. If they can't find a reason to disqualify the buyer in three business days, it's their problem. If a dealer releases a gun on the appropriate date and data is later found disqualifying the buyer, the dealer is not culpable.

That said, there are some dealers who simply refuse to release the gun until they've heard something concrete back. The dealer can call the NICS system to follow up, however.
 
The biggest issue you have was the fact that you were charged with with domestic violence...

Just having the charge on record can cause headaches even if dropped.

Same with felonies... Even if dropped or reduced to a misdemeanor, you will be delayed and maybe even possibly denied.

I recently seen a man get a delay, then a deny... then a proceed... in 10 minutes.

The salesman was handing him the Appeal paperwork when the proceed came through.
 
I have to wait 72 hrs and have never been even charged with a crime. The only thing on my record are some speeding tickets and a seat belt ticket. The only thing I can think of as to why I have to wait and my friends dont is an uncle I havent met robbed a bank and a cousin I never met blew an ac unit off of the local court house.
 
Thanks everyone for the replies, I was aware of the 3 day period under the Brady Law, but was surprised at the length of time that has elapsed, as I figure if they were going to deny they would have done it by now. I understand the red flag issue, and figured I'd be good after a day or two, but its astounding how they can take this long.

With regards to the charges, I'd have thought that a lack of convictions on any of those at all, at least the federal and state disqualifiers, would result in a short delay and then a proceed. My hope is that I'm either proceeded or still delayed when I go back to gander mountain friday, but it still worries me. I guess it's on them really. Just want to get this damn p95 before someone else buys it at this dirt cheap price.

Again, thanks for the input everyone
 
I was in getting a transfer, and people behind me were getting there back ground checks and walking while I was still waiting.

Long story short, I'm from Hennipen county MN, not the country of Hennipen. Took about a half hour to figure that out, and I was smoking nervous.
 
ludwig

I have only read the original post so far(gonna read all replies shortly).

I just wanted to say though whether it hopefully helps or not, many times when charges occur stuff pops up everywhere(not just talking about gun buys). then on the other side of the coin when charges are dropped, labeled as unfounded, found not guilty, whatever: the feds, state police, county officers, and so-on do NOT go back and clean up the stuff. You might want to pay a lawyer to smooth everything up so it isn't rough around the edges for you....this woiuld be a just cause for expungement in some states as only one example
 
I believe here in VA if you'd have any charges at all in the last 5 years it raises a flag.
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This is true...but its much longer than 5 years. I had a very interesting experience just this past month:

Keep in mind that I have bought several guns here in VA since 2001. Most with only a "short" delay of a few hours...24 hours at the most.

But very recently, I purchased a rifle at a pawn shop in Virginia Beach...and the process took almost five days. After many calls to the pawn shop to check on the status of the state police approval, the gunshop clerk provided me with the phone number to the state police office that does the gun sales background checks.

When I called the number, I spoke to a very nice lady who told me that my purchase was delayed because the transaction was marked "pending investigation". The clerk said that she could not specifically comment on the particular item in my record which was delaying my transaction...unless I brought it up myself. After much wracking of the brain, I remembered an incident from long ago.

Apparently a search of my record conducted by a newly hired clerk turned up a municipal court case from the 1980's that took place in the town where I grew up in New Jersey. I had been arrested for "transporting an improperly secured firearm" - I had been pulled over by the local PD for a minor traffic violation...and when asked if I had any weapons in the car, I informed the LEO that I had an unloaded rifle in the trunk. I was immediately arrested because the rifle was not secured in a gun case in the locked trunk of my car. The municipal court judge tossed out my case and I only had to pay court costs of $25.

This incident was never much of an issue before and it never carried enough wieght to interfere with obtaining a security clearance for the military.

So after a short conversation, and a couple of very diplomaticly selected words regarding New Jersey's method of maintaining police records, the kind lady made the decision with the approval of her supervisor that my transaction would not be delayed further. I was at the pawn shop within the hour to taking possesion of my new rifle.

The point is this...there is no time limit here in Virginia for a record search to impact a gun sale transaction.
 
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