PICS delay rifle purchase

[ron54]

Last week I went in to a gun dealer in Hamlin PA to purchase a new rifle which I was trading in an older model. The store ran a pics check and came back and said it may take 14 days as state police have to research. Yet, 30 hours earlier, little over a day, I purchased 2 hand guns in Hawley PA which was approved. So why the delay now? I have no criminal record.

[jcabin]

I heard this only happens to people who make duplicate posts. http://forum.pafoa.org/pike-60/15849...-purchase.html

[ron54]

reason I posted in 2 places is I'm not certain which place its supposed to go.

[soberbyker]

reason I posted in 2 places is I'm not certain which place its supposed to go.

Depends on if you only want people in Pike County, the place you posted the same thread, or people from all over the state to comment on, where this version is.

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[jcabin]

If you have clean criminal record, you most likely were flagged for purchasing multiple firearms within a short period of time. This occurs from time to time and shouldn't be an issue so long as you follow up on the reason you were put into research.

[ron54]

If you have clean criminal record, you most likely were flagged for purchasing multiple firearms within a short period of time. This occurs from time to time and shouldn't be an issue so long as you follow up on the reason you were put into research.

My record is clean, I even went online and pulled my record from PA state police. All is ok, but why would it take 14 days per what the store owner told me? I could understand 1 or 2 days, and only for hand guns, but rifles anyone can buy. The one I am trading in I purchased in K Mart in New York state few years back, no paper work.

[soberbyker]

My record is clean, I even went online and pulled my record from PA state police. All is ok, but why would it take 14 days per what the store owner told me? I could understand 1 or 2 days, and only for hand guns, but rifles anyone can buy. The one I am trading in I purchased in K Mart in New York state few years back, no paper work.

In "research" it can take UP TO 15 days, that doesn't mean it will.

When you're dealing with an FFL everything goes through PICS, rifles or handguns, the system was either down or flagged something, has nothing to do with handgun vs rifle. I was put into research once when buying an unassembled receiver for an AR15, took 9 or 10 days to clear if I remember correctly.

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[Xringshooter]

Buying multiple guns shouldn't flag a background check. AFAIK, there isn't a database that shows how many guns a particular person has purchased. I've been doing this for 13 years and have never heard of this happening.

Here's some info about the Research process:

Research Response
Certain situations will prevent a background check from being approved or denied at the time of the initial call. Possible circumstances which may result in a transaction being delayed for research include: Potentially prohibiting records that require additional information or clarification, poor response time on a particular database or a database that is temporarily out of service. If this condition occurs, the FFL calling the PICS will be informed that the background check cannot be completed at this time and that more research must be done before a final determination can be made. The FFL should then inform the customer of the situation.

Under research status, the firearm dealer cannot let the prospective purchaser or transferee take possession of any firearm. It should be noted that every effort is made to complete research on an individual as soon as possible. Immediately upon completion of the research, the operator is required to call the dealer to give the final decision. It may take as long as 15 days for an operator to obtain the information needed to provide a final decision.

A Pennsylvania firearm dealer cannot transfer a firearm to a non-licensee until the receive an approval number from a PICS representative.


Researched Approvals
As soon as an operator determines that an individual placed in research may be approved they will contact the dealer. Once an approval number is given to a dealer it is only good until the close of business on the day it is given. In most case, the customer is no longer in the store so the dealer is given the option to call back for the approval number after he has contacted the customer. Under these circumstances, the approval number will be held a maximum of one week. Therefore, if a dealer is called Monday with an approval, the number will be held until midnight the following Monday. If the dealer is unable to contact the customer within this time frame, a new background check must be initiated.

Hope this helps explain it.

In the OP's case it is very possible that a database was down or didn't respond quickly enough for the automated program. Also the OP said it was last week (Christmas time ). It is very possible that the system just got overloaded, due to the amount of requests that happen in a short amount of time. This does happen, especially when there are very large gun shows or multiple gun shows at the same time.

[ron54]

Under research status, the firearm dealer cannot let the prospective purchaser or transferee take possession of any firearm.

What happens to my trade? I left with the dealer as a deposit my british 303 (excellent condition). If the purchase in PA is denied, I get back my 303, right? Then I go purchase in New York state, where there is PICS check.

[Xringshooter]

What happens to my trade? I left with the dealer as a deposit my british 303 (excellent condition). If the purchase in PA is denied, I get back my 303, right? Then I go purchase in New York state, where there is PICS check.

First, if for some reason you get denied, the FFL should give you the denial challenge paperwork and explain what you have to do. You have but 30 days to submit the challenge paperwork. Once the PSP has the challenge paperwork, they will reply in no later than 60 days with the final disposition. If the denial is upheld, they will THEN tell you why you were denied. If the denial is overturned, they will issue you a unique number that you will use every time you get a gun and have to undergo the PICS.

Second, the FFL will NOT know why you were denied, the PICS people do not give that info out, they just tell the FFL trhat this person is denied.

Third, if you are denied, he cannot give you back you rifle, as the denial, at this point on time, says that you are not allowed to possess a gun. He should store it until the denial challenge is completed. If you are still denied, then you will have to decide what to do with the .303, but you cannot get it back.