PICS check for Handgun placed on “Research”???

[iCCaRPG]

So I filled out all the paperwork for the PICS check for a Glock 19 gen 4. Usually I am approved in minutes. I have a valid LTCF. But for some reason this time about a half an hour went by, before PSP made the decision to put my check on “Research”. I don’t have a criminal record and i can’t think of any prohibitory records for it to be put on research. Only thing I’ve been told by the guy behind the counter was that because, the day before I filled out the paperwork for the Glock 19, I had purchased a LE trade in Glock 22 for a good price at another LGS closer to me. For the Glock 22, the PICS check only took a few minutes . I would’ve also purchased a Glock 19 from the same store along with the 22 but they didn’t have any in stock. Would this be any reason for putting my PICS check on research? Also the guy that did the PICS for the Glock 19 is a LEO and he did the PICS check through a Laptop, which I’ve never seen before. Every firearm I have purchased that had to go through PICS has been over the phone and approved in minutes. Would this also have anything to do with it being placed on research? This happened on October 12th, so I’ve been waiting for a call from the shop for about 8 days now. Even though I’ve been informed it can take up to 15 days.

[abner13]

PSP probably does this to show the need to raise the PICS fee to buy more/better/newer computers.

[Noah_Zark]

PSP probably does this to show the need to raise the PICS fee to buy more/better/newer computers.

No.

And the type/brand of gun does not matter; no info about the firearm being purchased is transmitted to PICS. In some cases where the buyer's age is >18 but <21 the call gets routed to an operator who verbally confirms that the firearm being purchased is a long gun and not a handgun.

What likely happened could be:

1) PICS may have been temporarily busy at the time the call was placed, and you and others whose automatic link to the FBI NICS database part of the check was taking to long were placed into research.

2) <Something> in your record initiated a flag which placed you into research. This happened to me in 2004 when I was flat denied during a check. A couple weeks later after submitting a challenge form, a PICS person called and asked me to send a letter confirming my info. He said that I and the dozen or so other PA residents with the same first, middle, and last names as mine were all automatically placed "on hold" because one of us had just been involuntary committed, and the rest of us were on hold until his record had been updated, usually within hours, maybe a day. Then the temp hold is released. By pure coincidence, I wanted to buy a SMLE that Friday afternoon. The PICS guy told me if I had waited a day, I probably never would have known.

I'm betting it's either one or the other.

Noah

[Gunsnwater]

No.

And the type/brand of gun does not matter; no info about the firearm being purchased is transmitted to PICS. In some cases where the buyer's age is >18 but <21 the call gets routed to an operator who verbally confirms that the firearm being purchased is a long gun and not a handgun.

What likely happened could be:

1) PICS may have been temporarily busy at the time the call was placed, and you and others whose automatic link to the FBI NICS database part of the check was taking to long were placed into research.

2) <Something> in your record initiated a flag which placed you into research. This happened to me in 2004 when I was flat denied during a check. A couple weeks later after submitting a challenge form, a PICS person called and asked me to send a letter confirming my info. He said that I and the dozen or so other PA residents with the same first, middle, and last names as mine were all automatically placed "on hold" because one of us had just been involuntary committed, and the rest of us were on hold until his record had been updated, usually within hours, maybe a day. Then the temp hold is released. By pure coincidence, I wanted to buy a SMLE that Friday afternoon. The PICS guy told me if I had waited a day, I probably never would have known.

I'm betting it's either one or the other.

Noah

That’s the problem with those biblical names. You should change it to Oranegello.

[JenniferG]

Yeah, as long as we have to ask permission from the government to buy a firearm you're pretty much at their mercy. It's definitely an infringement but hey when has that ever been a problem? It's for the children.

[Xringshooter]

A PICS check can be done by computer, that is an option for all FFL's. Buying a handgun the day before WILL NOT cause you to be put into "Research". Being put into "Research" can happen because one of the many data bases that PICS uses for the check may have been responding slowly or not at all, the NICS system may have been down or slow to respond, or any other thing that can send a green or red flag might have, for some reason, red flagged you. The PICS operator WILL NOT tell the FFL what caused the reason to put you in "Research". PICS does have up to 15 days to respond. The response could be approved, denied or they may ask if they can go longer to finish the research. Pretty sure that if you say no to this request, the outcome will be denied and then you have to file the challenge paperwork.

A number of years ago I had one time been asked, on day 15, if they could go into day 16 because one, it was a real unique situation (the buyer was borne to a US military person with a foreign wife, in a foreign land) and two, it was getting real close to the end of the day and they had a few more things to do to clear it and get the approval number but it would take a while to finish the paperwork. The operator told me that he would be approved and I could get the number first thing on day 16. The customer agreed to go to day 16 and the next day we got the approval and finished the transaction.

[bripro]

I don’t know it’s related but a friend of mine (really not me) recently was put into research status as well. He too has never previously encountered any problems or delays. I believe he tried to buy something on October 15. It was Friday (I believe) that he got the call that he was good to go.

[eagleclaw]

It could be that someone with similar name was named a defendant on a Protection from abuse order. Maybe the plaintiff didn't know the defendant's date of birth or SSN so it was entered with the limited information they got from the plaintiff.