Viper's OC log

[Walleye Hunter]

Almost a year of waiting, and the ATF denied my suppressor Form 4 because, according to them, another NICS check was left in an 'open' status, and - despite the fact that I've been background checked at least fourteen other times and every one has come back clean, I've worked with children and as a firefighter, and have never been in any trouble with the law that they didn't start since I was 21 - this means there may be something about me hidden in that unfinished background check which might make me a prohibited person.

'Oh yeah it's fine, he can have all kinds of rifles, anti-materiel weapons and all the body armor in the world....wait, he wants to keep[ his rifle quiet in the house in case he has to use it to protect his property? Oh no fuck all of that...ears are dangerous.'

Assholes. And they suffer no penalties for their transgressions.

[gnbrotz]

this means there may be something about me hidden in that unfinished background check which might make me a prohibited person.

I don't think that's the case, but that doesn't mean it's going to be an easy resolution. Here is some info an FFL posted in reply to someone on the interwebs who was in the same situation. I cannot vouch for it's validity. Perhaps others here can confirm or debunk.

NICS being OPEN means the background check timed out. Something caused it to require further investigation and they did not do their job within the required time frame and you got screwed. I am impressed with the responses you are getting that are plain wrong or otherwise off point.

When you do a NICS background check for the purchase of a firearm and get delayed, after three business days if there is no response, it is *OPEN*, then the firearm can be released to you. When you do a form 1 or form 4 and they run the background check, if after long enough it is still *OPEN*, then they deny the application because there is no requirement to approve after so many days OPEN.

There is no requirement that NICS ever complete the background check. This is fine for the purchase of a firearm because of the three day rule, but for a form 4 application it is a problem as you have seen.

You have a couple options, most starting with applying for a UPIN. Do it online vs mailing paper as the online completes for most people in 30-45 days vs the paper version taking 6+ months. But if you are a hard case it could take significantly longer. I have a customer that is LEO who always gets delayed and never gets a response (it times out after 30 days). His online UPIN is now pending for over three months. Eventually it will resolve as will yours.

Then include your UPIN on your form 4 next time and you should be all set.

If there are any issues with the UPIN you can appeal to get details and go fix the issues. But until you get an actual denied from NICS it is very difficult to fix anything. If you were a prohibited person they would not leave it OPEN but deny both on the form 4 and on your regular firearm purchases. The issue is it*s actual work to close the background, the charge is likely something small and irrelevant, but the computer kicks it to a human and they dont want to do the work to resolve. Contacting the court in your state or otherwise tracking down the case disposition interferes with their water cooler time.

The UPIN application is your best path.

[Ilikebuckets]

Do you remember ever buying a gun and being put into research? That might be a place to start. Hopefully this is not an after effect of your interactions with the police from earlier in this thread.

[Walleye Hunter]

Do you remember ever buying a gun and being put into research? That might be a place to start. Hopefully this is not an after effect of your interactions with the police from earlier in this thread.

I'll bet it is.

[Daycrawler]

Almost a year of waiting, and the ATF denied my suppressor Form 4 because, according to them, another NICS check was left in an 'open' status, and - despite the fact that I've been background checked at least fourteen other times and every one has come back clean, I've worked with children and as a firefighter, and have never been in any trouble with the law that they didn't start since I was 21 - this means there may be something about me hidden in that unfinished background check which might make me a prohibited person.

'Oh yeah it's fine, he can have all kinds of rifles, anti-materiel weapons and all the body armor in the world....wait, he wants to keep[ his rifle quiet in the house in case he has to use it to protect his property? Oh no fuck all of that...ears are dangerous.'

Ok I have a theory on this. Back when you recovered your pistol from P.P.D., they should have done a background check. That BGC does not get a # assigned to from P.S.P. . My theory is this left and open end on your case. P.P.D. returned your firearm after the check was completed. Do you really thing anyone cared enough to dot the I's and cross the T's?

[OwnTheRide]

This smells like something ripe for a good lawyer to tear into.

[Walleye Hunter]

This smells like something ripe for a good lawyer to tear into.

The problem with that is that legal fees are generally not recoverable. This shit needs to stop.

[ViperGTS19801]

I'm going to try and pursue this on my own time, because right now, I don't have the brainspace for the fight. I'm pissed, but I have other things going on which need higher priority, so I'll be coming back to this.

[inspector_17]

Hopefully SCOTUS will sh1tcan The NFA as being unconstitutional making this moot. Do I really believe this? No but I can hope.

[ViperGTS19801]

A South Whitehall PD officer complimented my t-shirt at Wawa yesterday morning. It has a silhouette of a rifle and it says "GUN CONTROL: HOLD, AIM, SHOOT"

Of course, the one day I was not open carrying. /s

Oh, and as we were fixing to leave the bowling alley, our newest teammate - a 21 year old fella - excitedly told me he was looking forward to getting his LTCF, after seeing I had strapped up after putting away my equipment. I was in a bad mood because I bowled like shit, so I will catch up with him next week.