Virginia State Police "instant" background check delays

[Sheriff]

I guess I should have thought about asking this question here long before now. But, better late than never. How many of you are experiencing a significant delay in having the state police do their thing when you purchase a firearm lately? I'm not talking 20 to 30 minutes like the old days, I am speaking of anywhere from 2 to 4 hours.

Every time I call directly into the center after waiting for a few hours, they tell me I have a common name and it is causing the delays. I may have a common name, but my other identifying information such as social security number and birthdate aren't common when attached to my name.

I have a civil hearing coming up soon where I will have to testify as to the delays coming out of this center.

 

[skidmark]

.... I am speaking of anywhere from 2 to 4 hours. ....

There are those who would be glad to suffer a wait of only 2 to 4 hours. It seems to have become common for waits to now exceed 72 hours - which means that a prohibited person could legally pick up a firearm from the FFL before the system "caught" them. And then begins the fun of trying to get the darned thing back.

Go cruise the gun shows and ask the dealers how much time they are forced to wait. Ask them - if you dare - if the delay is any less during the middle of the week.

Since the transaction fee is supposed to go back to VSP to fund the firearms transaction unit, the lack of personell to handle the volume of transactions seems to be, shall we say, suspicious as well as specious.

You might want to ask Peter Nap - he's been riding this pony for quite some time now. He's not happy.

stay safe.

 

[scouser]

Personal experience for me recently has been ...

Went to collect a transferred long gun from a dealer in October on a Friday afternoon. The check was entered into the system at about 2.15pm and immediately 'delayed'. The paperwork wasn't assigned to anyone to manually check until 5pm, the dealer closed at 6pm and I went home without my firearm. I eventually received a message from him that it had cleared on Sunday morning and I went to collect it on the Monday.

End of November I purchased another handgun. Lunchtime Wednesday (somewhere between 12 and 2pm) we completed the paperwork and I didn't bother waiting around, I just told him to call me when it went through. I called him at 10am the next morning and he said he was just about to call me and tell me he'd had the 'ok'.

The dealer told me that he didn't think it worthwhile to call in to enquire about the delay as they'd probably then push the check he was enquiring about to the bottom of the waiting list. Not sure if he was serious or it was just a 'feeling' he has but my attitude was one of I just have to be patient and wait it out, I knew I had nothing to prevent me obtaining and the dealer has no reason to screw me around as he doesn't get paid until I take possession.

 

[Felix]

Picked up a long gun (characterized as an "assault firearm" which requires an approved proof-of-citizenship document) the Friday evening before Christmas. Dealer was on the phone for less than 10 minutes and the transfer was approved on the spot.

Last handgun purchase was a few months earlier at one of the Chantilly gun shows. That one took somewhere between 30 - 45 minutes. Didn't surprise me due to the volume of business at a major show.

Clean record, not so much as a traffic ticket in years, no unusual volume of firearms purchases.

 

[Uber_Olafsun]

When I had purchased my handgun at chantilly the wife and I were some of the first of the day and it took about an hour for both to go through but the line was getting longer and longer and so was the delay. Later on some were in line for the 2-4 hours.

 

[user]

Got a bolt-action varmint rifle in .223 shipped to my local gunsmith; it was received on a Thursday; I went to pick it up at around 2:30 p.m.; delayed, no reason given; and I'm sure there is no valid reason (the only other Daniel Lewis Hawes in the U.S., as near as I can tell, is an attorney in California). Approval came late in the afternoon the next day. There were no gunshows on that Thursday, and no legitimate reason for the delay.

 

[Felix]

They delayed the area's über pro-rights lawyer more than 24 hours???

Just another reason to try scrapping the Virginia Firearms Transaction Program (VFTP) in favor of the National Instant Check System (NICS) for long guns this session. And if the sky doesn't fall, scrap it for everything else the following year.

Has anyone who's not part of administering the existing system (and sees a possible Commonwealth monetary gain) actually made a credible case for why VA's separate system should be retained? Other than Peter Nap who apparently doesn't like giving up the present Commonwealth check process but I haven't seen the specifics of why he feels that way.

 

[coondog22554]

Every time I call directly into the center after waiting for a few hours, they tell me I have a common name and it is causing the delays. I may have a common name, but my other identifying information such as social security number and birthdate aren't common when attached to my name.

And you could purchase a handgun every day of the year and they would expend the same man hours every day completing your approval. The stupidity of it all is what iritates me.

My average wait is three hours; the week before Christmas it was four days.

Instant background check my arse.

 

[celticredneck]

A year ago, I purchased two Marlin Model 60, .22s at a gun show and even using my CHP as one of the two Ids, I was delayed almost 6 hours.

 

[doug23838]

I am always delayed. And it's always 2+ hours, and sometimes 4 or more. Once I was delayed > 24 hours and had to attest that I hadn't committed any crimes since I started the criminal check process. ( you gotta love that logic.)

It is so bad, I would never buy a gun at a show on a Sunday. There's a chance the show would end and the vendor pack up before the VSP called back. I'm not going to take the chance.

At the last show, I did observe a customer talking to a vendor, and the customer had concerns that the check wouldn't come back before the show ended and he lived a long wa from the vendor. The vendor said "No problem, let's walk over to XXX arms, and journal the gun over to them, and have them do the xfer, if the check doesn't come back till Monday, you can go by their place and pick it up. We vendors do this for one another alot at shows."

 

[nuc65]

How many of you are experiencing a significant delay in having the state police do their thing when you purchase a firearm lately?

I typically have a delay of 2 or 3 days.

 

[peter nap]

They delayed the area's über pro-rights lawyer more than 24 hours???

Just another reason to try scrapping the Virginia Firearms Transaction Program (VFTP) in favor of the National Instant Check System (NICS) for long guns this session. And if the sky doesn't fall, scrap it for everything else the following year.

Has anyone who's not part of administering the existing system (and sees a possible Commonwealth monetary gain) actually made a credible case for why VA's separate system should be retained? Other than Peter Nap who apparently doesn't like giving up the present Commonwealth check process but I haven't seen the specifics of why he feels that way.

The reason is pretty simple. If you give the system to the Feds alone, they'll eventually push the origional Brady waiting period in (which is why Va went to our system in the first place), then add additional restrictions as the mood hits them.

BUT...just like a lot the things the new breed of OC with a CHP gun owners like...it won't really cause me to lose a lot of sleep. I own enough guns to last me a lifetime so if this goes through, I'll just stop buying over the counter. It's rare I do anyway.
Then when F2F becomes regulated and it will probably be because the Feds throw a bone to the CHiPpers, I'll stop buying period.

We'll see if these bills go somewhere.

There is a very distinct line drawn between the classes of gun owners. Those of you that like this type of bill are set in your opinion and so are the rest of us. That's why I'm not arguing about it. Neither side is going to change their minds.

Now this is an explanation Felix. You seem concerned about my reasoning. It isn't an invitation to debate. The subject is closed as far as my participation. Now we see how it moves along.

 

[Sangre]

I made a purchase mid-week in the summer, the wait was very short, around 5-10 minutes max.

 

[Felix]

Actually, I wasn't trying to debate the issue, Peter. I have a lot of respect for your homespun opinions and was interested in hearing your thoughts on what I might have overlooked. And once again, you came through in spades with an argument that makes sense if one is cynical about the fed government's motives.

I'll admit, I fall into that category as well.

Many thanks!

 

[sawah]

At gun shows, I'm familiar with a 20 min delay. At the store, about 15 minutes.

 

[TFred]

Every time I call directly into the center after waiting for a few hours, they tell me I have a common name and it is causing the delays. I may have a common name, but my other identifying information such as social security number and birthdate aren't common when attached to my name.

I am as certain as I can be that I am the only First Middle Last of me in the whole world. (You can't prove a negative: "there are no more...") There are a couple other First Last's of me. I've always been delayed at least 4 to 6 hours, and once overnight. It sounds to me like they just make up any excuse that might make you go away.

You'd think that with serious efforts to eliminate the program, they might just be a little motivated to make it work better. I guess that's the difference between Government and private industry...

TFred

 

[Jay]

Wow I had not idea you all had these delay issues.. Before coming down here from New Hampshire I frequently ran into delays. However I purchased a New Glock from a dealer in Lynchburg on a Friday Afternoon.. I was in and out of there within 20 minutes at the most and this includes me filling out the forms and the FFL processing it.

 

[mk4]

interesting to read everyone's experiences.
i've only made 3 otc purchases. for two, processing took 5-15 minutes, both of these were at a 'big' store. the third got delayed to the next day, but it was on earthquake day last year. it was a small, local store and just before they closed, the clerk called the vsp to check on the status. he was told that the vsp connection to nics was down because of the quake. got the approval right after the store opened the next morning.

 

[paramedic]

I have been very fortunate, my checks usually go through right away, but the last two times we have tried to buy one for my wife, we have had to wait at leat two days.

 

[cyras21]

I have a ccw and it still takes at least a day when I purchase a handgun.