23 replies to this topic

[snipershot1944]

Please excuse these questions, however I'm now at day 84 in my first NFA transfer process with the ATF. Most of you guys have been through it more than once, and I have a few questions.

Is it normal for your ATF examiner not to return your phone calls after you leave a message on voice mail as they request? (more than one time)

Is it normal for your ATF examiner to ask you to call back the next day because he wants to check something (like why your FBI fingerprint cards still aren't back) and when you do call back, you find out that the examiner will be in a meeting all day that following day?

Why does it take 90 days for the FBI to run your fingerprints when it took less than 45 days when I applied for and received my CCP? I only paid the government $50 for my CCP, but $200 for my NFA permit, so shouldn't the NFA process have priority?

Why do you have to go through the same lame process every time you buy another NFA weapon? I plan to send in the paperwork for a C&R MP 40 Monday, so shouldn't I be able to piggyback on the M1921A that is in process now?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Sniper

[Dan99Hawk]

I`d gladly go thru all that and then some. A year wait would be fine with me even, however in Illinois it`ll never happen so maybe that`ll put some things in perspective

[snipershot1944]

Dan-if your forefathers in Chicago had not misused those same M1921's, you might not be in that situation (just kidding, you could always move to VA).

Sniper

[full auto 45]

You could always move next door to Indiana. We can have it all here!

[Norm]

If I'm not mistaken, by day 90 they SHOULD be able to tell you why your transfer is still pending (or denied .)

In my case, I received my fingerprint cards back (just at the 90 day limit), because I forgot to put my birthday on them. ( Mad at myself! DOH!! )

Also, my C3 had written the serial number of my weapon sloppy. They thought that a "G" was a "6."

After looking at my copies of the form 4's that I made BEFORE I mailed them in, I was in agreement that the SN was written down wrong. All this added about 6 weeks to the wait.

Good luck!

Norm

PS: I always called this number 1-202-927-8330. I always got my info on the spot; just gave them my name and the weapon SN.

[snipershot1944]

Yep, I tried that. They just keep telling me it's pending, unless I can catch the guy working on my file, in which case he says that the prints aren't back yet.

Sniper

[Norm]

Get your class 3 dealer to call. He can get more info from them.

Did you make copies of the form 4 and fingerprint cards before you sent them in? If you did, check all of the info on them to see if there is any info incorrect or missing.

Odds are, you will get your form 4 and/or fingerprint cards back in the mail with a post-it-note saying what is wrong, how to correct and where to send it back to. It will then take a few weeks to clear.

Good luck!

Norm

[96lt1ss]

Like Dan said 90 weeks would be ok with me if Illinois allowed them. The worst part is I'm 2 miles from the Wisconsin border where full auto, SBR, and silencers are allowed.

Time to move to Kenosha...I can live with being called a cheese head

[Z3BigDaddy]

My buddies transfer took over a year on one of his guns.... it ended up really funky in the end as in having to alter the serial number, prefix, to reflect what they insisted it should have been... It was one strange transfer... But I'm sure yours isn't going to be that extreme...

[Sgt]

Ok, I'm happy that we can have these toys at all, but I still wonder what takes so long in a transfer. Isn't this just a background check. What is it about the process that takes so long? The filing? The stacks of applications? What?

[Norm]

QUOTE

What is it about the process that takes so long? The filing? The stacks of applications? What?

It's the 55 Federal holidays and coffee breaks!

Sorry, T-Man (I coundn't resist )

Norm

[normandy123]

Its the 55 days of holiday and coffee breaks that keep us working for the taxpayer....at the low wages...usually 30% behind the private sector...
the days off give us more time to contemplate a second mortgage on the house to buy a thompson...or any other NFA toy....

[Sgt]

LOL!!

[Norm]

Nomandy123,

I was only joking about you government (federal) workers. I DO think that the leaders in the government have you guys doing WAY to much paperwork.

I think paperwork is the government's own worst enemy. It sucks the life out of everyone!

Man, I hate paperwork!

Norm

[Norm]

QUOTE

Will John Kerry issue a press release about his new plan for spinning straw into gold?

John Kerry- he seems to always have "a plan."

[snipershot1944]

Typical group of govt. employees. You ask a series of simple, direct questions, and everyone goes off on 10 tangents, and never answer your question!

Sniper

[gijive]

QUOTE (PhilOhio @ Oct 17 2004, 11:12 AM)

Anybody still fail to understand why running a 60-second national agency name check on the computer takes four to six months?

PhilOhio,

Great piece about federal bureaucracy!. I feel it necessary, however, to clarify for some list members the misconception about the name-check, background information portion of the process. As a fingerprint examiner, currently employed by a federal agency, the fingerprint card submission and background check is, unfortunately, not as simple as a computer name check like the Brady Bill requirements.

The fingerprint cards (blue applicant type) are forwarded to the FBI and an actual fingerprint search is made through the criminal and civil files to determine if the applicant has ever been fingerprinted before and for what reason. Since the FBI prioritzes the arrest fingerprint cards (red colored arrest card) received from law enforcement agencies as first on the list, the blue applicant type cards are lower priority and don't get searched as quickly as the arrest type cards. This is why the NFA Branch allows the 90 day window to the FBI to process the applicant type cards. If it was simply a computer name check, obviously it wouldn't take that long.

Hope this helps clarify the somewhat frustrating delay in the process. I realize you were being "tongue-in-cheek" and I am not trying to contradict your excellent post.

[Norm]

Why doesn't the ATF use AFIS (along with fingerprint cards?)

Wouldn't this speed up the process?

I work in an industry that requires many random fingerprint checks. The company has an AFIS machine, and they send the information directly to the FBI in a matter of minutes.

[gijive]

Norm,

The Civillian fingerprint file isn't completely computerized yet, so they can't use AFIS for the civillian file, just the criminal file. They do scan the fingerprint cards into AFIS, once they are mailed to the FBI. It's just that they aren't a priority as I explained earlier. Besides, if the card isn't clearly recorded it still has to be searched manually and a fingerprint examiner still has to make the final comparison if a previous card is located in the file.

[PATHFINDER]

QUOTE (snipershot1944 @ Oct 17 2004, 12:45 PM)

Typical group of govt. employees. You ask a series of simple, direct questions, and everyone goes off on 10 tangents, and never answer your question!

HA! Now thats farging funny!
Chris
Currently with DHS