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There is a lot of gray areas of FFL transfers that many people do not think about. Some FFL dealers will give back a gun to the seller to hold it until background check comes back, and when background check clears both buyer and seller need to meet at the same gun shop and the seller passes the gun to the buyer at the gun store. Some FFL dealers will hold the gun until background check clears. Some will even hold the gun until background check clears, and if the background check gets denied, will require to run background check on the seller before they give gun back to the seller ( I am aware of one gun shop doing this). It is somewhat messy system and it is always the best to plan for all possibilities.
 
...Something I have been wondering about is what happens if the buyer does not receive approval? Would the seller then give the money back or tough luck?? And what happens with the gun shop that actually has the gun, do they keep it or?

My understanding is that once in the FFL'S bound book, and in there possession, the firearm is the FFL'S.

To return the firearm to the original seller, the original seller must pay for, and clear a background check.

The original seller could return $ to the original buyer, minus fees. Perhaps minus time $ due to lost sale opportunities and more return trips.

Alternatively the buyer perhaps might ask the FFL to sell the firearm on a consignment type arraignment. The buyer should expect 60% or thereabouts from consignment.

Pretty rare occurrence, never had experienced such, don't recall folks posting up in regards to such occuring. Surely it has, just don't recall.
 
Great discussion. Thanks everyone. I'm a "what if" guy and like to be prepared. Driving to Salem or Portland to buy a handgun sounds easy. More likely I would need to make 2 trips.
 
This gets muddled quite a bit, the way the law is currently written (in regards to pistols) is that there is a waiting period for the county you reside in to do the background check.

If the FFL doesn't hear back from the county In question within 10 working days, not counting the day of the purchase. They are supposed to relinquish the paid for pistol at that time.
Yep I had to wait 11 business days to get my single shot Ruger wrangler, what a joke.
What makes me mad about this waiting period is I have a daughter that could need a firearm for self defense at some point and 10 days might be to long. Fortunately she has a father who wouldn't let that happen.
 
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I bought a semi shotgun in Wa last fall, picked it up the following morning as the system was closed for the day. Just bought a semi auto pistol two weeks ago (private sale using WGS shop in Tacoma) I picked the gun up on day ten with the background approval. How it worked (sorry if its redundant) We met there, I checked the gun out and paid the seller, he left and the shop held the gun until the approval came back. I then picked up the gun.
Something I have been wondering about is what happens if the buyer does not receive approval? Would the seller then give the money back or tough luck?? And what happens with the gun shop that actually has the gun, do they keep it or?

As a seller, once the buyer has paid me, I'm not returning the money unless the firearm is not as advertised. If the buyer doesn't get approved, that's their issue to solve because I no longer consider the firearm mine.

I'm also not taking the firearm back.

The FFL would have already done ATF paperwork to take it into their inventory and perhaps paperwork for an abandoned firearm I suppose.
 
My understanding is that once in the FFL'S bound book, and in there possession, the firearm is the FFL'S.

To return the firearm to the original seller, the original seller must pay for, and clear a background check.

The original seller could return $ to the original buyer, minus fees. Perhaps minus time $ due to lost sale opportunities and more return trips.

Alternatively the buyer perhaps might ask the FFL to sell the firearm on a consignment type arraignment. The buyer should expect 60% or thereabouts from consignment.

Pretty rare occurrence, never had experienced such, don't recall folks posting up in regards to such occuring. Surely it has, just don't recall.
That makes total sense. Hopefully no one has that happen.
 
That makes total sense. Hopefully no one has that happen.
For some reason I just got a delayed status on a pcc I already paid for and now trying to get ahold of someone at Osp to figure out what the problem is. I just moved back to Oregon from Montana a year ago and I bought plenty of guns in Montana with no problems. I have no criminal record. So im interested to see whats going on. Been waiting for a pcc for awhile so I am excited to get on the range. Just updated my license to Oregon not long before getting this so wondering if thats what's holding me up. I will call their number daily until I hear from them.
 
For some reason I just got a delayed status on a pcc I already paid for and now trying to get ahold of someone at Osp to figure out what the problem is. I just moved back to Oregon from Montana a year ago and I bought plenty of guns in Montana with no problems. I have no criminal record. So im interested to see whats going on. Been waiting for a pcc for awhile so I am excited to get on the range. Just updated my license to Oregon not long before getting this so wondering if thats what's holding me up. I will call their number daily until I hear from them.
True delay status. As in the FFL told you that is what your status is?

Or, delay due to the queue being in the thousands?

When did you fill out the 4473?
 
To keep this going so I can be included in understanding the process in Oregon. Many buyers and sellers travel to sellers town to an agreed ffl to compete sale. Buyer doesn't want to come back later once check is complete. They want their $$ and go home. Does FFL charge to hold gun or make seller take home to wait. Do some ffls deny holding someone else's gun (what's In it for them?)

I have a couple guns to sell and need to be educated on processes.
All sales I have made went like this.

Met buyer at ffl and buyer looked over gun

Buyer pays me for gun and pays ffl for background check and fee

I walk with money and ffl holds gun until buyers background check clears.

I never had a buyers background check not clear but if one hadn't cleared, I would have offered to return the buyers money minus the fees it would have cost to get the gun back from FFL. I would not have been legally obligated to return the buyers money but that's how I would roll.
 
All sales I have made went like this.

Met buyer at ffl and buyer looked over gun

Buyer pays me for gun and pays ffl for background check and fee

I walk with money and ffl holds gun until buyers background check clears.

I never had a buyers background check not clear but if one hadn't cleared, I would have offered to return the buyers money minus the fees it would have cost to get the gun back from FFL. I would not have been legally obligated to return the buyers money but that's how I would roll.
This is the exact process that I have experienced in Wash. After the buyer's money is in my hand, I'm done unless I get a call back from the FFL dealer some time later. Which so far has not happened. I'm thinking that most buyers who arrange to do this beforehand already know about the potential inconvenience involved and are willing to suffer it. I'm also thinking that most people who know they won't pass a BGC won't go to this trouble in advance.
 
True delay status. As in the FFL told you that is what your status is?

Or, delay due to the queue being in the thousands?

When did you fill out the 4473?
Ya I filled out the paperwork ect...got a call from the ffl that said my bgc came back with a delayed status...they gave me a number to call for OSP that you can leave a voice mail for and they are supposed to call you back..never had this problem before but then again a bought all my firearms in Montana and just recently got my ODL...so im just waiting to hear back from them at the moment. I have not ever had a problem before and have no criminal history minus some really old speeding tickets from when I was younger...like 20 years ago.. anyway I'm sure it will be good..
 
As a buyer I always get delayed because I am not an US citizen. I always arrange with sellers to pay when my background check clears and seller keeps the gun until then. If seller is not OK with that, I move on. In fact, I am currently waiting for my background check to clear for a private purchase that I arranged through WAguns. The seller is holding the rifle.
 
As a buyer I always get delayed because I am not an US citizen. I always arrange with sellers to pay when my background check clears and seller keeps the gun until then. If seller is not OK with that, I move on. In fact, I am currently waiting for my background check to clear for a private purchase that I arranged through WAguns. The seller is holding the rifle.
The FFLs I have dealt with don't allow seller to hold the firearm while buyers background check is in process.
 
As a buyer I always get delayed because I am not an US citizen. I always arrange with sellers to pay when my background check clears and seller keeps the gun until then. If seller is not OK with that, I move on. In fact, I am currently waiting for my background check to clear for a private purchase that I arranged through WAguns. The seller is holding the rifle.
With respect, as seller I'd be the one who was moving on with this deal. I'll tell you why. Because the commitment to the deal is incomplete. The period of time I'm holding the gun for the buyer is lost time with respect to finding another buyer who was fully ready to commit. And give me my money now. The holding time of the seller leaves the buyer time to waffle, find another deal and back out. I'm not saying you're doing that; but that's why I as a seller wouldn't be interested in the type of sale you practice.

The FFLs I have dealt with don't allow seller to hold the firearm while buyers background check is in process.
This makes sense to me. Once you give the gun over to the dealer to run the background check, the deal is then in process.

Mine does opposite. They return firearm to seller if background check is delayed.
Never heard of this. Maybe they have a storage problem. To return the gun for a failed background check, that would be normal. But to return a gun for a delayed BGC that is still in process, that doesn't make sense. Because so many BGC's eventually go through. For one thing, it's an inconvenience to the seller to make them come back down again to give the gun over for transfer once the buyer's BGC has completed. I see other problems with this.
 
The FFLs I have dealt with don't allow seller to hold the firearm while buyers background check is in process.
Don't know if I posted this before, but once the gun goes into the FFL's hands, it goes no where without a response on the background check. I have dealt (once) with Fisherman's and they won't let the seller leave until the background is complete. My opinion is that they don't put it in their book and this makes it easy for them to skirt the law...
That's why I won't do another transfer at Fisherman's. It's also an example that some FFL's aren't as up front as they should be.
 
Don't know if I posted this before, but once the gun goes into the FFL's hands, it goes no where without a response on the background check. I have dealt (once) with Fisherman's and they won't let the seller leave until the background is complete. My opinion is that they don't put it in their book and this makes it easy for them to skirt the law...
That's why I won't do another transfer at Fisherman's. It's also an example that some FFL's aren't as up front as they should be.
I just purchased used Tikka and my background check got delayed. The FFL returned the gun to the seller and told us to come back when the background check clears. Some FFL hold guns and some do not.
 
I just purchased used Tikka and my background check got delayed. The FFL returned the gun to the seller and told us to come back when the background check clears. Some FFL hold guns and some do not.
I'm get that. I'm not an FFL so my following comment may be wrong, but it's my understanding that the FFL is supposed to take possession of the firearm during the background check for nothing else besides retaining possession of a firearm that may have a trail and shouldn't be transferred.
Maybe someone with more knowledge about this subject can comment?
 
I'm get that. I'm not an FFL so my following comment may be wrong, but it's my understanding that the FFL is supposed to take possession of the firearm during the background check for nothing else besides retaining possession of a firearm that may have a trail and shouldn't be transferred.
Maybe someone with more knowledge about this subject can comment?
I have heard of it being done both ways before this thread came along but all the FFLs I have dealt with have kept the firearm. Like many other FFL regulations FFLs interpret them differently.
 
I just purchased an old Tikka 658 and my background check took 2 days. FFL guys gave the rifle back to the owner and we went back to them and took the rifle after the background check cleared. I paid to the owner when I got the rifle and at the same time I also paid $25 for the background check. This place does not charge for background checks until it is all cleared.
 

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