Form 4 individual paper file Check cashed on April 7, 2021. 440 days ago and still waiting... call weekly and still pending
The end of this abortion of a process is at hand.So, to summarize...
1. After a year of no joy and frankly pissed that e-files were coming back in maybe 90-120 days, I reached out to my Senator's office.
2. My Senator's office reached out to the ATF legislative liaison who came back with the reply that I have been on NICS "Delay" since 31 Mar.
3. I could not be legitimately on Delay as I have zero adverse records in NICS and I had just passed a NICS on 16 Mar for a BA from Altus.
4. THE VERY SAME DAY, I found an email contact in the UPIN (VAF Office) of NICS and asked for some help in find who on the ATF transaction side of NICS I might be able to contact in order to find out why I'm on Delay. Note, you can appeal a Deny but have zero recourse for an endless delay (well, maybe a lawyer might be able to get something out of them via the courts).
5. A real live wire in VAF Office took the initiative and reached out across the organization to the department that handles AFT NICS transactions.
6. My friendly VAF guy replied ONE DAY AFTER NICS ADVISED THE ATF THAT I WAS ON DELAY, with info that my check was "recently" completed and a Proceed was sent back to the AFT.
7. Now...watch the timeline....I asked my friendly VAF guy what "recently" meant and he replied that it was the day he reached across to ask WTF was going on. Yeah, it was sitting under someone's box of donuts or something.
8. Now, my Senator's office reached out to directly confirm with the FBI/NICS that my background check was successfully completed and then forwarded that to the ATF.
9. Today, the ATF replied "I do show Mr. Baron23 was issued a “PROCEED” from FBI NICS. His application will now be sent to await final processing by a legal instruments examiner within the NFA Division."
Please note that nowhere did the ATF commit...or even estimate...the schedule to complete "final processing". Just "await" Fucking clowns.
I agreed with the Senator's office to give them 4 weeks and if we don't have a fucking stamp, we will rattle their cage yet again.
For me, two big take aways.....1) this is the anatomy of a utterly dysfunctional organization and broken process and people wonder why I fucking HATE government and; 2) if I didn't rattle their cage via my Senator's office, it may have been sitting out there for another year. Its too fucked up for words. Total FUBAR.
Hey, where is our resident ATF defender (or maybe even ATF employee)...come on, man. Explain to us how this is reasonable service for our tax dollar? Eh?
I'm not sure I agree with that Milehigh told me that they usually get them in one day but given everything going on lately its been more like 3-5 days. Three weeks....haven't heard of that at all. Do you have any specific data points...first hand knowledge of a a Form 3 taking three weeks?Eh, one day to three weeks is fairly standard.
Yes, more than once.I'm not sure I agree with that Milehigh told me that they usually get them in one day but given everything going on lately its been more like 3-5 days. Three weeks....haven't heard of that at all. Do you have any specific data points...first hand knowledge of a a Form 3 taking three weeks?
Cheers
How did you contact the FBI regarding your NICS check that was in limbo? I'm going through a similar situation now and when I call the ATF they are completely useless.The end of this abortion of a process is at hand.
After:
- engaging my Senator's office- provoking the FBI to finally run my Form 4 NICS check that they were sitting on for months (got to love that I for Instant in NICS, yeah?)- the FBI then sending it back to the AFT with a PROCEEDI called the ATF NFA branch today and a lovely and very nice young lady named Taylor said "oh, this is your lucky day...your Form 4 was approved yesterday" (not clear how that happened as yesterday was a Fed holiday but I'm not complaining).
Just a few days shy of 13 months and IMO it would have been well longer if we (me and my Senator's constituent services staff) didn't start pinging both the ATF and the FBI.
Now, Taylor did tell me that the ATF is still holding 8 months as their current average processing time for Form 4's....but she couldn't break out the efile data from paper form data and I suspect strongly that if you took the efiles out of the average, then it would be more like 12-14 months.
And this is what we pay our taxes for....FFS.
There is absolutely no published contact data for FBI NICS division that I could find.How did you contact the FBI regarding your NICS check that was in limbo? I'm going through a similar situation now and when I call the ATF they are completely useless.
Thanks brother, I'm gonna use that email address and see if they will help me.There is absolutely no published contact data for FBI NICS division that I could find.
So, I reached out to the VAF (this is the team for UPINs, right). They had an email address published.
View attachment 7896412
So, I wrote them...acknowledged that I understand that this has zero to do with their area of responsibility but asked if they could provide a contact name/data for who handles ATF NICS transactions. Son of a gun, I got a live wire who wrote back to me the next day that he/she reached out to the supervisor of that section who advised that my NICS check for ATF Form 4 was approved and a PROCEED sent back to the ATF....on the very same day we pinged them. sigh...it was probably sitting under a box of donuts for 3 months.
Now, understand that I did this as my Senator's office had gone to the ATF who advised that I was on NICS DELAY since end of March. Since I have zero arrest records and multiple security clearances as both mil officer and civilian this DELAY status simply could not be justified and apparently is was not insofar as soon as we pinged them it was suddenly approved. Oh, what a shock.
I would advise you to document your situation to your Senator's office and some constituent service staffer will reach out to the ATF Congressional liaison office contact. If you have no data/info at all as to where its hung up, they won't have much to work with so I'd start there, personally.
I attached a pdf of my Form 4.Thanks brother, I'm gonna use that email address and see if they will help me.
Did you include any other information in your email like your ATF transaction number, DOB, SSN, etc. when you initially wrote to them?
The end of this abortion of a process is at hand.
After:
- engaging my Senator's office- provoking the FBI to finally run my Form 4 NICS check that they were sitting on for months (got to love that I for Instant in NICS, yeah?)- the FBI then sending it back to the AFT with a PROCEEDI called the ATF NFA branch today and a lovely and very nice young lady named Taylor said "oh, this is your lucky day...your Form 4 was approved yesterday" (not clear how that happened as yesterday was a Fed holiday but I'm not complaining).
Just a few days shy of 13 months and IMO it would have been well longer if we (me and my Senator's constituent services staff) didn't start pinging both the ATF and the FBI.
Now, Taylor did tell me that the ATF is still holding 8 months as their current average processing time for Form 4's....but she couldn't break out the efile data from paper form data and I suspect strongly that if you took the efiles out of the average, then it would be more like 12-14 months.
And this is what we pay our taxes for....FFS.
Dead Air Nomad-Ti:Dead Air Nomad-Ti:
Form 3: Delivered to Dealer on 5/29/2021 8:27:40 PM
Form 4 (Single Shot): Tax Stamp Cashed on 6/8/2021
Mine was also nomad ti. Just picked it up yesterday. I will be strictly using efile from now on.Dead Air Nomad-Ti:
Form 4 (Single Shot): Tax stamp cashed on 6/8/22
Approval: yesterday 6/21/22
379 days from tax stamp to approval
If they can’t get it processed in a year they should have to automatically approve it @ day 365!
That’s what the Hearing Protection Act was going to do. 4473 and simple NICS check. But Paul Ryan (like a nutless pussy) shelved the vote when he had enough votes in 2018, after the Vegas false flag.How about 3 days like a NICS check for a firearm? That's what the FBI checks when they run the so-called "background check."
EDIT: In a perfect world, we wouldn't have any of this silliness to deal with. We could walk in any gun store and buy a can.
Yep, certified on 2/7 and still no word.Anyone else still waiting on eForm Form 4 approval from early February? There is no rhyme or reason to the way these are approved. Some have been approved in 30 days or less, and others are going on month 5+
Anyone else still waiting on eForm Form 4 approval from early February? There is no rhyme or reason to the way these are approved. Some have been approved in 30 days or less, and others are going on month 5+
Mine was denied in late May- certified Feb 10. I figure that if my dealer hadn’t fucked up id have been approved then…Anyone else still waiting on eForm Form 4 approval from early February? There is no rhyme or reason to the way these are approved. Some have been approved in 30 days or less, and others are going on month 5+
If you got the email with your stamp my understanding is you can get it now.eFile 4/4/22
Approved 6/23/22
How long does it take before I can pick it up from my FFL?
Sorry to everyone still waiting. If it makes you feel any better I waited almost a year for my 1st one.
Yep, like was mentioned... If you got the ATF email with the stamp, then you can go to your dealer and get it immediately following. Your dealer should have received a copy of the same email.eFile 4/4/22
Approved 6/23/22
How long does it take before I can pick it up from my FFL?
Sorry to everyone still waiting. If it makes you feel any better I waited almost a year for my 1st one.
128 today still waitingToday is 120 still waiting
Oh cool. I certified 2 that same say. Maybe I'll get lucky too.eFile 4/4/22
Approved 6/23/22
How long does it take before I can pick it up from my FFL?
Sorry to everyone still waiting. If it makes you feel any better I waited almost a year for my 1st one.
So, it was the FBI? NICS? If so, that means your background check was done with PROCEED then it’s back w the ATF do do whatever the fuck they do.@Baron23, thanks again for providing the FBI contact info. I heard back from a nice woman this AM informing me that my application was APPROVED.
Now I did contact my Congressman last week and his staff did send an inquiry to the ATF and FBI regarding my application. So not sure if it is all coincidence and it was going to be approved today regardless. But with my luck, if I hadn't pursued it on my end I probably would be waiting God knows how much longer.
I woke up this AM to two emails in my inbox. One was from the FBI NICS division in response to the email I sent them. It said I was approved and to contact the ATF. The second was an automated email from ATF telling me I was approved and had a pdf attached of my tax stamp. This was an eForm application.So, it was the FBI? NICS? If so, that means your background check was done with PROCEED then it’s back w the ATF do do whatever the fuck they do.
Or was it ATF who said your form 4 was approved?
Haha. This waiting sucks…...... back of the line! New fish!....
Efile - 136 days...
Eventually, the new system will be slower than the old system. Theoretically, electronic systems allow for increased efficiency- each examiner can process more files per day than with the paper system. Some bean counter will see this increased efficiency and reduce staffing. But, being bean counters, the math will not add up and the new electronic system will be worse than the old paper system. Count on it.2 weeks ago people were arguing with me that e form approvals are 90 days and my response was that was true a month ago but now they're 4 months and they're trending towards 5 months. I think the mean average of people waiting on E forms are within a week to a week and a half of being 5 month approvals. I wonder when it is going to cap out? 5-6 month approvals? A year ago I was getting paper 4's back in 8 months
You're bringing me down with your negativity.Eventually, the new system will be slower than the old system. Theoretically, electronic systems allow for increased efficiency- each examiner can process more files per day than with the paper system. Some bean counter will see this increased efficiency and reduce staffing. But, being bean counters, the math will not add up and the new electronic system will be worse than the old paper system. Count on it.