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what happens when you buy a gun online and have it shipped to your FFL, but then you dont pass the NICS check?

You do not get the gun, it creates a sticky situation since it was paid for. I would ship it back to the seller if they would take it and charge the buyer shipping costs plus a fee for doing that. I'm not sure what else to do, the buyer could not have anyone else pick up the gun since that would be a straw purchase.

Agree with the above.

Very few options available to the FFL:

Send it back to the seller.
Buy it from the Customer.
Sell it for the Customer.
Hold it while the Customer goes through the appeal process.

The last two times I purchased a firearm from a local brick and mortar store, my NICS was delayed two days (but approved in both cases). I have a security clearance with a government agency, and they apparently want to make sure that its okay for me to be buying weapons. I've never bought a firearm online before.

I'm interested in a specific target pistol that I found on Gunbrokers, so I sent a message to the store that posted the listing, asking what would happen if, for some reason, my NICS was denied. I received an emailed reply within fifteen minutes. Here is his reply:

If for some reason you were denied, then we would refund to you the price of the pistol minus any fee that we have incurred because of the sale. Gunbroker charges us auction listing fee and if we took a credit card, we would charge you the cc fee. Also, you would have to pay for return shipping.

This all seems reasonable to me. I would suggest that if you are interested in a specific purchase, send a message to the person (or store) listing the piece you are interested in. That way there won't be any surprises.

Since the gun would not have been "delivered" to the end customer, it could be sent back to the seller and sold again as "new". It's reasonable for the seller to ask for compensation for his actual expenses (shipping, CC Fees, FFL costs, etc.) as well as some reasonable "restocking fee" for his efforts, but a huge penalty would not be ok. IMHO, YMMV.

RoyGBiv wrote:Since the gun would not have been "delivered" to the end customer, it could be sent back to the seller and sold again as "new". It's reasonable for the seller to ask for compensation for his actual expenses (shipping, CC Fees, FFL costs, etc.) as well as some reasonable "restocking fee" for his efforts, but a huge penalty would not be ok. IMHO, YMMV.

Yup, but always ask before you lay out your cash. Some place are very serious about their 'No Returns' policy.

FilmMkr wrote:The last two times I purchased a firearm from a local brick and mortar store, my NICS was delayed two days (but approved in both cases). I have a security clearance with a government agency, and they apparently want to make sure that its okay for me to be buying weapons.

People with security clearences getting NICS delays seems to be a common issue. The best explanation that I've heard is that having a current security clearance involves regular checks of your criminal history with the FBI, and this can send up a red flag with NICS. Apparently if your FFL is persistent and insists on being put through to an NICS supervisor (an actual FBI agent, not just someone who answers the phone), the delay can be lifted.

Getting a TX CHL gets you around this issue of course.