Apparently you can at Academy Sports and Outdoors (and they will cut you off if you do).

Last year I bought several Shield Plus's at Academy along with several other brands and models of handguns. Some of the Shields I gifted to family members (perfectly legal) and some I kept for myself. Some I sold or traded and changed my mind and bought another one later. Academy is the only real gun store in my small town and with their sale prices and Academy credit card discounts I can get pretty good deals.

Recently I had ordered online a CZ 75D PCR, and when it came in I went through the usual process of filling out the 4473 and showing my concealed weapons permit to avoid the NICS phone call. After all that, the sales rep looks at his computer and says "Academy doesn't feel comfortable selling you this gun". Well, needless to say we had to undo the purchase.

I have owned both a Type 01 and Type 03 FFL so I know the rules. Knowing that there were no laws broken or BATF rules violated I wrote a formal letter to Academy corporate asking for a justification for their action. I got a phone call on a weekend from a "compliance officer" telling me that Academy will no longer sell me a gun since I bought too many of the same gun (Shield Plus). I asked for their response in writing but never received one. I wrote another formal letter to Academy corporate, asking again for a formal response with negative results to date.

The only BATF rule on multiple purchases is a requirement for the licensed seller to submit an ATF Form 3310.4 when two or more guns are purchased within a five working day period. Only one of my purchases met that criteria when I purchased two Shields at the same time (one for my house and one for my car as I explained to the Academy sales person).

Needless to say, I no longer shop at Academy for anything.

quote:

Originally posted by les45:
Apparently you can at Academy Sports and Outdoors (and they will cut you off if you do).

Well, that's disappointing.

Looks like they are adopting a Dick's sporting goods business model!!!

I'm surprised these assholes haven't notified the FATF, already, "Hey, this guy has been buying too many guns".

A big chain in MN got hammered with a suit from the AG over straw purchases including several that showed up at crime scenes. I think they've adopted a similar strategy, although I don't know what the magic number is.

quote:

Originally posted by les45:
I bought too many of the same gun (Shield Plus)

That sounds more specific than just overall quantity of firearms you bought.

I wonder whether this could be more about channel conflict policies (either Academy's own policies, or restrictions put on them by manufacturers or distributors) rather than concern with BATF issues?

You have to do extra 4473 paperwork if you buy too many at once. A store cutting you off is just their dumb policy, no law stopping you.

If I buy one gun a year since I turned 21, that would be, let's see, 43 guns. Nope, I need 43 more.

Corporate lawyers playing CYA.

Sadly I can almost understand it these days. But the next step is not selling them at all.

quote:

"Academy doesn't feel comfortable selling you this gun."

Are you certain that Academy made this decision and it was not the person at the gun counter acting on their own initiative as the filter? Frankly, buying many multiple copies of a relatively inexpensive gun at the same time would raise a red flag with a lot of dealers (including our own shop), especially if the counter person doing the looking wasn't a part of that original transaction process.

Moreover, if that inevitable ATF form 3310.4 and its addendum (dependent upon just how many guns were part of that transaction) that your original transaction generated raised some eyebrows back at ATF, and that 3-letter agency subsequently contacted this store to inquire about that transaction, yeah I can easily imagine that they would now be more than a little 'uncomfortable' about conducting any further business with you. No one likes getting unwanted attention from ATF, not dealers or gun buyers.

quote:

Originally posted by monoblok:

quote:

"Academy doesn't feel comfortable selling you this gun."

Are you certain that Academy made this decision and it was not the person at the gun counter acting on their own initiative as the filter? Frankly, buying many multiple copies of a relatively inexpensive gun at the same time would raise a red flag with a lot of dealers (including our own shop), especially if the counter person doing the looking wasn't a part of that original transaction process.

Moreover, if that inevitable ATF form 3310.4 and its addendum (dependent upon just how many guns were part of that transaction) that your original transaction generated raised some eyebrows back at ATF, and that 3-letter agency subsequently contacted this store to inquire about that transaction, yeah I can easily imagine that they would now be more than a little 'uncomfortable' about conducting any further business with you. No one likes getting unwanted attention from ATF, not dealers or gun buyers.

I only did one buy that would have required a 3310.4 and that was for two guns at the same time. All the others were spread out over a year or more. And it was Academy corporate that shut me off and not the local guys. I guess the thing that pisses me off the most about this whole deal is that Academy will not respond in writing to my two letters to explain their position and why they did what they did. I've slowed down on my gun buying anyway so whether I buy another gun from them is immaterial to me. Lately I've gotten my best deals from Armslist preferred vendors who do not charge sales tax or credit card fees.

Interesting. Rural King locally has a policy to run a NICS check whether you have a permit or not. The law says they don't need to, but corporate covers itself. So, I don't shop RKGuns anymore.

Do you deal with the same employee most of the time or just whomever happens to be standing around?

And I wonder if that should make a difference.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
Do you deal with the same employee most of the time or just whomever happens to be standing around?

And I wonder if that should make a difference.

I dealt with three or four different sales reps over the years. It wasn't the local people who did this as they didn't understand what was going on either. They said they had never seen Academy corporate reject a gun sale. It was probably some algorithm in their system but they refuse to tell me in writing the real basis for their decision not to sell.

I'm sitting on a federal grand jury and we heard a straw purchase case and one of the red flags that stood out to me was one person buying several of the same gun, like 4 or 5 Glock 19's at one time. If its a red flag to me its probably a red flag to Academy. Since out of control liberal democrats want to sue gun manufacturers or gunshops despite the fact they follow federal/state laws regarding firearms Academy is probably just trying to protect themselves. Not saying i agree with what they're doing.

quote:

Originally posted by arcwelder:
You have to do extra 4473 paperwork if you buy too many at once. A store cutting you off is just their dumb policy, no law stopping you.

you , as in the buyer?


teh buyer does no extra paperwork for buying one or one hundred firearms unless there is a sate specific limit w/ exemptions (VA for example has a one handgun a month law, with lots of exemptions)


the dealer, in this case Academy) does have to do the mentioned 3310,

which, if they are using laptops or pads to do the paperwork, is almost completely automatic,


bass/cabelas has a program that recognizes trends, and will either ask you (or prompt the sales clerk) to ask you to apply for a Credit Card,
or a flag that it may be a potential straw purchase, which can be overridden by a manager,

I put a limit on myself many years ago.

One trip to the car is my limit on guns, no more.

So maybe
Two rifles, two shot guns and two or three pistols.

I adopted the same rule...

...And then I bought one of those folding cart things.