I’m hoping to get a better understanding of options. I recently purchased a shiny brand butt spanking new $1000 pistol and thought I’d try to go local for my transfer instead of using tried and true dealers half an hour away. The local store is a pawn shop/gun store and they sent their copy of the FFL to the out of state dealer quickly. All seemed good. My pistol arrived and the shop tells me they can’t transfer my pistol because in the brief time between my out of state dealer shipment and the local dealer’s receipt the local store was bought by a new owner and they are “waiting for a copy of their FFL license.” I couldn’t get them to explain if it was a new application or simply waiting for a piece of paper. When asked they tell me it could last days or weeks or who knows... Hmmm. What next? Am I screwed with no option but to use patience I also don’t have custody of or can I ha e it shipped to a other store? They tell me this is completely normal and happens all the time to which I replied I’ve never encountered this in 50 years. Appreciate any info proffered from the few details available to me.

Not FFL, obviously, but sounds like you'll just have to wait it out.

I had a transaction going through a pawn shop years ago, and when I went to go pick up the gun, counter guy told me the business owner accidentally let his FFL license expire and I had to wait on the renewal. Gun sat in his shop the whole time, but in my case it only took a few more days.

A renewal and new application are two different situations. A lapsed renewal can be dealt with by a letter from the ATF allowing them to do transactions while waiting on the renewal.

A new application can take...a while. I would inquire as to what license the firearm is currently in the books for. They can't have firearms just sitting without being logged in to an A&D book. If there is a current license for the premises and is logged in, that licensee should do your transfer. If there is no current license or letter for the premises, they really should not have accepted the firearm.

If all else fails, a call to your local ATF field office may shed some light.

Call ATF NOW before everything goes south.

Go here and look for the business name:
https://www.atf.gov/firearms/l...-licensees-ffls-2017

Now go here and plug in the license number and see if it’s current:
https://fflezcheck.atf.gov/fflezcheck/

That will tell you if they have a license or not.

If they have firearms they will be under an FFL, it’s possible they could have closed out their FFL and transferred all the firearms to an individual until the new license is approved (at least for ones they owned) but I doubt the ATF would let them do that with a large amount of guns. They may have changed owners and applied for a new license but I’d give them a bunch of grief until I got my firearm, they should not have agreed to receive it if they were changing owners. If their license expired the ATF can issue an LOA to operate under while they wait for their license.
If you don’t get anywhere with them call the local ATF offfice and ask to talk to an IOI and tell them what’s going on. They may or may not care, depends on who you get.

quote:

Originally posted by greco:
Call ATF NOW before everything goes south.

Ummm, why?

ATF will have no information to pass, nor will they take any information in this event. It makes about as much sense as those who send their gun to a gunsmith, then when they aren't satisfied with the wait, they contact ATF and try to report the gun "stolen".

There is no USC that covers this as a criminal act. There is no regulatory directive that covers this. Calling ATF is pointless. License expiration is common, and it is not illegal for the place to have a "large amount of guns" (whatever that is). That just have to cease doing new business until such a time as their license is renewed, or a temporary permit is put into place.

What you basically have here is a civil issue between the OP and the store. They made a civil agreement with you to do the transfer of the firearm, they got shipped the firearm, and now they can't follow through on the agreement.

just be patient,

ATF Licensing is part of ATF but works on their time table, not anyone else's

the folks you had send out the license should have told you that was happening, unless it was a sudden change of ownership, (that sometimes happens, had a local shop change owners 4 times in about 6 years)

contacting ATF would be a waste, they likely would not give you any information since you are not on either license,

Thanks for the input. Apparently it was purchased in the short time between send their FFL and receiving the transfer, about a week. Got a call from them and talked further. They said it on the way.