OK on day 39 Friday and it's killing me why??
Not my first time for NFA items, but is first time for e-forms, coupled with I don't like to be in or perceived to be in any violation / infraction. (the burr under my saddle is the verbiage of a blanket SBR of any pistol with a brace that they have used).
NO !!! I don't expect my door to be busted in with a FBI HRT team with a ATF or two agents stacked outside while a team of US Marshals poised to drag me away in irons after shooting my dog. Or my application to be used as a sole source for charges, that already has been decided on with a Supreme Court ruling in 1968. Ruled unconstitutional in the favor of Hayes.
Finally broke down, called NFA Branch today. I went out of my way to be nice with the Lady I spoke to, stated I know that really she couldn't tell me anything but submitted/processing.
She brought up the shift of estimated processing time of 30 to 40 days I mentioned I was aware of the change, it's a guide they attempt to meet. Also that I knew my application would be up soon, my concern was if everything was as it needed to be for the examiner to adjudicate disposition in a efficient manner. She went out of her way to validate that the digital documents/ fingerprints was in a usable status. No glaring issues with the forms. Then I mentioned that I know they are swamped as well as short staffed. Also that my last understanding was they was authorized 16 examiners from years ago. She alluded that that number was increased (20ish) prior to e-forms coming back online for the second time, but because of the hiring process they simply have not seen any real increase in help. We never discussed how many examiners the branch had but rather if at full staffing level. I expressed my remorse for them as a department, and understanding that the hiring process is so slow and difficult within any US Federal Government position given security clearances, background checks etc. I further stated they are pretty much in a pickle with the release of the pistol brace rule and a mass influx of application. Then she mentioned the latest IRS hiring and I replied in a joking manner yeah too bad ya'll shifted from the Treasury department years ago, ya could have swiped some of the new hires to help. She giggled and agreed with me, really seemed to put her in a good mood. And then we discussed the e-forms system itself very briefly on the end user visibility and abilities. I thanked her for her time and efforts. Which honestly the call was very much quicker that it took for me to type this out
No I don't sit logged into eforms checking because of reducing the bandwidth, I don't want the system to bog down, LOL that being said I use and abuse my e-mail checking to see if they need something from me to process . I'll usually check e-forms after their normal hours to see if approved or a message was sent in the event that the e-mail gods decided to work against me.
Typing this seems to help with my anticipation.
While I don't have much if any faith with the ATF in certain aspects, I do have extreme faith in the folks working there (NFA Branch) to do their jobs, be fair, and be professional while processing a application within a timely fashion. In the end of all this if I get approved or whatever the status within a 9 month window it will be the fastest I've ever received a form back from them. These long wait times we experience is always the fact that they are understaffed not because they chose to be, simply because of the hiring process. If it is modified it would actually be to our detriment having unqualified folks handling tax documents is not a good thing. Before somebody pipes in well no tax was collected these application is still a tax document and will always be.
Thanks to everyone for allowing me to post this as a therapeutic.
As I know that really a NICS background check only takes 5 min or less when it's not crashing or down for maintenance which also adds to the anticipation. The other great side I see is that with e-foms is that the system isn't bogged down by the examiners having to enter data into the NFRTR which speeds up their processing.
Hopefully some or all will see the humor I've attempted even if poorly delivered while sharing some of my discovery of the issues from the other side of the application process.
Like I have seen Dogtown Tom (the Fine Texan that he is, based on what I have seen from his post I have respect for him thus far) has stated the NFA branch folks aren't the enemy, they are human. We as a group need to remember that when checking on our individual status.