Some places charge for a NICS check?

[stchman]

I was reading that some places charge for the NICS check???!!!!! ***? These folks were saying that places like Bass Pro and Dick's were charging. The Bass Pro and Dick's in St. Louis don't charge.

I understand if you have a firearm shipped to a pawn shop, gun shop, etc., I expect to be hit with the transfer fee. I didn't purchase the firearm from that establishment.

Is there any truth to this?

 

[gazpacho]

I don't know of a single place that DOESN'T charge for a NICS check.

 

[Midwest]

Some states charge for the NICS fee.

New Jersey is notorious for this. They charge $15 for state NICS and then to add insult to injury they charge sales tax on top of that $15 as well. Not to mention that they have limited hours Mon through Saturday and are closed on Sundays and state holidays...and...whenever the state shuts down due to snow.

I live in Kentucky, they use the federal NICS and there is no NICS fee in this state.
.

 

[stchman]

I don't know of a single place that DOESN'T charge for a NICS check.

Here in St. Louis, if you buy the firearm from the establishment, they don't charge a NICS fee.

 

[Detritus]

Ok, I remembered incorrectly. (and half-backwards)

Midwest posted what I should have remembered to look up before I Posted.

 

[Midwest]

Q: Is there a charge for NICS checks?

The FBI does not charge a fee for conducting NICS checks. However, States that act as points of contact for NICS checks may charge a fee consistent with State law

Source: https://www.atf.gov/firearms/faq/brady-law.html#nics-poc-state



Here is the breakdown on POC (Point of Contact states). 35 of the states are handled by the federal NICS for both long guns and handguns.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/nics/poc

Nonparticipants (35):

The FBI performs NICS checks on both handguns and long guns for:

Alabama
Alaska*
American Samoa
Arizona*
Arkansas*
Delaware
Georgia*
Guam
Idaho*
Indiana
Kansas
Kentucky*
Louisiana
Maine
Massachusetts
Minnesota
Mississippi*
Missouri
Montana*
New Mexico
New York
North Dakota*
Northern Mariana Islands
Ohio
Oklahoma
Puerto Rico
Rhode Island
South Carolina*
South Dakota
Texas*
Vermont
U.S. Virgin Islands
West Virginia
Wyoming*
Washington, DC


*denotes states that have an ATF-qualified alternate permit
Updated 07/01/08



Full Participants (13): States that conduct NICS checks for all firearms purchases and/or for alternate permits for handguns and long guns:

California*
Colorado
Connecticut
Florida
Hawaii*
Illinois
Nevada
New Jersey
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Tennessee
Utah*
Virginia




Partial Participants (8): States that perform checks for handgun permits, while the FBI performs NICS checks for long gun purchases:

Iowa*
Michigan*
Nebraska*
North Carolina*



States that perform NICS checks for handgun purchases, while the FBI performs NICS checks for long gun purchases:

Maryland
New Hampshire
Washington
Wisconsin


(Above is public information from a government site)
.

 

[hso]

You didn't know that background checks cost something and that most states charge for them?

 

[pintler]

FWIW, here (WA) I haven't seen anyone charging for them per se, but I think I do recall seeing a sign that if you were denied, they would keep $X ($20??) of what you paid for the hassle. I wasn't offended; if a store was getting many denials, that would be a hassle for them, and they'd like to discourage sketchy customers anyway.

Most places, though, call NICS before you pay. I presume their denial rate is negligible.

 

[ugaarguy]

You didn't know that background checks cost something and that most states charge for them?

It frustrates me that some states run their own POC centers and charge for it, while the FBI NICS POC doesn't charge any fees because it's already funded as part of the NCIC system.

 

[jcwit]

Never been charged for a NICS check, have been charged for a transfer fee.

 

[Ed Ames]

You didn't know that background checks cost something and that most states charge for them?

Most states don't charge for them because most states don't do them. The way I read it the OP asked about businesses charging for NICS calls, a practice I have never heard of. OTOH, the subset of states that have cobbled up a local background check instead of using the full blown system the feds maintain (can you sense sarcasm?) do tend to charge, but that isn't the store it's the state.

 

[stchman]

OK, it sounds like some states have come up with a way to create a way to make money through background checks.

 

[ljnowell]

In illinois I don't pay anything for a NICS check.

 

[Twiki357]

I’ve never had to pay for a NICS check for a gun purchased here in Arizona. Only an FFL transfer fee for a gun purchased out of state and shipped to me in Arizona. I have heard of stores charging a fee, but no indication if it’s the store or a pass through of a state charge.

 

[Midwest]

OK, it sounds like some states have come up with a way to create a way to make money through background checks.

New Jersey charges twice, once for the fee and then tax on top that fee. Not sure if any other state charges tax on top of a State NICS fee.


By the way...regarding states that does it's own background check...I suggest everyone read this article. It will be an eye opener...

Oregon is a POC State



http://www.pagunblog.com/2010/03/10/oregon-is-a-poc-state/

"SayUncle covers a pretty disturbing story about a guy in Oregon who was fired from his government job because he was supposedly disgruntled, and bought some guns, which the police noticed. Uncle asks, “Seems they knew he bought guns from the background checks. He did not purchase multiple handguns in a week which makes me wonder how the police got this info.”

The answer is easy. Oregon is a Point-Of-Contact state for the NICS system, which means Oregon, like Pennsylvania and many other states, has its own system. "

This means that in states that conduct their own NICS might keep records of what was bought. So much for privacy. This is even worse than states charging a fee for a background check. To sum it up, some of these states are in fact collecting a gun registry and few are aware of it.

"It’s possible the police have access to the Oregon Instant Check System records, which is how they found out about his purchase. The Pennsylvania State Police have been abusing PICS for years to operate what we still claim is an illegal registry of firearms sales in Pennsylvania. We’ve had cases where gun owners, being pulled over in traffic stops, have had guns seized from them because when they were run, they were not “registered” to them."

So the insult is that not only are gun buyers being charged for a background check (that are free in other states) and also being taxed for that that background fee. But they are also having their purchases being put in a state database.

.

 

[dogtown tom]

hso You didn't know that background checks cost something and that most states charge for them?

But you don't know that most states DON'T charge for background checks, because in most states the dealer contacts the FBI NICS directly.

And it's a toll free call and costs the dealer NOTHING.

 

[oneounceload]

TANSTAAFL - it might not be an immediate direct cost, but you ARE paying for that "free" Federal check one way or another

 

[MAKster]

The reason why there is not a charge for the background check when the FFL contacts NICS directly is not because there is no expense incurred by the people conducting the check. There is no fee imposed because Congress enacted a law prohibiting it.

 

[JohnBT]

Virginia charges residents $2. The money goes to the state police for running the system.

The system checks multiple databases in addition to the NICS database.

- www.vsp.state.va.us/Firearms_VFTP.shtm

"National and state databases are accessed simultaneously at the time of transaction. Four are maintained by the Virginia Department of State Police, accessible by the Virginia Criminal Information Network (VCIN): Virginia’s wanted and missing persons files and protective orders, Virginia’s criminal history record files, and Virginia’s database of adjudications of legal incompetence and incapacity, involuntary commitments to mental institutions for inpatient or outpatient treatment.

The fifth database accessed during this check is the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)"

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

In Colorado we get to pay $10 thanks to Hickenblooper and the Democrats. :banghead:

 

[toiville2feathers]

When I have purchased a fire arm I have never paid a fee for the NICS check. But I have always dealt with a FFL dealer. But I have noticed that on-line auctions list a $25 fee for a NICS check. The auctioneer has the FFL and it another way for Kernerl so & so to make another buck.

 

[TRX]

In Arkansas, if you have an AR CHCL you don't have to have a NICS check. Though some dealers do it anyway...

 

[HexHead]

In TN, the dealers are charged $10 for a TICS check by the TBI, so the cost is passed along to the purchaser. The check also includes checking if the firearm being transferred has been reported stolen. One dealer told me he's seen TICS getting denied because the gun was reported stolen years ago in another state. The TBI automatically rolls the local cops to come pick up the gun.

 

[itsa pain]

Virginia charges residents $2. The money goes to the state police for running the system.

The system checks multiple databases in addition to the NICS database.

- www.vsp.state.va.us/Firearms_VFTP.shtm

"National and state databases are accessed simultaneously at the time of transaction. Four are maintained by the Virginia Department of State Police, accessible by the Virginia Criminal Information Network (VCIN): Virginia’s wanted and missing persons files and protective orders, Virginia’s criminal history record files, and Virginia’s database of adjudications of legal incompetence and incapacity, involuntary commitments to mental institutions for inpatient or outpatient treatment.

The fifth database accessed during this check is the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)"

I bet your gun purchase is registered by the "pro gun" state police. Thank the NRA for the NIC system

 

[browningguy]

I don't know of any shops here that charge, but its not "free" to the dealer, unless of course you believe time is worth nothing.