Some FFL dealers are required to hold firearms for a minimum period of time before the item(s) can be released to the buyer/transferee. With E4473 in Bravo, this minimum waiting period can be automatically integrated into the firearm hold process.
System Configuration
To configure the waiting period, go to System Configuration, select the Configuration tab, and expand the FIREARMS section. There, you will find two configuration options related to the firearm hold waiting period.
- Firearm Hold Minimum Waiting Period
- This configuration determines the number of days that must pass between the hold transaction and the delivery of firearms an unlicensed buyer/transferee (any customer without an FFL).
- Exclude Weekends from Calculation of Hold Days
- Check this checkbox if the calculation of the waiting period should exclude weekends. For example, consider a hold transaction that occurs on a Friday. If you are required to hold items for three days, and this checkbox is unchecked, then the end of the waiting period will be on the following Monday. If you are required to hold items for three days, excluding weekends, then you would check this checkbox, and the end of the waiting period will be on the following Wednesday. In this case, Saturday and Sunday are excluded from the calculation of the three-day wait period.
Security Bits
There are two security bits related to the firearm hold waiting period.
Employees must have these security bits set to Allowed to approve the exceptions related to the actions described below:
- Change Firearm Waiting Period Release Date
- This security permission is needed in order to change the Waiting Period Release Date on the E4473 NICS Processing or E4473 CCW Processing screen.
- Here are some examples where you may want to change the Waiting Period Release Date:
- Release Date needs to be extended to account for a holiday that should be excluded from the waiting period calculation.
- Firearm Hold Minimum Waiting Period is set to over-calculate the Release Date as a precaution, and you want to shorten the waiting period whenever there is no holiday to exclude from the waiting period calculation.
- Release Firearm before end of Minimum waiting Period
- This security permission is needed to release items from the firearm hold before the Waiting Period Release Date shown on the E4473 NICS Processing or E4473 CCW Processing screen.
- Here are some examples where you may want to change the Waiting Period Release Date:
- You are only required to hold items for firearm sales, and you are releasing items from a consignment hold return transaction or a pawn hold redeem transaction.
- Firearm Hold Minimum Waiting Period is set to over-calculate the Release Date as a precaution, and you want to release the items a day early because there is no holiday to exclude from the waiting period calculation.
Processing Hold Transactions
When processing firearm hold transactions, each transaction line will display the Waiting Period Release Date that calculates based on the System Configuration options.
The date is displayed in the Transactions screen in case you wish to verbally relay this information to the customer. It is not printed on the receipt because the actual earliest pickup date for the customer may differ for various reasons, such as a delayed NICS response or the presence of a holiday which is not excluded from the Release Date calculation. To adjust the release date to account for an excluded holiday, see Changing the Release Date.
Changing the Release Date
The Waiting Period Release Date is shown on the E4473 NICS Processing and E4473 CCW Processing screens. The date can be changed, but you must have security permission to do so.
Releasing Items Before the Release Date.
You must have security permission to release the items on the E4473 before the Release Date shown on the E4473 NICS Processing or E4473 CCW Processing screen. If you attempt to release the items early, you will see an Information dialog as you transition to the Transactions screen, and manager approval for the item release will be obtained when you save the transaction.