re: Buying a gun- pending approval?

quote:

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Sure that’s right? Guy said he would call me after they got an answer.

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This is from the NRA-ILA site.

NRA-ILA re NCIS

How does NICS actually work?

Once a dealer and buyer are prepared to conclude a transfer, a retailer who does NICS checks by contacting the FBI system directly by phone will do the following:
1) Call a NICS operator by toll-free number and confirm his identity with his FFL number and dealer-selected password.
2) Provide the operator with the name, date-of-birth, sex and race of the potential buyer and the type of transfer--handgun or long gun. A buyer with a common name may, at his option, provide his Social Security number to help speed the check.
3) The system will check the data against its database of prohibited persons. If there is no "hit," the sale will be approved. The system will assign a NICS Transaction Number (NTN) to the approval. The dealer will log the NTN on the form 4473, and the transfer will proceed.
4) Partially completed forms 4473, where a proposed sale has been denied, will be required to be retained by the FFL per BATF regulations.
5) When a "hit" occurs, the dealer will receive instruction to delay the transaction. A "delay" response indicates that the check turned up information that requires further review by an analyst, who will contact the dealer by return call "within a couple of hours," the FBI says.
While the law provides three business days for the FBI to respond, the FBI anticipates that virtually every delay will be handled within a day. If records require further investigation, the FBI may take up to three days to issue either a proceed or a denial. There will be an appeals process for purchasers who feel they were denied in error, and dealers will be furnished with forms for this process.