Background Check

[ltorlo64]

I thought this was pretty interesting concerning background checks. First, while I was stationed in DC my Washington state CCW permit expired. According to Washington law as long as I reapply for a CCW permit within 90 days of being transferred you just play the normal renewal fee which is less than having to pay for a new CCW permit. As soon as I had a chance I applied for a renewal.

In Washington, if you have a CCW you can buy a pistol and take possession of it the same day by the FFL doing a instant background check. If you don't have a valid CCW then you have to have the local Sheriff's Office run the background check and you have to wait until the background check is done to take possession. (It was better in Virginia where everyone was eligible for an instant background check.) On the same day that I applied for my renewed CCW permit I filled out the paperwork to get a background check to pickup a CZ-83 I had ordered from AIM.

The CCW and the pistol background check are were both done by the same Sheriff's Office and yet my CCW was done first! In fact, I think my CCW was approved 2-3 days earlier than the pistol background check since the CCW has to be mailed to me. I expected the pistol background check to be completed first as it is supposedly slightly less arduous (the CCW requires finger prints and SSN while the pistol check just has the SSN) but it was done 2-3 days later! I cannot fathom why the CCW was done first, but I was very happy to get it renewed so quickly.

[alismith]

You were just getting a renewal, right? They already had all your info on file. It doesn't take long to check and see if you're still "clean" since your last background check. So, I figure that might explain why it was so quick....?

[ltorlo64]

Maybe, but it would seem that to check for changes would require the same computer time as to do an initial check. That is the only real explanation I have come to, as well.