I have never failed an NICS check since its implementation and have only had one NICS check in the past 20 plus years because of an NC Concealed Carry Permit.  That one check was for a shotgun I purchased in Virginia several years ago and the shop wanted to or had to do the NICS check.

Without going into all the details.  My son, failed an NICS check and the cops were called.  He had a restraining order that expired in February of this year, however he was unaware that he had a second 2 year restraining order from the same whore....woman.  The shop called the cops and the cops arrested him, apologizing and telling him that the way the restraining order is/was done in their view was illegal.  Even the magistrate agreed.  He still has to go to court.  

My question is, if one fails an NICS check what triggers a call to law enforcement?

The Shop was All Shooters Tactical in Woodbridge VA.

EDIT:  LEO showing may have been a result of the Virginia check system and not the shop calling.  The LEOs only said they got a call.

My son was unaware of the NICS denial until LEOs showed up to arrest him.

Your son may have failed his background check, but it sounds like the system worked perfectly. Justified or not, Junior is a prohibited person because of his restraining order. The background system identified him as such and stopped the transfer. That's what the system is designed to do. Remember, it's a computer system, so it's only as good as the data that's entered into it. "Garbage in, garbage out."

Your beef shouldn't be with "NICS" but with A.) your state laws, or B.) your son.

As for your question, typically NICS does not trigger a call to law enforcement. During almost 8 years and more than 5,000 NICS checks as a storefront FFL, I had the cops respond to a NICS Deny status only ONCE. While I was waiting for a "further review" response, the cops called and asked if the guy was still in the shop. He wasn't. Apparently, he had an active felony warrant and must have gotten spooked by the hold up.

That said, I suspect it wasn't actually NICS that caused your son's difficulties. North Carolina is a partical POC  (point of contact) state. It uses NICS for long guns, but North Carolina runs its own background checks for handguns. I suspect your state (presuming your son lives in NC) has stricter rules than the federal NICS system. It's possible that when an FFL calls into the state POC system and gets a deny, they call the cops. The FBI generally doesn't do that with NICS checks.

Again, take it up with your state legislators. Or tell Junior to choose his wimmenz more better. (Or stop doing whatever it was to get a restaining order slapped on him).

VSP does record checks for VA and does check NICS as part of the check.

VSP Firearms

Seems like the VSP saw the order in the system.

I missed the part about the shop being in Virginia.

Virginia is a POC state. Presumably, if they're running their own checks, that suggests they have HIGHER standards than NICS. So, NICS typically doesn't follow up a DENY status with a call to the cops, but a state system like Virginia's may do that.

I don't know how you managed to twist my words.  So I will try to word this differently so as not to have my words twisted again.  

My son was denied a purchase of a firearm because of a restraining order he did not know he had.  He had a restraining order in the past, it expired in February.   My son lives in Virginia. All Shooters Tactical in Woodbridge Virginia called Law enforcement and my son found out he was denied the purchase by NICS when law enforcement arrived.  The Law enforcement officers and the magistrate said the second restraining order may be illegal.

I was trying to figure out what triggers a call to law enforcement when a NICS check is denied.

If My son had listened to me years ago he would have never been in this predicament to begin with, alas sometimes children have to learn their lessons the hard way rather than take advise from parents.

Thats my guess as well, VSP records check saw the order, didn't send a deny to the FFL but picked up the phone and called Prince William County PD (Probably to keep him there). That shop is in PWC and they do have (or at least used to have) a good selection of stuff.

The shop called?

From the VSP website "Criminal history information is never released to firearms dealers or their customers."

I am not an FFL so I don't know the ins and outs of transactions in VA besides being on the purchasing side of things but I personally find it weird the shop would call the cops themselves unless someone was acting shady.

Hope your son gets this BS resolved and the order tossed.

I don't believe I twisted your words. Prior to you posting this, I edited my original post to temper my comment a bit, but my original wording is correct. According to the laws of Virginia and the U.S. Congress, your son is a prohibited person because of his restraining order. Whether it's right, fair, justified or correct that he has a restraining order is beside the point. As I said in my edited post, "garbage in, garbage out." His restraining order is in the system. The system found it and triggered the response that state legislators decided was appropriate in this circumstance.

Like I said, typically an actual NICS check (conducted by the FBI) doesn't signal a call to the cops. But, apparently, Virginia's system does.

Except at no point did I call the NICS check system as a whole a failure.  Yes clearly he WOULD be on the list as prohibited person based on the second, possibly illegal(according to the LEOs who arrested him and the magistrate) restraining order. The NICS background check did as it was supposed to.  Issued a denial based upon what showed up.

I am not blaming NICS.  I am trying to understand how it went the direction it did.  When it comes down to it, had my son kept away from the whore at the first sign of her being crazy he would never had been in this predicament.  But again, some children won't listen to good advise and have to find out for themselves that maybe parents are not as dumb as they think.

Based upon other posters and links provided, there is an additional intigration of Virginia state level LEOs in regards to why a failed background check, caused LEOs to show up and arrest him. Also it may not have been the shop that called it may have been the automatic system in VA.  The LEOs simply said they got a call.

Which frankly seems like it would be an appropriate reaction by LEOs, even if i, knowing most of the situation, knows it to be excessive in this case.  Knowing unfortunately LEOs don't always have that luxury.

Saying the shop called could be incorrect.  The LEOs simply said they got a call, this could have been a result of the Virginia system.  They did not specify to him.

Deleted. I should have read the whole thread.