[url]http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/02/20/gun.sale.glitch.ap/index.html[/url]

CNN.com - Paperwork shortage ties up U.S. gun sales - February 20, 2002

Paperwork shortage ties up U.S. gun sales

DENVER, Colorado (AP) -- A minor change in a form for federal background
checks blocked gun sales across the country this week because the new
paperwork didn't reach dealers on time.
"We didn't know about it until (Tuesday) morning when sales clerks called
the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and they said they wouldn't process
any more background checks unless they were on the new forms," said Dave
Anver, president of Dave's Guns, the largest gun dealer in Colorado.
"No one in the entire state could make any sales without the new form,"
Anver said.
Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms spokesman Dave McCombs confirmed
Wednesday that the forms were never mailed.
The company hired to print the forms couldn't complete the order, McCombs
said. Because of that, ATF offices have been inundated with requests to
have the forms faxed, he said.
"I've got everyone I have working for me and we've still got 100 or so
dealers waiting for the new form," McCombs said. He faxed more than 200
forms on Tuesday.
Federally licensed dealers are required to get criminal background checks
on gun buyers before approving sales.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation, which conducts the checks for
dealers in Colorado, was bombarded with calls Tuesday, said CBI agent Mike
Igoe.
Igoe said the ATF notified him of the change last week, but when he
contacted some of the state's largest dealers, none had received even the
notification letter.
"They truly have something to be angry about," he said. "They had to stop
and get the proper form to conduct any business."
Most dealers expected to have at least a faxed version of the form on
Wednesday, but McCombs said he wasn't sure when the problem would be
resolved.
Anver said the new forms have boxes where applicants must check their
ethnicity, rather than writing it in as they did before, and they require
a specific location if the sale is made at a gun show.
The ATF announced the change in October in a letter to all federally
licensed firearms dealers.

Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Sales went on as normal at our store [;)]