I recently decided I wanted some sort of cheapish .22 LR revolver with a swingout cylinder to replace the Ruger Bearcat I have which annoys me to no end every time I have to load it. I also had three $25 Bass Pro gift cards so I went by to see what they had. Everything in the .22 pistol case was not swingout cylinder so I was about to leave when one of the guys asked if I needed help. I mentioned what I was looking for but didn't see it. He took me down to the used guns section and showed me a Diamondback Sidekick. It was "used" only because it was stock transferred from another store. No individual had ever owned it so it was new in the box. It had nine shots and a swing out cylinder so it was just what I needed. I'd never heard of it but I figure I was getting $75 off and how could you really screw up a .22 revolver anyway. It also came with a .22 mag cylinder which is nice though not something I really need.
When I went to check out there were already transactions going on the two laptops they had designated for this purpose. For those guys it was taking forever to get a "proceed" so it took me like 20 minutes before I could even get on the computer. The last gun I bought was a while back and still on the paper forms so this was a bit new to me. I'm pretty techy but found standing at a waist level counter typing on someone else's laptop to be a bit awkward. Plus, I had just gotten glasses without bifocals (a mistake I have since corrected0 so I was having a bit of trouble seeing. I got through it though and got "proceed" in like 10 seconds. The guy was kind of shocked actually. I just laughed and said "they know me well over there."
The guy that had been working with me at the counter went over all my information meticulously, taking almost as long to verify everything as I had spent filling out the online forms. Then he had another guy come over who did the same thing. It was honestly pretty ridiculous but it got worse. After I was "approved" at the counter, I paid. The guy then, without even telling me what he was doing, takes the gun into the back. Apparently this was for yet a third person (the "safe master" I think they called him) to sign off on the whole thing.
While waiting for that step I asked the young guy that had been helping me if he knew how many steps that Bass Pro added to the process. He assured me that everything they had done was required by the ATF in order to buy a weapon.
Finally my gun came from out of the back taped shut which kind of weirded me out. I'd like to have checked inside the box before leaving but when I suggested that the guy seemed genuinely scared of what repercussion might occur if I were to do that so I just did what I was told and left. I was surprised they let me carry it out the front door myself.
All in all it took me like an hour and fifteen minutes to buy one .22 revolver:
• 5 minutes to get help at the .22 pistol counter
• 5 minutes to walk down the length of the counter, see the gun and decide to buy it
• 20 minutes to get on a computer to start the paperwork
• 10 minutes or less for me to complete the paperwork
• 35 minutes of their fiddling around AFTER the NICS came back approved
It's probably not something I will be doing again.
When I went to check out there were already transactions going on the two laptops they had designated for this purpose. For those guys it was taking forever to get a "proceed" so it took me like 20 minutes before I could even get on the computer. The last gun I bought was a while back and still on the paper forms so this was a bit new to me. I'm pretty techy but found standing at a waist level counter typing on someone else's laptop to be a bit awkward. Plus, I had just gotten glasses without bifocals (a mistake I have since corrected0 so I was having a bit of trouble seeing. I got through it though and got "proceed" in like 10 seconds. The guy was kind of shocked actually. I just laughed and said "they know me well over there."
The guy that had been working with me at the counter went over all my information meticulously, taking almost as long to verify everything as I had spent filling out the online forms. Then he had another guy come over who did the same thing. It was honestly pretty ridiculous but it got worse. After I was "approved" at the counter, I paid. The guy then, without even telling me what he was doing, takes the gun into the back. Apparently this was for yet a third person (the "safe master" I think they called him) to sign off on the whole thing.
While waiting for that step I asked the young guy that had been helping me if he knew how many steps that Bass Pro added to the process. He assured me that everything they had done was required by the ATF in order to buy a weapon.
Finally my gun came from out of the back taped shut which kind of weirded me out. I'd like to have checked inside the box before leaving but when I suggested that the guy seemed genuinely scared of what repercussion might occur if I were to do that so I just did what I was told and left. I was surprised they let me carry it out the front door myself.
All in all it took me like an hour and fifteen minutes to buy one .22 revolver:
• 5 minutes to get help at the .22 pistol counter
• 5 minutes to walk down the length of the counter, see the gun and decide to buy it
• 20 minutes to get on a computer to start the paperwork
• 10 minutes or less for me to complete the paperwork
• 35 minutes of their fiddling around AFTER the NICS came back approved
It's probably not something I will be doing again.
