Important information regarding VSP background checks for firearms.

The morning of 3/18/20 the Virginia State Police Firearms Transaction Center (FTC) had a technical issue that resulted in their inability to process background checks. From time to time, many of us FFLs (Federal Firearm Licensees) have experienced system issues such as NICS going down, the internet in Richmond being out or any number of infrastructure issues that can cause the system to not function properly. We want to reassure our customers that this was not an attempt by the Government to prevent you from buying firearms, rather, a very poorly timed technical glitch. Now, with that being said, here is some very important information for you to know as you continued to make informed decisions about purchasing firearms in the near or immediate future.

• Purchasing Requirements and Abilities: There has been no legal change in the requirements for purchasing of firearms in Virginia. In order to buy a pistol, you must be 21 years of age with a valid Virginia issued photo ID that shows your current physical address. Anyone over the age of 18 may purchase a long gun (rifle or shotgun), upon the successful completion of their background check. If you are a Virginia resident your ID must be valid and show your current address. For our out of state customers who may be visiting Virginia or here temporarily may ONLY purchase rifles or shotguns (we will ship pistols to your home state for pick up once you return home). Out of state customers must present two forms of ID that show the current address you reside in (ex: your home state drivers license and a concealed carry permit would meet the standard to purchase a long gun while you are in Virginia).
• Armed Services Firearm Purchases: Members of the Armed Services who do not have a Virginia drivers license may purchase any firearm they desire, as long as they are of appropriate legal age to do so. Members of the Armed Forces must present a copy of their valid and current orders to a base or installation in Virginia to qualify for a handgun purchase.
• Processing times: Many of you who have purchased firearms in the past have experienced an instant approval at the time your background check was submitted, these instant approvals should for the most part continue. Customers who normally experience a delay in the background check should expect those waits to rise as the number of background checks increase each day. On average you can expect your current wait time to be between 24 – 36 hours depending on the workload, don’t fear anything negative, the men and women at the FTC (firearms transaction center) are working hard to get to these checks as fast as possible, but they are working behind the curve given the incredibly high volume of purchases being made.
• Rights Restorations: Anyone who is purchasing their first firearm after having their right to own a firearm restored will experience long wait times of days if not weeks, this is due to most courts being closed. Please keep in mind that once we submit your background check we must wait to hear back from the FTC before we release your firearm.
• Expired Drivers Licenses: As you may know the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles has closed until the first week of April, and they have granted a 60 day extension on expired drivers licenses and identification cards that may expire during their closure period. As of the writing of this update, we will not be able to accept your expired ID in order to purchase a firearm. This may change as more guidance is given to us by the DMV and Virginia State Police.

As a policy, if your background check is delayed, you will be asked by a sales team member or a member of the management to pay for your firearm at the time of the background check so that it can be released to you as soon as we have approval from the State Police. Once you are notified of your approval, we ask that you return to the store as soon as you can to pick up your firearm. We do not want to be in a situation where we are forced to close leaving you unable to pick your firearm up.

The State Police FTC is doing their best to keep their staff safe and healthy during the Covid-19 outbreak and have a plan in place to work remotely. We understand that these are trying times and that many of you are wanting to be able to take your firearms home with you as soon as possible, but we ask that you remain patient and understanding as wait times increase as more Virginians look to the 2^nd Amendment for protection during these times.

What about stock levels?

We're now in the middle of one of the greatest gun grabs in the history of the nation - but this time it isn't over-zealous politicians it is Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Public! See, when there is a threat to the normalcy of our daily lives, people start to think about contingency plans.  Folks that are buying up hand sanitizer, toilet paper, and extra food have this moment of clarity where they realize that someone else may want to come take those things. They see while watching the news that in times of social unrest, law enforcement is often spread too thin to respond to all the events unfolding at the same time.  People that otherwise don't care for guns (or even despise them) decide that they may end up needing one to protect their family, property, or supplies.  Then the true "gun guys" get amped up about ammo shortages or go into prepper mode and decide that its worth grabbing some mattress money to make sure we can outfit a small army.  Then there is just the normal influx of new and repeat customers smack dab in the middle of Tax Return season.  So what should you do?

• If you are thinking about purchasing a firearm - do so as soon as possible.  Most popular calibers of ammo and most requested handguns and ARs are all showing 0 in stock at all of our distributors.  We are working daily with reps to try and peel away a few here and there, but they are telling us to expect shortages for months not weeks.  This is no time to panic, but if you need a gun, the time is now to grab it.
• Browse our website for in-stock items.  Use the "filter" option of search results or categories and choose STOCK then "IN STOCK".  This will hide everything you can't get.  We update our feed from vendor warehouses every 1 hour.  So if a product shows "in stock" in the warehouse, it likely is. We still are manually confirming counts for every order, so keep in mind you may be out of luck if something sold out since the last update. Links: In-stock pistols. In-stock ammo. In-stock rifles.
• Drop ship ammo to your house. Our ammo shipping is flat rate $10.95.  So whether its 1 box of 20, the shipping stays the same.  Drop-shipping orders get processed faster because its automatic meaning your order is more likely to get ahead of others for non-firearm items.
• Use the "Notify Me When Back In Stock" feature on product pages.  This will automatically email you when one of our vendors updates their quantity on hand.  Snatch it up quick!
• Prices subject to change. While our commitment to you is not to engage in any kind of price gouging, there is no way around the fact that prices will spike some over the next few days, weeks, and months. If we have to choose between paying for for ammo or not having it at all, we're going to buy at the higher price to get it in the store.  That will mean that the customer price will also have to go up.  We'll correct these back down as soon as we are able to. 
• Gift Cards never expire! You can grab a gift card on our site for any amount and it is emailed to you immediately. Would definitely help us out to keep some funds coming in for future purchases. Grab one here
• Take our Online Concealed Course.  If you've been waiting for your sign, here it is.  Allowed by the state up until January 1, 2021.  Click here to get info.