I haven't found much rhyme or reason to some delays. I have used ODL, OR ID, Military ID, CHL, Police ID, FBI id, TSA id and TWIC card as primary and supplemental in place of and in addition to and it can still happen. Cops get delayed fairly frequently.
The very longest delay was a poor guy who lived a block from here who had lived in Oregon about 2 years. He had retired from the Dept of Energy in CA where he worked at nuclear power plant for most of his career. He just wanted to go hunting. He bought a rifle at Fred Meyer and got delayed. Then he bought more rifles about from every shop in town including me thinking the dealer was messing up. From me it was a stainless Ruger Hawkeye in 30-06. He started bugging me about 5 days after the delay saying I could legally give it to him if they had not denied him by 3 days. I didn't know him and I checked with the other shops to see if they were going to transfer before the determination and everyone said no. After 16 weeks they delayed him for another 16 weeks. He was furious. By now I was getting to know him pretty well so I went ahead and gave it to him. I warned him if it came back denied the police were coming for it and he agreed. He got delayed another time or two and I kind of forgot about it. Then one day out of the blue at least 6 months later OSP called to say as long as the 4473 was still true I could transfer it. I told him I already did and that kind of ticked him off. He said I was within the law to do so but it would have been nice to tell them so they could have dropped the rest of the check. He said it was a lot of work and expense to obtain his info. Since then his transfers go right through.
Point is, after a fat 72 hours the way the ATF calculates it can be up to 5 days, the dealer can legally give it to you. You just can't really sell or cut it up until it is approved in case they want it back. If they take it you are out what you paid for it. If you wait and the thing gets denied then the dealer can send it back or resell it for you and get you a refund.
For my frequent flyers that get delayed I deliver after the 3 days. So far none of them have been denied. It's up to the dealer. He is not obligated to give it to you until he feels like it. The final discretion is the dealer. If he feels you are up to no good he alone can stop the deal. Once approved by OSP then if the buyer goes out and commits a crime with it the dealer is immune from liability. If he does it without approval then he can be held liable. This is why most dealers won't transfer until approved. It doesn't apply here but that makes the info complete for anyone else looking in.
Break time is about over. Time to go make the donuts.
