According to Firearm Chronicles
The idea behind the instant background check system is that it allows stores to verify the person purchasing the firearm is legally allowed to have one. However, sometimes you can’t get the background check instantly. For whatever reason, sometimes there’s a delay. Understanding that, though, lawmakers stipulated that after a certain time period. no return on a background check could be interpreted as a pass check. That prevents anyone from trying to restrict gun ownership simply by slowing down the background check process.
Right now, though, the NICS is bogged down like never before. After all, millions are buying guns for the first time, and that’s causing delays. So are state-based background check systems and for the same reason.
The sheriff of Boulder County in Colorado wants gun stores to wait on those returned checks despite the delay.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is reporting a historic swell in background checks for gun purchases. With the average turnaround for the process taking six days, the CBI said gun sellers have the discretion to release the firearm before clearing the background check if it takes longer than the window of three business days outlined by federal law.
Following a surge in state and national gun sales seen during the new coronavirus pandemic, Susan Medina, a spokesperson for the CBI, described the strain on the CBI’s InstaCheck Unit, which processes background checks. In Colorado, a background check is required to legally purchase a gun. The CBI is authorized to impose a $10.50 fee for the background check and a licensed dealer may also implement a $10 statutory fee, according to CBI. …
While firearms sellers can complete a sale by default, if the background check exceeds the federal law’s window of three business days, Medina said the CBI is “strongly encouraging federal firearms licensees, if they have a check outside of the window, to hold the firearm.” Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle echoed this.