tbradnc

Yes, and there is no explanation of why my record was changed The best guess was that it took until 2014 for the county to get the records for the year of my conviction computerized and that the 1st offender release was not with my records when they manually added them to the database. I had to prove all over again that I didn't have a felony conviction. It wasn't possible for them to say, "Oh, we made a mistake in 2014 and we'll fix it." I actually had to get a Superior Court judge to sign a totally new 1st offender release form. Basically I was told "All we can see is what we can see and we don't see a 1st offender release for you. We can't take your word for it, you need a judge to sign one".

To wrap this up - I finally got this straightened out and was able to buy my gun today. The backstory is this: My appeal was denied and the denial letter gave the reason as being convicted of a felony.. In the 1970's I was charged with a drug felony, sentenced as a 1st offender, completed probation released, and had no felony on my record. I've lived my entire life thinking that was buried and in the past. Here's the scary part: in 2014 the 1st Offender Discharge was removed from my record and I suddenly appeared to be a felon and that's why I failed the background check. How this happened no one is sure. Getting it back on my record required a judge to sign a new 1st offender discharge release and that took some doing and some time but I was able to get it done and that fixed the problem. It was really something digging all this back up from my teenage years - it was before the computer age and all of my files at the courthouse were in storage. All the players were dead or retired... During the process of sorting this out I was able to connect with a friendly TBI supervisor who gave me her phone number. As soon as the 1st Offender Discharge was added back to my criminal record I called her and she reversed the denial while we were on the phone and emailed the gun dealer clearing me to buy the gun. She assured me I'd pass background checks going forward. About an hour later the store called telling me I could come get my gun..

Still waitin.

Wanted to add this bit of info. I ordered a background check directly from the TBI yesterday. They emailed me the results this morning and "The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation found no Tennessee criminal history based on the information provided." Since I've only lived in TN and haven't been anywhere else it seems unlikely the Feds would have anything different.

I appreciate everyone's comments and I'll be sure and post an update when the situation is resolved. Damn.

Yes, thanks for the link - I read that yesterday. At this point I'll just have to wait it out. The appeal was faxed yesterday and since I have absolutely no reason to be denied there is a 100% chance that this can be cleared up one way or the other. It's just irritating you know... I got my carry permit in December and have spent the last 2 months deciding on a pistol and when I'm ready to buy one this happens...

There is a greater chance that the Russians hacked me than there is a valid reason for failing a background check.

I placed a 30 day lift on my credit reports in case that had something to do with it but that's probably like shutting the barn door after the cows are out. The first application I used my SSN. The second application I didn't. I'm going to guess that the 2nd application was automatically denied because the first was. (based on DL number). Now I guess I'll just have to wait it out.

I know this is a reach and probably not it but I have my credit frozen with equifax, experian, and transunion to prevent identity theft - that can't be it can it? It's the only thing I can come up with. I've spent some time searching for this and can't find anything so probably not. I'm 55 years old and the worse thing on my record is a speeding ticket 30 years ago. That I failed 2 background checks in one day indicates that the first one wasn't a data entry mistake.

Thanks - the 2nd store faxed the appeal in for me so now it's a wait-and-see thing. I'm pretty upset about it. I guess at the end of the day I could get my son to buy the gun and buy it from him. I've got a valid handgun permit but still....

Hi All - first post and wish it was about my new pistol instead of being a failed background check. I'm 55, haven't had so much as a speeding ticket in 30 years, I bought a .380 for my wife 3 years ago and this past December (less than 2 months ago) I got my Tennessee handgun carry permit. Today I went to the LGS and tried to buy a pistol and failed the background check. I was shocked, came home, and after thinking about it figured that it *had* to be a mistake made by the clerk at the store so I went to another store (further away, lower price) and tried again. I was denied a second time. I have absolutely no idea what could be going on. I have a 100% clean record - spotless and I'm sure of it. Like I said above, I passed a background check and bought a .380 a few years ago. The 2nd gun store faxed in the appeal form for me and told me I might hear something by next week. Anyone have any ideas what could be going on?