Renew Interview

[Salutecake]

Just wondering, for those who are in the renewal process of there FEL, what have the interviews been like?

[ssmith512]

It's AWFUL!!

They bring an "Interrogation Light".....you know the bright spot light they shine in your face. They ask ALL kinds of questions, specifics in the Orange Book (better get those answers right or else) and including some rather private questions about yourself and your immediate family. Not sure what that has to do with renewing the Type 54. The full body cavity search is kinda weird too. Takes upwards of 4 - 4.5 hours to complete....no breaks or interruptions allowed. Intense is not a strong enough of a word used to describe it.

At least that is what I have heard.....................;)

[Salutecake]

Well at least it sounds better than what they did to me 2 years ago.

[displayfireworks1]

Here is an example of the ATF renewal interview.
.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3sLzmmejCA

[displayfireworks1]

You sparked a memory for me. I am so glad the National Fireworks Association in having their annual convention this year back in Pennsylvania my home state. I get a chance to meet some of the ATF people. I hope they attend and have a booth setup again this time. Some of the younger Inspectors recognize me and tell me fun stories. I know what to keep confidential and what not to. LOL I think I can safely tell this one. Now that you are up for review , i will tell you one of the stories. They will take a receipt from one of your prior purchases and match it up to a day of the week and year you picked it up. Lets say that date 2 or three years ago was a Thursday. Where did you shoot fireworks on a Thursday? You say: My backyard. ATF "I don't know about you , but me, when it gets dark on a Thursday I am getting ready for bed because I have to work on Friday. You shoot a fireworks display on a Thursday? I hope you and everyone reading this see the direction this is going or shall I say not going.
I am looking forward to the NFA Convention this year in Erie Pennsylvania.

[lawpyro]

Haven't been on the forum in a while and I came across your thread and figured I would reply as I just went through it for the first time. They called me to set up a date/time. Came to my house checked my book asked some simple questions and left. Very laid back. A few weeks later I got my renewal forms in the in mail.

[Salutecake]

Thanks to the both of you!

[Arclight]

I did convince a friend of mine that he was going to have to undergo a drug test when he took the test for his Amateur Radio license. I think he was just used to this sort of thing as a pilot.

[Salutecake]

Lol Arclight, so where I worked years ago I needed a CDL, we always had random drug tests going on. So for about 8 years the so called random drug test ended up me just about every time going for the test. I guess for several reasons my boss decided that I was the best choice (again random) , especially since I was the oldest out of the group and never had a bad report. After about 2 years of doing this (every 3 months or so) one of the guys finally said, how come he always goes? I took the young guy and told him to keep his mouth shut. I told him every time I had to go it was like a day off for me, they would send me in a truck to a testing site that was about an hour away, so on the way I would stop at star bucks, pickup a coffee, socialize a bit, sign in at the test site, wait another hour or so for the cup, take the test, leave the the place, stop and do some shopping on the way back to work - so like a day off for the old guy, and my boss had his clean test, lol.

On the line of what you did Arclight, I used to tell the new guys that Friday they were coming to take pictures of us - never failed that the new guy came in dressed up that day

[BMoore]

I'll admit, I put off getting my 54 for a few years in part because I had these visions of agents in suits and sunglasses popping up out of the bushes at every turn. LOL. It reminds me of a meme I saw that said something to the effect "Who else sweats bullets in airport security wondering what will happen if you accidentally smuggled a gun?" Or that feeling you get when a cop walks up and you instinctively try to figure out what you are guilty of. Its funny stuff but in all honestly that intimidation factor is why the ATF's process works as well as it does. That personal interaction with the Feds, especially the 1 on 1 interview is what limits the applicants to be primarily responsible individuals who have done their homework and take everything seriously. Imagine if if it was no more than fill out the application and pay the fee. You would have every redneck out there who "wants the big stuff" running around with an explosives permit.

[Arclight]

There may have been some politically-motivated enforcement on the firearms license (FFL) side at various times and depending on which party is running the government. The ATF does have a lot of discretion in terms of whether to give you a warning or fine you the maximum amount for a paperwork/rules violation. But I haven't heard of anything like that on the FEL/explosives side. They have always been easy to deal with and I am only aware of people getting busted when they repeatedly ignore the warnings. Our local county guy told me there was a sporting goods store that got their license suspended for a while because they had a repeatedly been warned about keeping their indoor magazines clean and to add more if they wanted to continue to carry over 50lbs of product. That's about it.