Q: Incident Description: Ca requires a Handgun Safety Certificate (HSC) or an HSC exemption to purchase a handgun. One of the authorized exemptions is an active duty military ID card. During the sales process the buyer told our sales associate that he was active duty military and provided her with an ID card of the same type and color as a military ID card. The sales associate failed to notice that the fine print identified the holder as a DOD Contractor and not as active duty military. She copied the ID and at a later date/time another sales associate submitted a Dealer Record Of Sale which correctly reported the customer as a CA resident with a CA DL and incorrectly reported the customer as qualifying for an active duty military HSC exemption X21. The alleged military ID was only used to meet the HSC requirement for the state of CA, the rest of the DROS and firearms transfer process was unremarkable. The sales associate doing the delivery and a fourth who did the second check also missed the wrong ID. We unwittingly delivered the firearm in violation of CA law without an HSC or an authorized exemption. NOTE: The problem was discovered during a post-firearm delivery check. We do a minimum of 5 independent checks on each firearm not counting inventories and initial log entry. The post-delivery check is our last look at transfer paperwork. Action to date: 1) We conducted training with all hands to fill in the gaps on identification documents and identified those staff members with expertise in this area for future questions. 2) The customer was contacted by phone where the story changed. Customer claimed he was active reserve, a category that is also an approved HSC exemption. At that point I assumed that my sales force were simply confused between active duty and active reserve but since both were acceptable it was not a critical distinction. Reserve made more sense in that a reserve usually has another job which explained the DOD contractor ID. I requested he bring in his correct ID card. Two days later the customer appeared and presented my staff with a benefits card. A benefits card is used to authorize military benefits such as medical and commissary to ease the transition from military duty to civilian duty. It is not an acceptable HSC exemption. 3) Given that we should have not processed and should not have delivered the firearm without an HSC or exemption, I made the decision to recover the firearm to minimize the impact on a future DOJ inspection. Accordingly, it has been returned to stock and is back in my inventory. My intention is to re DROS the firearm to the customer and never do business with him again as I believe he deliberately mislead my staff. I am seriously considering reporting the matter to CA DOJ ? our mistake, the customer?s statements, and our corrective action rather than have it discovered on a DOJ inspection. Firearm is on a 30 day LE hold, I expect the customer to come in for re DROS in approximately 20 days. Request guidance on how to proceed from here.
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