NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Four mayors across Tennessee are calling on state leaders to pass gun reform measures and one central focus is background checks. 

News 2 went to Royal Range USA to learn more about the current process for buying from a federal firearms license (FFL) dealer in Tennessee.  

“As an agency, we submit all of our background checks requests through TBI, and TBI then… that automatically goes out through the federal system and looking for anything that might be in that person’s past and even if it matches closely to another name, they’re going to check it and make sure that this person that’s buying the gun is okay to buy the gun,” assistant retail manager Rick Rifley said.  

It’s a process that usually takes anywhere from a few moments to 17 days, and Royal Range USA sees denials every day.  

“Tennessee denies more firearms purchases than any other state,” Rifley said. 

Royal Range USA can also choose to deny any gun sale at its own discretion. 

“Most of us that work in here are retired law enforcement, prior military,” Rifley explained. “If we have any question about that person, we’re going to deny the sale.” 

Most commonly, people are denied for prior criminal offenses. If someone is denied, they have 30 days to file an appeal.  

“We take safety as paramount with us here, and we don’t want to put guns in hands of people that are going to cause harm,” he added. 

In Tennessee, if a doctor has concerns that someone could harm themself or others, they can take that information to law enforcement, who can then take further action. 

The major limitation in our state is with private sales, which can take place between two people without a background check.