It's the CYA thing many dealers are doing to have a better paper trail on the gun coming into and going out of their hands. Can't blame the mind set these days, based on reality or not ,,, but as stated,,it's not legally needed unless there's a State law that dictates it.
As far as returning guns to owners sent to an FFL:
If the gun is sent for gunsmithing work, yes it can be returned to the owner w/o going through an FFL at the owners end.
If sent to the FFL for sale or transfer (disposition) then it cannot be sent back to the original owner w/o going through an FFL at the other end. (Though some dealers just log the rejected gun as a 'repair' and then send it back to it's owner)
Even a gun left on consignment in a shop that doesn't sell must be logged back out through a 4473 and a NICS check to it's original owner if he/she wants it back (in person) or to an FFL if out of state,,because it didn't sell on consignment. Same thing if you send it there for transfer to someone and they decide they don't want it.
