Within reason I must add...

If you find a better price online... ask the LGS if they will match, beat, or at least come close to the online price. If they can come reasonably close buy from the local guy. In this economy I'm sure many places would rather cut the profit margin a bit than lose it altogether.

How appropriate is it to ask for layaway (i.e. until a permit is approved)?

If you put down 25%-50% for layaway I think most shops will give you at least 30 days to pay off the balance. I know Tip's Hardware will definitely do it since I did it there when I was waiting for my 30 day OGAM to pass. They were asking like 10% down for layaway before the NICS was taking three weeks. Then they needed to get 50% down because the had so many guns on hold because of the delays and they could not replenish stock with so many guns on hold and unpaid for.  

buy online, you won't beat the pricing and if you do, it will be rare.  That includes the nics and transfer.....

You need to give Tony @ TJ Sporting Arms or Steve @ Monmouth Arms a call then. Both are very competitive with pricing and I know firsthand that Tony's customer service is top notch. Makes it worth the drive for me coming from up North.

@Slugdog, thanks!