hopefully "the" nonimmigrant legal alien purchase thread

[solareclipse]

Pay no attention to this being my first post on here. Long time lurker and i am making this thread because i have read contradicting opinions on the matter.

I am a legal non immigrant alien pending permanent residency but will not get it for about another 1.5 years so this leaves me in the other shady legal category of enthusiasts.

According to the law you can purchase firearms if you fall within one of the 4 exceptions and satisfy all other requirements. Simple enough, just that i've read people saying different things. Some say that is not really true and the cut off is permanent residency no questions asked, other say the exceptions are valid only for long guns.

Then according to the ATF circa late 2002 the only difference they make between long and handguns is the intention to "make home" in the state you purchase the handgun in. Subjective enough so for all purposes we can deduct that handguns are a little more edgy to acquire, which is fine. Right now I am interested in a savage or a Remington since hunting season is about to start and my buddies are running out of loaners this year.

What I don't want to happen is to order a rifle, have it shipped to a willing FFL only to be either denied instantly or in 3 days. I am almost certain that it will come as delayed but I am not sure if it will be denied. This is where people seem to have mixed opinions on it. I just don't want to buy something that I have to return without even opening. That would be a day ruiner asides from leaving me feeling stupid behind the counter.

Does anyone have any direct information on whether it has been done? Perhaps you have been through it, or you are a dealer and had to transfer it to someone without permanent residency. Debating the law is quite futile as it clearly states it is possible. What i am not sure about is the reality. FFL said we can try it with a cheap shotgun he had around to see if it will go through but i didn't have all my paperwork handy so we never did.

I've passed several government background checks and handle sensitive data for half the county so any bottleneck would be the immigration status.

So again, anyone who can offer any decisive information for legal non immigrant purchase please do.

 

[Preacherman]

Being an immigrant myself, I can give you the simple answer.

1. If you qualify under various clauses (e.g. a valid hunting license, competition, etc.) you can purchase a long gun.

2. Unless you bring it in for competitive purposes, with an import permit, you may NOT purchase or possess a handgun until you're in permanent residency.

3. Once you're a permanent resident, under Federal law, you have the same firearms rights as citizens. However, some States restrict this (for example, non-citizens may not have a CCW permit in some states), so you need to check your local laws as well.

 

[Rufus Pisanus]

Originally posted by Preacherman:


2. Unless you bring it in for competitive purposes, with an import permit, you may NOT purchase or possess a handgun until you're in permanent residency.

This was certainly NOT true (at the federal level) few years ago when I was in the same predicament. Can you please point to an authoritative link (e.g. ATF web site) where this is stated?

 

[c_yeager]

A friend of mine went through this recently and she was told that she had to be a permanent resident alien. After that she was considered to be in the same category as far as federal regs were concerned (there were still state issues though).

 

[Rufus Pisanus]

btw the ATF link I found on this topic is this:

http://www.atf.gov/pub/fire-explo_pub/p5300_18.pdf

 

[solareclipse]

A friend of mine went through this recently and she was told that she had to be a permanent resident alien. After that she was considered to be in the same category as far as federal regs were concerned (there were still state issues though).

was she denied by the system or is this what the dealer she went to told her? most don't know, some don't want to bother and will tell you anything they see fit.

batf sent a letter describing the changes and how to proceed with nonimmigrant buyers long ago, however someone not reading it closely will probably only read the part "not allowed".

2. Unless you bring it in for competitive purposes, with an import permit, you may NOT purchase or possess a handgun until you're in permanent residency.

could it be some internal document that binds handguns with competition and long guns with hunting in the 4th exception?