Purchasing a handgun with no permenant address

[CliffH]

I was just reading another thread ( http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=275137 ) about out-of-state handgun purchases and it raised a question.

My wife & I will be full-timing it in our RV for the next few months while we're looking for our next house. We've got AZ drivers licenses & CCW permits but we'll be living & buying in TX. No problem with the AZ CCW, I've already checked with TX DPS about that.

I would like to purchase another handgun. Since we won't have TX drivers licenses or a permenant TX address for a while, and I don't want to drive back to AZ to buy one, can I purchase a handgun in TX?

I'd rather not wait until we've got a permenant TX address, by the time we're done finding/buying/fixing/unpacking etc. it'll probably be a year or so before I'd have the time.

 

[Ratzinger_p38]

Put your address wherever you receive mail. Long as it is in the same state youre OK (or i would think so...)

 

[Sodbuster]

can I purchase a handgun in TX?

No. Not without a Texas ID, i.e. driver's license. You cannot walk in a store and buy a handgun in a state of which you are not a resident.

 

[CliffH]

Thanks. Sort of figured I'd have to use a TX license.

 

[RCouch]

Could CliffH buy a gun in TX and have it shipped to a FFL in AZ? Of course he would have to plan this in advance, but would it work? Just curious.

 

[Car Knocker]

Sure, he could do that. But

I don't want to drive back to AZ to buy one

he would end up driving to AZ anyway to pick it up. Well, I guess he could fly but it's my impression he just doesn't want to deal with the hassle of going to AZ just to pick up another gun.

 

[CliffH]

We are coming back to AZ in Dec., maybe I'll pick it up then. There's a gun shop just around the corner from the kids' house.

 

[BruceB]

When I was moving my family and all our effects from Canada to the USA, we had quite a few firearms along ("more than a dozen, fewer than a hundred"). The border people never even looked at the guns, and were content to just have a look at the previously-acquired-and-approved ATFE import forms.

A VERY interesting thing came to light, though. IF I had already obtained a permanent US address, I was told at the border that my guns would have to be shipped to that address. As it worked out, NOT having a permanent address, I was allowed to drive off into the (US) sunset with all of our artillery in our own possession.

I'd never heard of this before, and it certainly wasn't on any of the ATFE forms that we obtained before making the move.

That was ten years ago, and even now I give daily thanks for our escape from the crushing Canadian anti-gun bureaucracy....and it's WORSE now than when we bailed out.

 

[deadin]

Don't know if this would work in Texas, but when the wife and I were in your same position (Full timing for 2 1/2 years) we would winter in AZ. I got an AZ State ID Card. Used the address of the RV park we were staying in. Of course we were there for 4 or 5 months at a time and AZ is pretty friendly to snowbirds. We also had a local PO Box.

 

[CliffH]

Bruce

That must have been a pleasant surprise! I'm amazed (& glad for you) that it worked out that way.

Deadin

I was wondering if a TX state ID card would work. Checking the requirements for a CHL shows that a TX state ID card would suffice instead of a drivers license, so maybe one would work for handgun purchases also.

 

[NavyLCDR]

Yes, a Texas State issued ID Card will work for purchasing handguns, however, in order for Texas to issue you a state ID, they will require you to surrender all other states' ID Cards/Drivers Licenses. Unless you are military on orders you can only be resident of one state at a time.

 

[CliffH]

Well then, that's not going to work out at all. Still going to have to drive, and turning in my only license wouldn't be good.

Ya'd think this wouldn't be so hard/complicated.

Guess I'm back to waiting until Christmas in AZ or until we've gotten a permenant TX address.

I'd buy another one before we leave AZ, but I'd rather not rush this purchase.

 

[NavyLCDR]

Even with a permanent Texas address, I think you would still have to give up the AZ driver's license to get a Texas DL to show as proof of Texas residency.

 

[deadin]

AZ didn't require me to turn in my WA drivers license.
In fact, they used it to verify I was who I said I was.
But, as I said before, that was AZ, not TX.

 

[CliffH]

Figure you're right in that TX will require turning in my AZ DL. But they're most likely going to want an address for the license, so that'll have to wait a bit.

AZ didn't take my CA license, but they did use a hole punch on it. My best guess on that is the hole indicates the license is no longer valid.

No problem though. I'm sure I can talk the better half into a trip back to AZ before December - she'll be missing the grandkids soon enough. In the meantime, I'll be researching which semi-auto .45 I want. So many to choose from.....

 

[deadin]

CliffH,
Did you get an AZ Drivers License or an AZ ID Card?

 

[CliffH]

I've got an AZ Drivers License.