Question regarding residency

I have a co-worker who is interested in potentially purchasing a firearm I currently have for sale and I will be meeting him at a local range this weekend for him to try it before buying if you will, but I have one small reservation.

Said co-worker transferred to my location about a year ago but, because he still owns his previous house out of state where his fiancé is living until she finishes her residency and he hasn't bought a house here yet, he hasn't updated his driver's license to reflect his new address in our state. Otherwise he meets all definitions of residency (apartment lease, water and electric bills, vehicle registration, and a CCL under his name at his new address).

Since FTF sales are fully legal in my state, would it be legal, under Federal law, for me to complete a FTF sale without going through an FFL even though he has an out of state license?

Also I am fully aware that it is entirely possible that I am overthinking this.

 

For the purposes of acquiring firearms under federal law, you are a resident of the state where you make your home.
https://www.atf.gov/firearms/docs/ruling/2010-6-state-residence/download

Absolutely.

Better to ask than commit a felony.

 

It sounds like it would be legal. I have moved states several times. And every time my proof of residency to get a new DL has always been bills at my new address. Wireless, cable, water etc. Doesn't really matter as long as you can show you have billing responsibilities in the new state. In Alabama specifically, it is 90 days in state and 3 months of a bill to show residency for a new DL and permit. Both of which your friend has met.

https://www.outdooralabama.com/residency/alabama-residency-requirements

 

It is LEGAL

 

Please read the ATF Ruling above. Virtually everything you wrote is incorrect as far as federal requirements.

What a state requires for a DL or firearm permit is immaterial.

 

6 months of paying rent and receiving mail establishes that as your primary residence.

He really should get his DL changed. 30 days is the requirement.

 

IRS Substantial Presence Test
183 days

 

Thanks, seems pretty straight forward then.

 

Unless he’s driven back to that other home most nights over the last year he’s a resident of your state. Owning a house in a different state doesn’t make you a resident. Where you lay your head at night does.

 

Even if true, this irrelevant to our discussion.

The question of residency, for application of federal firearms laws is governed by 18USC921, 922 and 27CFR478.11. None of them apply IRS protocols or procedures, and none provide for a "183 Day Substantial Presence Test."

The application of the "IRS Substantial Presence Test" may be groovy if we're talking about taxes, but there was nothing in the OP's question about taxes.

Apples-Oranges.

 

Fed definition of residency

OP has been substantially answered on multiple responses, by multiple people.

Do you have anything other than being argumentative? NO

OUR? Are part of the OP?

This is the method I use as an FFL, to establish residency and make a transfer.

Not good enough for you? Don't make the sell. Doesn't effect me, either way.

 

27 CFR § 478.11 - Meaning of terms.

State of residence. The State in which an individual resides. An individual resides in a State if he or she is present in a State with the intention of making a home in that State. If an individual is on active duty as a member of the Armed Forces, the individual's State of residence is the State in which his or her permanent duty station is located, as stated in 18 U.S.C. 921(b). The following are examples that illustrate this definition:

Example 1.
A maintains a home in State X. A travels to State Y on a hunting, fishing, business, or other type of trip. A does not become a resident of State Y by reason of such trip.

Example 2.
A maintains a home in State X and a home in State Y. A resides in State X except for weekends or the summer months of the year and in State Y for the weekends or the summer months of the year. During the time that A actually resides in State X, A is a resident of State X, and during the time that A actually resides in State Y, A is a resident of State Y.

Example 3.
A, an alien, travels to the United States on a three-week vacation to State X. A does not have a state of residence in State X because A does not have the intention of making a home in State X while on vacation. This is true regardless of the length of the vacation.

Example 4.
A, an alien, travels to the United States to work for three years in State X. A rents a home in State X, moves his personal possessions into the home, and his family resides with him in the home. A intends to reside in State X during the 3-year period of his employment. A is a resident of State X.
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It would appear to me that your friend generally conforms to example 2.

 

Your understanding of residency for the purposes of acquiring or transferring firearms differs greatly from ATF.

Being that you are a dealer you darn well better understand why the IRS Substantial Presence Test has nothing to do with firearms.

 

How so? I explained how Alabama issues driver's licenses. Which are used to show residency when buying a firearm at an FFL. If the requirements for a state ID/driver's licenses are met, that satisfies the federal requirement for residency. It says so right in the document you provided

In the OP situation, the person in question meets the residency requirements for a DL even though they have not gone through the process.

 

What is needed for a new DL is irrelevant. There is no requirement to have a DL from the state you are residing in.

Which may be a requirement to get a DL in a particular state, but not at all a requirement to acquire a firearm.

Having an Alabama DL is not required by federal law to acquire firearms in Alabama.

A drivers license is just one of dozens of government issued photo ID's that may be used, its not the only ID that can be used.

The "federal requirement for residency" is to just live in a state with the intention of it being your home. No state ID or drivers license is required.

The OP's friend doesn't need an AL drivers license. His out of state DL is valid, government issued photo ID. In order to acquire firearms in AL all he needs is another government issued document showing his name and current address in Alabama. That "government issued document" can be a letter from any city/county/state office, a utility bill from a government entity, a hunting or fishing license, a motor vehicle registration, etc. An apartment lease, bank statement or utility bill from a business are NOT acceptable.

Do not confuse the requirements with obtaining a drivers license in a state with what ATF/Federal law says is "residence" for the purpose of acquiring firearms.....the two are unrelated.

 

I see what you are saying. Only reason I went over the requirements for a DL, is that is how most people show residency when buying firearms. No, it isn't the only way. Just the most common. I didn't say that the friend needs an Alabama DL. Just that said friend meets the requirements for getting one if goes to get one.

 

WRONG

You're confusing "Identification Document" with "Residency." They're not the same. More Apples and More Oranges.

Your citation to 18USC1028(d)(3) doesn't add anything to our discussion. All is does is to make clear that a state-issued identification document meets the federal requirement for a person to prove their identity. That's not what we're discussing. The question is showing the person's residency. 18USC1028(d)(3) DOES NOT provide that a state issued ID card proves residency in that state.

I moved from California to Washington two years before I retired, and commuted to work. During that time I kept a Driver's License in California, and a (Non-Real) Washington state ID Card. Under the federal law. I was a California resident on Friday's, Saturdays, and Sundays, and was a Washington resident on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Under California law, I was a resident at all times. Under Washington state law, I was a resident at all times.

Going back to your 18USC1028(d)(3) point, that means, that on Saturdays, I was not a Washington resident under federal law, even though I had a Washington issued ID Card. On Thursdays, I was not a California resident under federal law, even though I had a California Driver's License.

 

I am confusing nothing. You need to prove residency to get a driver's license. I live in Alabama and cannot get a Florida driver's license just because, without proving residency. In this very specific instance posed by the OP, a resident with an out of state ID is still a resident of Alabama because the residency requirements are met under state law. And identification documents do play into how the ATF establishes residency.

As far as your commuting example, your residency is determined largely by where you make home, Washington in your case.

When I lived on the Canadian border I worked a part time job in Canada. I was in Canada enough that I qualified for dual citizenship. Which made crossing back and forth significantly easier. Residency can be a very fluid definition.

 

I think he may also not realize that California and Washington have some of the weirdest laws in the country and just like they don’t recognize the laws of pretty much any other state, most states do not operate similar to California or Washington on any level whatsoever

 

I get that. You're right about California and Washington having some of the most nutso laws in the country. But I'm addicted to the Pacific Northwest and you can't surf in Idaho.

But that doesn't change the point that the federal law does not treat identification and residency as being the same.

The point of my example is that I can hold a California Driver's License while being only a resident of Washington (under the federal law). Having that license does not necessarily make me a resident of California.

The interplay of state and federal law can become very complicated at times, as I have often pointed out in previous postings in other threads. The federal law cannot be presented as simply as some folks have tried, to conclude that having a state driver's license necessarily makes one a resident of the state.