[guide] purchasing a firearm as a non-immigrant resident alien (eg H1 or L1 visa)

[somefred]

I just bought my first firearm, a Sig Sauer P226 with short reach trigger, nitron finish, titrium sights, no CA loaded chamber indicator or mag disconnect - photos in 9 days unless the DOJ hate me In addition to the usual reasons for why, going to the range and renting with foreign friends/coworkers who are visiting is very annoying if you've got this immigration status, mostly due to some range staff not being sure of what's permitted, and falling back to 'No.'.

You need a hunting license (or to be an on-duty foreign LEO, diplomat, admitted to the states for sporting purposes, or get a federal waiver; let's go for option A...); full process is:

1. Complete an approved online hunter course - I went for http://www.huntercourse.com/usa/california/ - around $25

2. do a small amount of class time + a test on hunting - http://www.dfg.ca.gov/huntered/classes-home-study.aspx has the list of classes, and approved online sites. Your online course will have a certificate for you to print out - bring this with you - $15-25

Everything below this point I did at Reed's Indoor Range in Santa Clara; Jackson Arms (South San Francisco) refused, saying green card or citizens only for purchases.

3. You'll then have a /second/ certificate saying you actually completed the course and test.Take this to someone listed on https://www.ca.wildlifelicense.com/i...rch/FindOutlet (eg Reeds) and buy the actual license. This is valid until the end of June each year. Around $45 if you've been resident in-state for 6 months. Otherwise, you can get a non-resident hunting license, which is much more expensive; you don't need 6 months residency to buy a firearm, but you do need to be a resident, and I'm not sure how friendly a dealer would be with a hunting license labelling you a non-resident...

4. Pick a firearm to buy

4a. if you're getting a handgun, take a written CA safety test. Costs $25, multiple choice. Study guide is here: http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/ag...orms/hscsg.pdf - ignoring the question of 'should this test exist/be required?', it's mostly common sense - if you can't get 100% with little/no study, I'd be worried to be on the range at the same time...

4b. after that, if it's a handgun, you'll need to demonstrate to the dealer that you can safely check it's unloaded, load it, and unload it

5. Fill in a /lot/ of paperwork.

Both the dealer and the paperwork may ask:
* "Are you a citizen?" => No
* "Are you an immigrant?" => No (L1 and H1 are non-immigrant resident visas, dual-intent aside)
* "Do you have an exemption?" => Yes. The hunting license is an exemption

You will need:
* CA DMV ID - even if you can't drive, DMV issue ID cards.
* Your hunting license
* Proof of CA residency - vehicle registration is sufficient; otherwise, 90 days of utility bills, or your rental agreement are usually easy to get hold of.
* Your passport, visa, and I94
* A credit card that's about to get abused

6. Wait 10 days; the background check happens during this time, but even if you pass sooner, you have to wait 10 days in CA

UPDATE 6/30: If you re-entered the country after April 2013, you might not have a paper I-94.

- You can get your admissions number and so on here: https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/request.html - you probably want to print out the page with it on
- This might be new to your FFL - it might be helpful to take a printout of http://cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news...l/03212013.xml with you too

[somefred]

Also, Reeds suggested I send it back to Sig for E2 grips and short reset trigger - thoughts?

[CWDraco]

Many immigrates don't believe me when I tell them its legal for them to own firearms before they are citizens. They tell me gun stores refuse to sell them guns saying only citizens are allowed to buy guns.

[Speedpower]

As long as they are "Legal" immigrants

[somefred]

Updated post given http://cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news...l/03212013.xml

[MrPlutonium]

Also, Reeds suggested I send it back to Sig for E2 grips and short reset trigger - thoughts?

Love the E2. Makes reaching the DA pull a lot easier for smaller handed shooters and the palm swells make the grip very comfortable. The grip texture is on the aggressive side but not so much that it's abrasive, plus it doesn't feel slimy with sweaty hands like you get with rubber grips.

Bear in mind there are quite a few aftermarket options available as well but the E2's are just about a perfect fit for me.

[somefred]

I ended up grabbing the E2 grips, short reset trigger, and the standard reach trigger (mine came with short reach); I've got larger hands, and this now feels perfect for me; I've been enjoying it a lot

Self-installed them all instead of sending it back to Sig - love how easy it is to take this apart!

[CrippledPidgeon]

I've done registrations for non-citizens before. I won't kid you, there are a lot of things that need to be remembered, and all the "i"s and "t"s need to be crossed and dotted, but it's definitely not out of the question.

[KIMBER8400]

As long as they are "Legal" immigrants

No worries there, obomo will take care of 'em too.

[somefred]

Given some questions I've got via PM, and bad advice from gun shops, here's some more explanation:

You *must* have a hunting license if you are on an L1 visa to purchase a firearm, even if you don't plan on hunting.

#1: read stuff, take an online test, get a certificate

#2: take a short real-world class and test. you will not be allowed to take this test if you don't already have the certificate from an approved on-line test.

There is an alternative - you can take a much longer (multi-day I think) classroom course and test without the online test.

RE requiring a hunting license: The federal form you will have to fill in when making a purchase is this: http://www.atf.gov/files/forms/downl...f-f-4473-1.pdf

Look at questions 11 j, k, and l, 12-15, and 20c:





11 j/k are hopefully 'no'.

'l' is yes for an L1 visa (it's a non-immigrant visa - even if you're doing the dual-intent thing)

If you answer yes to 'l', you are generally not allowed to purchase firearms - there is a long list of exceptions though. This list is on page 5, 'Question 12. Exceptions to the Nonimmigrant Alien Response'.




If you can not answer 'yes' to one of these, you may not purchase a firearm. A hunting license is by far the simplest way to make it so that you can answer 'Yes' to question 12; you will need to at least write 'CA hunting license' in question 12. Better to put the full number.

INSIST THAT YOUR FFL TAKE COPIES OF YOUR VISA AND THE HUNTING LICENSE.

I've purchased a firearm from someone not familiar with this process, and ended up with a delay, as the DOJ called them to ask when my visa and hunting license expired, and the FFL had no idea.

[Maxim]

Sorry for necroposting, but:
1) Did anything change in laws since this post was created?
2) If it's still actual shouldn't this post be sticky since it's "guide"?

[atolax25]

From what I can tell, only two things have changed: you'll need the Firearms Safety Certificate when you get a long gun but that's for everybody and not exclusive to this.

Also, the DoJ did away with the proof of residency requirement back around 2012. Letter here.

I wouldn't consider this a change but the I-94 system has moved to be totally paperless a couple years ago so you'll have to go to the gov website and print it out for the FFLs to copy.