5 ms·
Hi Peter, I am a Canadian citizen in the US on a TN temporary non-immigrant visa. I live with a girlfriend, who is quite interested in marksmanship. As I unde
by eqdw 8y ago
Hi Peter,
I am a Canadian citizen in the US on a TN temporary non-immigrant visa. I live with a girlfriend, who is quite interested in marksmanship.
As I understand it, non-immigrant resident non-citizens are essentially barred from owning firearms. This is fine; I don't feel the need to own any. But my concern is about my girlfriend. I have heard it said from some firearms enthusiast friends of mine that, because me and my girlfriend live together, if she owns a firearm and keeps it in our house, this could be considered placing one "in my possession", which would be illegal.
First question: is this true? Does the fact that I am a non-immigrant non-citizen mean that firearms cannot be kept in my house, even if I am not the one who owns them
Second question: If this is true, are there any ways in which my girlfriend could own a firearm without myself being in violation of the law?
If it matters, we're in Texas, although I understand the relevant law to be federal.
- proberts 8y agoWow. That's an interesting question and something that I've never looked into. Email me as a reminder and I'll look into.
- masonic 8y agoNote that there's a big distinction between somebody not authorized to buy handguns himself vs. people excluded from any possession thereof (felons, domestic violence conviction, etc.) Also, handguns have far more restrictions than long guns (rifles/shotguns).
- ghufran_syed 8y agoGet a hunting licence. Then you fall under an exemption for legal noncitizens,it seems: https://www.quora.com/Can-a-foreigner-buy-a-gun-in-the-United-States https://www.quora.com/Can-a-foreigner-buy-a-gun-in-the-Unite...
- masonic 8y agoQuora is a horrible source to rely on for this.
- nano81 8y agoNot sure about Texas, but as a Canadian in California on H1b I was able to buy a gun after completing a hunter education course and getting a hunting license. A fellow Canadian on TN did the same.
- masonic 8y agoCA laws for long guns (rifles/shotguns) are much less intrusive than for handguns.
- eqdw 8y agoI saw this, and I figured this was probably my best bet, but I was hoping to have an actual lawyer confirm. In any case, looks like I can get a lifetime hunting license from the state of Texas for about $1000 (+ whatever I have to do to actually get the license), and I'm pretty sure this solves my problem. Glad to hear someone else confirm this, at least
- Royal 8y agoI'd recommend a gun safe for a number of reasons besides this, but if you don't have access to the safe it might be a solution to the possession problem. Not a Laywyer, just a Texan.
- digianarchist 8y agoStrange that some constitutional protections apply to non-citizens whilst the second amendment does not.
- danielvf 8y agoIf you think that's weird, some of the articles in the Bill of Rights currently are held to preserve those freedoms against state governments, and others do not. In fact, the fourth amendment, "Unreasonable search and seizure", only officially was applied to states in 1961, the second amendment in 2010, and the eighth amendment about excessive fines is still in the Supreme Court with a decision expected next year.
- eqdw 8y agoIt's not about citizen vs noncitizen, it's about the fact that I'm on a non-immigrant visa specifically. People holding, eg., H1Bs would not be subject to this constraint as far as I know
- EduardoBautista 8y agoH1B is non-immigrant.
- digianarchist 8y agoH1-B holders are subject to these constraints.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]