A buddy of mine from Australia will be in Houston around Christmas time. I'm taking him gun shopping but know nothing about gun laws for foreigners. He lives Macau so he doesn't have a green card either.

Can't buy. Im not sure what the minimum requirement is but I would assume permanent resident.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, maybe

http://www.atf.gov/firearms/faq/unlicensed-persons.html#aliens-purchase

Q: May aliens legally in the United States buy firearms?
An alien legally in the U.S. may acquire firearms if he has a State of residence. An alien has a State of residence only if he is residing in that State and has resided in a State continuously for at least 90 days prior to the purchase. An alien acquiring firearms from a licensee is required to prove both his identity, by presenting a government-issued photo identification, and his residency with substantiating documentation showing that he has resided in the State continuously for the 90-day period prior to the purchase. Examples of qualifying documentation to prove residency include: utility bills, lease agreements, credit card statements, and pay stubs from the purchaser’s place of employment, if such documents include residential addresses.
See also Item 5, “Sales to Aliens in the United States,” in the General Information section of this publication.

[This message has been edited by Todd 02 (edited 12/7/2011 8:01p).]

obama will give him thousands for free if he promises to kill a couple border patrol agents on his way out...

Maybe this guy can help.



[This message has been edited by OleRock02 (edited 12/7/2011 10:25p).]

Is he staying here? If not, why would he want to buy something? Australia isn't going to let him take it back with him when he goes home from his trip.

He isn't staying, only visiting.

He's got a gun license in Australia so he could export it back.

This sounds more like an Australian outdoors board question to me. You buy the gun, give it to him and he packs the gun in his suitcase. Australian customs then decides if he gets to keep it or not. He could also Fedex it to himself and not declare it properly (at his own peril - he could then blame you and plead ignorance). Just a suggestion from a local dumba**..

The problem with the straw purchase idea (other than being technically illegal in of itself) is that the Aussies will prob want some kind of paperwork showing the gun belongs to him. I believe the laws there for gun ownership are rather restrictive.

It would only be a straw purchase if the Aussie buddy gives the OP the money to buy it for him because he legally cannot.

If the OP buys it and then proceeds to give it as a gift, it's not a straw purchase.

If the OP buys it then sells it to the Aussie buddy, it's not a straw purchase.

* This is assuming that the Aussie is not a felon in any way, shape or form, which if he has an Australian license, it's a safe bet he's not.

** I don't know if there are other legal issues with giving a foreign alien a firearm as a gift, so there's that to think about.

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If the OP buys it then sells it to the Aussie buddy, it's not a straw purchase.

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I thought that was technically a straw purchase if he bought it with the INTENT to sell it to his buddy.

Now, if he bought it, decided he hated it or whatever and sold it, he would be ok...

It probably technically is, by the letter of the law.

But if you read the letter of the law, gifting a handgun to your 12 year old kid is illegal as well, since the kid is not legally eligible to purchase the firearm.

There is a lot of grey area.

Buy it for him as a gift. Or buy it for yourself, put a round or two downrange, decide you hate it, and sell it to your friend.

By the letter of the law though, even these would not be legal per se, because your friend is not eligible to purchase the firearm himself.

Let him buy it in Australia. Problem solved.

You can pay for your trip to Austrialia by taking a couple of Walmart Rem 700's into the country on a hunting permit and then selling them to a local while there...

They are legal to own, but cant be imported. Stupid but true. The gunshops there will pay through the nose for .270, .308 and 30-06's.

Gifting isn't straw purchasing.

Taking money to make the purchase is.

Creating an agreement to buy with your own money and turn around and sell it is usually also viewed as a straw purchase.

Buying with no previous agreement to sell, then selling in short order is a grey area you have to be careful about. The Feds are big on assuming what you meant to do.

"Gifting" the gun to him is a straw purchase no matter how you cut it. You've already stated he wants to buy the gun, and you'd consider buying it for him. Felony much? Is it really worth it? Any decent gun store will pick up on this and call ATF and the local LE when you attempt the purchase.

Also, he won't be able to leave the country with the gun even if you do a straw purchase. It'll have to be shipped through an FFL who is registered with the State Department for ITAR purposes. Then he'll need a DSP-5 permit from the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls to get it out of the country. No airline or common carrier will accept an international firearms shipment (other than a shotgun) without one.

Depending on what type of gun it is, he likely won't get an export permit, and considering how wonky Australia's gun laws are, he likely won't be able to get an import permit for it.

http://www.ema.gov.au/www/agd/rwpattach.nsf/alldoc/9C1BF2A852166013CA25760A001CDF44/$file/General%20Fact%20Sheet%20-%202009.pdf

Nothing says he can't buy the gun and store it at your house for a future visit, but if he doesn't want to do that, just looking is the best option.

Most shops won't do a resident alien transaction because it's a pain in the ass. I've done one and only because it was a transfer and the guy was a professor at TCU. I had to pull out my ATF book and the 4473 to make sure I had everything in line. The NICS operated also had to call in a manger to make sure I had all the paperwork.

I would just take him to a gun range so he can rent a few firearms. Much easier.

A couple of comments:

First of all, I do not personally believe that a non-citizen should be allowed to buy, own, or otherwise possess a firearm while in the United States for the very reason that they are not a citizen and therefore should not be granted rights equitable to those of citizens.

Secondly, I believe the ATF is out of line with their liberal enforcement of "straw purchases". A "straw purchase" should be defined as a person purchasing a firearm on behalf of a person who cannot legally obtain or own that firearm. It is not inherently criminal for me to purchase a firearm for a friend and then him give me money for it, so long as he is legally allowed to purchase and own that firearm. In most honest instances, I believe these types of transactions to be done in the interest of saving money, allowing for bulk purchases by groups, or allowing for rare or hard to come by firearms to be purchased by/for those who cannot easily find them. In my opinion, the reason the ATF fears "straw purchases" under the current definition, inherently criminal acts excluded, is because it limits the record keeping, read defacto gun registration, that the ATF currently has by use of the Form 4473.

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Most shops won't do a resident alien transaction because it's a pain in the ass

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How so? Documentation showing 90 days of continuous residency isn't that difficult. For a non-resident alien, 90 days documentation of continuous residency and a hunting license is all that's needed.

The hardest part would be if they don't have a valid government issued ID showing name, DOB, and a photo. If they don't have a foreign or domestic ID with that info, they need to go get a Texas ID card for $16.

Make copies of documentation, attach to 4473, and you're done.

It may take a little bit longer than a normal transaction, but IMO, it isn't that big a deal.

They can just gonna be hard to find a shop that will do it. It is a lot of paperwork on their side

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First of all, I do not personally believe that a non-citizen should be allowed to buy, own, or otherwise possess a firearm while in the United States for the very reason that they are not a citizen and therefore should not be granted rights equitable to those of citizens.

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This is crazy talk. So no one from anywhere else should be allowed to come here and hunt???

It's not that difficult when they know what they need and show up with all of that, but how often does that happen? It's happened once for me, and even then I had to review the proper procedure because as we all know the ATF isn't exactly reasonable to mistakes. If you're comparing an everyday 4473 then in my opinion it's a pain.