Will_B

Hi guys,

I emigrated to the US this June, after a lengthy process and am now working, living, and enjoying being with my wife in the US.

I have been with a friend here, to a shooting range a few times, and would like to invest in my own hand gun for this recreational purpose.

At present, I have been in Ohio less than 90 days, and from what I've read to be able to purchase a gun or any type, I need to be a resident of the state for over 90 days. However, googling shows that to get a concealed carry permit (which isn't what I want to do, at present) I only need to be a resident for 45 days.

I'm confused.

Does anybody know the law for Ohio in this circumstance?

And no, I'm not a gun nut. But I do enjoy time at the range with my buddy, it's therapeutic.

Thanks a lot guys.

Will

civilservant

The state residency of 90 days is almost nationwide, no way around that. Having had a look at the OH Attorney General CC handbook, you're right that a CC permit os 45 days - however that is the permit to carry, and not the right to purchase, and you must also pass competence and written tests.

Looks like you'll have to wait (and I don't think you're a gun nut, as soon as my 90 is up I'll be off to the store too, but then I'm in the Deep South )

civilservant

The state residency of 90 days is almost nationwide, no way around that. Having had a look at the OH Attorney General CC handbook, you're right that a CC permit os 45 days - however that is the permit to carry, and not the right to purchase, and you must also pass competence and written tests.

Looks like you'll have to wait (and I don't think you're a gun nut, as soon as my 90 is up I'll be off to the store too, but then I'm in the Deep South )

Pulaski

You will soon learn that in "the land of the free" there are an awful lot of laws, many of them inconsistent, so much so that making them consistent may not even be possible.

Every state representative heads off to the state capitol building each year with a grab bag of wrongs that can only be righted by enacting a bunch more laws, of which the vast majority won't even be enforced because there is no budget to do so.

Yorkieabroad

How do you prove compliance with the residency restriction...3 month old utility bills or some such? I hadn't heard that before...don't think we have it down here.

civilservant

Yep, thats the requirement, and how you fulfil it, in GA.

NatashaB

In MI you need to show utility bills to prove your residency. But despite what the official rules say, you may find that gun stores have their own policies. My husband tried to purchase a firearm from a store a few months after we got here - filled out their form, provided the utility bills and got the necessary permit from the county clerks office. But when he went to the store to pick it up the clerk he spoke to referred it to his supervisor (I think just based on his accent, they asked him where he was from and whether he was here legitimately - or maybe they ran a background check and found out he wasn't a citizen and had only been here a few months) and refused him the sale. He has never had problems buying rifles but has had a couple of issues purchasing handguns due to the fact he's not a citizen.

He did his concealed carry course purely because it saved him having to get the permit from the county office each time he wanted to buy a gun - may be worth doing the course just for that, if your state laws are similar (I believe he still has to register each gun there after purchasing but it saves him filling out the permit forms only to find that the gun he wants isn't in stock, the forms are only valid for a few days).

Steve_

Not anymore, that requirement was scrapped last year because ATF made it up after 9/11 and it has no legal basis. You need to be a resident of the State and be able to prove it, e.g. State ID or DL. As well as fulfilling the other requirements under Federal law (e.g. not be a felon or a fugitive)

http://www.justice.gov/olc/2012/ATF9...NAL1-30-12.pdf

Ohio State law and Federal law are two entirely different things. For example Federal law says you have to be 21 or older to buy a handgun from a federally licensed dealer and be 18 or older to possess one (with certain exemptions for sporting purposes, etc.), but State law might say something totally different (but in the case of Ohio, State law is fairly similar).

Have fun: http://www.atf.gov/files/publication...-ohio-2010.pdf

Uncle_Bob

I'm sorry you felt the need to have to say that here