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August 4, 2015, 09:35 PM | #1 |
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Out of State College, Residency, and buying a gun
I moved recently from Florida to go to college here in South Carolina. My parents still live in Florida and that's where I consider my residency. My car is registered there and I maintain a Florida Driver License. South Carolina considers me a resident for some things (hunting license) and not for others (tuition) based on how long I've been here.
With all of that said, what is my legal residency and how can I buy a firearm? We'll assume I'm talking about long guns now. Am I considered a South Carolina resident for those purposes? Does it change between FFL and private sales? For instance, with my Florida license, can I show a student ID to a private seller to meet minimum guidelines for purchasing a firearm? I called a local guns hop here and asked how they would handle it. The guy running it told me he would consider me a Florida resident and would transfer it to me as such, which would be legal for a long gun under both federal and state law. However, I'm a little confused about the part on the 4473 where it asks about current address. When I sold guns at a big box store, I was told that the current address has to be where that personally currently stays and sleeps. I have no alternate documentation with which to prove my current address (no registration, voter ID, property tax etc.) so I'm not sure what to do. Who can I buy a long gun from, and how, in this case?
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August 5, 2015, 12:09 AM | #2 | ||
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College ID only denotes your status as a student. It makes no assumptions of whether or not you have established residency.
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ETA: Quote:
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August 5, 2015, 01:06 AM | #3 | ||
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Under federal law, one's State of residence for the purposes of buying a gun is defined as follows (27 CFR 478.11):
Based on that definition, a person living in a State to attend college is a resident of that State for the purposes of the Gun Control Act of 1968 when is is actually present in that State. That State is the student's home while he is attending school. A transferee needs to furnish satisfactory identification to the FFL allowing the FFL to be able to establish the transferee's State of residence. In the ATF publication, Federal Firearms Licensee Quick Reference and Best Practices Guide (ATF P 5300.15), describes satisfactory identification as follows (pg 6, emphasis in bold in original, emphasis in italics added): So you will need one of more documents satisfying the following criteria:
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August 5, 2015, 06:50 AM | #4 |
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You are a Florida resident. Keep it that way unless you plan on buying handguns or want to get a carry permit in South Carolina. Just keep in mind that Florida residents have no state income tax and Florida's concealed carry permit has reciprocity with a lot of states. You can buy long guns out of state without an issue. It's only an issue if you buy a handgun.
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August 5, 2015, 07:20 AM | #5 |
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Hopefully you don't live in a dorm, almost every one has rules against keeping firearms. Same in non dorm on campus housing.
Honestly you'd have an easier time buying in Florida during a break. |
August 5, 2015, 10:01 AM | #6 | ||
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Liability for state income tax has nothing to do with residency. Because of investments I have I must file income tax returns and pay income tax in States I've never even been to.
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August 5, 2015, 10:36 AM | #7 |
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So it seems I'm a South Carolina resident some of the time and not for others.
If I understand it correctly, I could use my Florida Driver License and an alternate form of documentation proving my current address. That's how we used to do it for people who had old out of state licenses. Problem is, I don't know what alternate documentation to use. A South Carolina state ID requires me to surrender my out of state driver license. My car is titled to myself and a family member, who is in Florida, so I was planning on saving money by keeping it registered there. I may just have to suck it up and get a DL here
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August 5, 2015, 11:51 AM | #8 | |||
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ATF even has a ruling addressing college students and their state of residence: https://www.atf.gov/file/55301/download Quote:
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You should understand, some dealers don't bother reading the instructions on the Form 4473. They never have and never will. They are comfortable doing things one way and one way only. Although your situation is uncommon, it is far from rare. The only difference is the dealer must complete Question 20b Alternate Documentation on the 4473.
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August 5, 2015, 12:53 PM | #9 |
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In New Jersey they have an ID card issued by the state (at the dmv no less), but it is NOT a drivers license. It's for people who live in the state but don't drive so they can do things like get on airplanes.
Would you be eligible for something like that in SC? Your drivers license would still be in Florida but you'd have a SC ID card to prove residence. Usually you just need a couple of utility bills to prove residence, Social security card, passport is always a good one, and/or birth certificate. BTW I have NO IDEA if that is considered legal to buy a firearm, so I'd make VERY sure before trying it! Last edited by NJgunowner; August 5, 2015 at 02:44 PM. |
August 5, 2015, 03:49 PM | #10 |
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NJ, that is a good though, but I checked it out earlier and South Carolina State ID requires you to turn over all out of state IDs and Driver Licenses.
However, I didn't realize a hunting license had an address on it. I plan to get one very soon (hopefully within the week) so I'll just use that for my current address. I have utility bills, but I think even our water here goes through a private company. This means that, since I'm a South Carolina resident, I can buy through a private sale here also? In that case, do I have to show to the other person some form of proof of residency as I do an FFL?
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August 5, 2015, 07:35 PM | #11 | |
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What's the big deal about buying a firearm in South Carolina? You're there for college -- you should be worrying about your studies, not about how to game the system to buy a firearm. |
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August 5, 2015, 08:57 PM | #12 | |
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I also have a couple firearms projects I want to build while I'm in school for gunsmithing, not to mention the project rifle I will build in class and have to have transferred to me in my final semester. Just trying to figure out how to do all of the above legally and find out exactly what my rights and responsibilities are. At least one FFL has offered to transfer it to me as a Florida resident using my Florida address on the form. Accepting that against my gut instinct that it wouldn't be correct would be gaming the system - I'm going out of my way here to do everything right. ETA: Although my residence remains in Florida, and I do plan to return there after school, I won't be coming home often between breaks or anything. I have an apartment here and I'll also be attending summer terms, which means only a couple weeks in between semesters. My SO spent 2 months and a good bit of money transferring professional licenses to have a job here and I have a job here also, so I'm not likely to spend a significant amount of time in Florida until school is done.
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August 6, 2015, 10:39 AM | #13 | |
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Personally, having attended college in one state and graduate school in another state, I can attest that I never had any intention of "establishing a residence" in either place. I was there to attend school -- period. For undergraduate college I lived in dormitories for all four years. For graduate school I rented my own apartment, so I had an address. But it was never my intention to establish residency there. I think you're overthinking this. Worst case, buy the guns when you're home in Florida on break, and then take them back to SC with you when you return to school. |
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August 6, 2015, 11:34 AM | #14 | ||
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"Students temporarily in South Carolina are not required to obtain a South Carolina Driver's license." Some other information regarding residency can be found at: Http://registrar.sc.edu/html/residency/ Does that work for you sir? As for no state income tax in Florida, it is not irrelevant if he has any income coming other sources not made in South Carolina. South Carolina has 5 tax brackets with the highest at 7%. That is 12th highest among all the states that levy individual income tax. I'm not sure which bracket Mr. Potts falls in, but there is a tax ramification associated to changing residency.
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August 6, 2015, 12:16 PM | #15 | |||
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August 6, 2015, 12:30 PM | #16 |
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Actually you don't need to send a rifle to your home state ffl, just handguns.
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August 6, 2015, 12:32 PM | #17 | ||||
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Quote:
That statement is not accurate:
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August 6, 2015, 01:10 PM | #18 |
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Use your Florida information. Your local gun dealer was not lying to you. The 4473 asks for "residence address" not "current address". Where you stay while at school is your temporary address. Your Florida address is your permanent address.
Things might be a little more dicey if the state you claimed as your residence made a difference on the legality of the purchase, but in this case the transaction is legal from either address. Many years ago I moved from CA to PA, to do a job for 6 months, with the intent of moving to OH a few months later. I wanted to buy a pistol. I was able to use my CA drivers license as ID, and provided utility bills as proof of PA residence. I don't think the law has changed since then, and is probably still technically legal but dealer CYA standards probably have. |
August 6, 2015, 01:18 PM | #19 | ||
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Quote:
Quote:
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"It is long been a principle of ours that one is no more armed because he has possession of a firearm than he is a musician because he owns a piano. There is no point in having a gun if you are not capable of using it skillfully." -- Jeff Cooper |
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August 17, 2015, 06:57 PM | #20 |
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Picked up my shotgun today, using a residence of South Carolina. Had to get my hunting license first and use bills/my hunter education certification to prove my address. Used my Florida Driver License for the majority of identifying questions and the hunting license was listed as alternate documentation on the 4473, with a photocopy of both made.
No problems and I was out in about 10 minutes. Background check came back with a proceed about the same second he finished phoning in my information. So that's an option for students living out of state while going to school
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August 17, 2015, 08:00 PM | #21 |
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Glad it worked out for you!
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August 19, 2015, 12:23 PM | #22 |
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One other thing you may wish to consider , is applying for a SC ID card
instead of a SC drivers license, with your currant address on it. I think all state ID cards also include a photo. ........................ Jack
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January 31, 2017, 04:18 PM | #23 |
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Student Exemption
I came across this older thread because I am a college student in a similar scenario, however I'm looking to buy a handgun.
For posterity I wanted to share, the ATF provides a specific stipulation for residency status of college students for the purchase firearms: Similarly, in ATF Ruling 80-21 (ATFB 1980-4, 25), ATF held that, during the time college students actually reside in a college dormitory or at an offcampus location, they are considered residents of the State where the on-campus or offcampus housing is located. This is from the ATF webpage, Page 2 Paragraph 3 of this article: https://www.atf.gov/file/55496/download |
January 31, 2017, 05:32 PM | #24 |
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The law says you can, but unless you have a government ID with an address on it good luck finding an FFL who will sell you one.
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January 31, 2017, 06:28 PM | #25 |
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gaz2, welcome to TFL. If you had read the other posts in this thread, you might have noticed that the information in your post was given in the link in post #8. Please don't reopen old threads just to repeat something that's been said already.
It's best not to reopen them at all, since people do then tend to jump in without having read beyond the OP. That's why you saw this notice before posting:
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