What makes you a "resident"?

[Tyeraxus]

Not sure where else to put this, but if it belongs in another subforum, mods please move to the appropriate one. Thanks.

I travel a fair amount for work, to places all over the country. I understand that a one- to two-week trip, which is the norm, is probably not enough to establish "residency" for the purposes of ATF regs and purchasing a firearm/handgun. However, I'm coming up on a much longer trip, an actual temporary duty station, in a more gun-friendly state for a minimum of two months and the potential for a permanent change of station at the end of it depending on how it works out.

Reading the ATF Q&As on unlicensed persons, if I maintained a separate residence in another state, such as if I had a weekend home in VA or something, I could legally purchase a firearm as a resident of the state I lived in while I was living there (on Saturday, in my "weekend home in VA" example). But what about a TDY as explained above? The Q&A states "The State of residence is the State in which an individual is present; the individual also must have an intention of making a home in that State." I can see both arguments: I'm there full time for at least two months, so for those two months I am a resident; and it's a temporary thing with an expected end so my apartment wouldn't be considered a "home".

I absolutely want to stay on the right side of the law, but like I said, the other state is more gun-friendly with many gun shows (generally at least one per weekend) and there's a family friend that lives there that might be persuaded to part with a piece or two of his collection if the price is right, so I'm intrigued.

 

[lx1x]

A gypsy.. Lol

Tough call. To be a resident, depending on state, it could be 3 to months. Where is your drivers liscensed at?

 

[Inigoes]

Check the laws of the state.

 

[Tconfo]

To what state do you pay taxes?

 

[Jim Sr]

In Maryland, just being hear may be adequate.
If you vote "Democrat," you’re a resident!

 

[Tyeraxus]

To what state do you pay taxes?

The non-MD state doesn't have an income tax. Yet another of many reasons to hope it works out and I stay.

A gypsy.. Lol

Tough call. To be a resident, depending on state, it could be 3 to months. Where is your drivers liscensed at?

Good point; probably still MD.

I found this on the ATF site:

Q: May a person (who is not an alien) who resides in one State and owns property in another State purchase a handgun in either State?

If a person maintains a home in 2 States and resides in both States for certain periods of the year, he or she may, during the period of time the person actually resides in a particular State, purchase a handgun in that State. However, simply owning property in another State does not qualify the person to purchase a handgun in that State.

[27 CFR 478.11]

I wouldn't own property in either state (I rent here and would live in employer-provided housing there) so I'm not sure how that would interact.

Even after reading the definition of "state of residence" at 27 CFR 478.11 I'm not sure what it means to my situation. I may just call/e-mail ATF and ask.

 

[ghost1981]

Check with the state your registered in currently. If you intend to be a long resident of a different state, you'll have to check that states rules on how long it takes to be considered a resident. My friend is a electrician and was constantly traveling between states for jobs. Best way to change states is to change your mailing address to the state you intend to live in first. That gives them the intention that you are becoming a resident. After the determined time, you'll need to change your drivers license and vehicle registration. That is more of claiming your residency. Depending on the state, it's usually about three to six month.

 

[Tyeraxus]

Actually, the "non-MD" state is TN which requires you to change your DL/registration within 30 days (hopefully will know if they intend to make the offer of permanent transfer by that time). Currently have a MD license because I live out of hotels when I'm elsewhere.

 

[sgt23preston]

A Mailing Address plus...

A Car or Truck registered in MD & wearing MD Tags...

Maryland Income Tax filings for the last few years for more than 50% of your earnings...

A MD Drivers License...

 

[lx1x]

A Mailing Address plus...

A Car or Truck registered in MD & wearing MD Tags...

Maryland Income Tax filings for the last few years for more than 50% of your earnings...

A MD Drivers License...

if thats the case.. he's a maryland resident then.. sorry about the bad news..

 

[rambling_one]

It's an obvious problem to those who stay on the road year round - affectionately known as snow birds in the RV world.
I've never looked into it, but wonder if an organization like GoodSam would have any insight on the matter.

 

[Boom Boom]

Be careful if part of your intent is to avoid paying MD state income tax. For tax purposes, the law of both states may classify you as a resident if you spend enough time in each one during a given year, MD especially. You can easily find yourself needing to file a MD tax return and paying MD income tax even if you spent enough time in TN to be a resident there, too. It's not simply a matter of owning property here or there or neither place. It's a legal issue of how long you reside in both places during the year and the law of each state regarding length of residence before you are automatically classified as a resident, no matter if you have a DL or registered vehicles there or not.

 

[Tyeraxus]

Had a big reply typed up and lost it.

I'm not trying to avoid any taxes or anything. I live in MD, my wife works in MD, I spend 60% percent of my time in MD, but I do get sent on trips to other states, generally for one to two weeks at a time. However, I'm going on an extended assignment in TN for two or more months, and very simply want to know if it would be legal for me to purchase a firearm/handgun while I'm living there. The "residency" angle was simply because that's the way the ATF Q&A looked at it.

So it's looking like the answer may be "no" but I'll need to wade through the TN and MD state codes, something I wasn't looking forward to. I was always raised to ask questions and learn from others (but verify what they tell you!) when at all possible, so I asked here in the hopes that somebody might have seen a similar situation come up before and knew the outcome.

 

[lx1x]

Had a big reply typed up and lost it.

I'm not trying to avoid any taxes or anything. I live in MD, my wife works in MD, I spend 60% percent of my time in MD, but I do get sent on trips to other states, generally for one to two weeks at a time. However, I'm going on an extended assignment in TN for two or more months, and very simply want to know if it would be legal for me to purchase a firearm/handgun while I'm living there. The "residency" angle was simply because that's the way the ATF Q&A looked at it.

So it's looking like the answer may be "no" but I'll need to wade through the TN and MD state codes, something I wasn't looking forward to. I was always raised to ask questions and learn from others (but verify what they tell you!) when at all possible, so I asked here in the hopes that somebody might have seen a similar situation come up before and knew the outcome.

still no. you are still considered a md resident. unless you own a house in tht state or rent and pay bills and hold a dl for that state.


military may be different.

 

[Tomcat]

If you're military you could use your home of record (state where you joined) if it's more 2A friendly than MD. If not military don't know what to tell you. When we owned a condo in Fla. we had FL drivers licenses in addition to our MD license. Not sure how that would have worked for firearms but it got us discounts at Disney etc. as FL residents

 

[Tyeraxus]

I'm not military, I'm a federal civilian employee. I doubt the rules are the same even though I'm subject to "may be required to relocate depending on the needs of the Government" language in my position description.

I wish I could hold two DLs while I'm living in TN, but TN law says I can only have one, and it was hard enough getting time to go to MD MVA when I moved in last year.

Honestly, from looking briefly at the TN code, it looks like I may have to get a TN DL anyway, since the code requires getting it within 30 days of establishing a residence, which the code effectively says means where you go home every night. If I'm living in an apartment in TN for two months, then according to TN then I'm apparently a TN resident. I'll have to look more.