Gun Rentals - Tourists and Student Visas

[fiatlux]

Came across this article: 2 Saudi Arabian Nationals Plead Guilty to Renting Guns, Buying Ammunition Illegally at Poway Shooting Range

Apparently tourists/students/etc. can't hold a gun legally without a California hunting license? https://www.atf.gov/firearms/qa/can...igrant-alien-visa-rent-firearm-lawful-hunting


Ignorance is bliss but having this knowledge causes some of my immigrant friends worry about trying to go shoot for the first time.

 

[gorgothmog]

If you're not a permanent resident or citizen I think the 2nd Amendment protections shouldn't apply to you. However, I think they should just plead it all down to infractions, slap them with 4 hours of community service picking up brass on the county range where the cops do their qauls, and send them home.

 

[Coolguy]

interesting. So its illegal if a friend from another country comes to visit you in California on a tourist visa and you decide to take him out to the desert and shoot your guns and ammo?

On a side note, I know someone who has quite the business going on by hosting Chinese tourists at gun ranges doing essentially the same thing.

I found this excerpt from a website from a range in Vegas: "The Gun Control Act of 1968 prohibits non-residents, including international tourists, from possessing firearms unless under specific conditions. A few exemptions include hunting or sporting activities. Visiting a gun range in Las Vegas qualifies as a sporting activity.

Federal and Nevada laws require that you shoot under the direct supervision of the firearm’s owner, or an agent of the company that owns it (like a range employee). This ensures compliance with federal regulations while also keeping you safe."

Isn't that pretty much the same thing the Saudi guys did?

 

[fiatlux]

The thing is plenty of ranges make money off of tourists. So are both ranges and people breaking the law and it's chill? Except for when a range thinks someone is "sus" and then they report them to the feds?

interesting. So its illegal if a friend from another country comes to visit you in California on a tourist visa and you decide to take him out to the desert and shoot your guns and ammo?

On a side note, I know someone who has quite the business going on by hosting Chinese tourists at gun ranges doing essentially the same thing.

I found this excerpt from a website from a range in Vegas: "The Gun Control Act of 1968 prohibits non-residents, including international tourists, from possessing firearms unless under specific conditions. A few exemptions include hunting or sporting activities. Visiting a gun range in Las Vegas qualifies as a sporting activity.

Federal and Nevada laws require that you shoot under the direct supervision of the firearm’s owner, or an agent of the company that owns it (like a range employee). This ensures compliance with federal regulations while also keeping you safe."

Isn't that pretty much the same thing the Saudi guys did?

Yeah, they're considered a "prohibited" person so the moment you hand them a gun both of ya'll are breaking the law. Unless they pay the $$ to get the hunting license then all is gucci.

One of the exceptions state "Nonimmigrant aliens admitted to the U.S. specifically for lawful hunting or sporting purposes, such as participating in competitive shooting events or hunting expeditions, are also exempt from the prohibition." This exception applies to individuals whose visa documentation explicitly indicates that their purpose of entry is related to these activities.

So ranges may think it's a sporting activity but I don't think it counts.

 

[treelogger]

Really quick answer, super busy: Federal law prohibits possession of guns and ammo by those illegally in the US, and by those in the US on a non-immigrant visa. That in particular includes all tourist visas, and H1 visas (those being the ones commonly found). It explicitly does NOT include those who are legally in the US without needing a visa, in particular people from visa waiver countries: they can come to the US for 3 months without a visa. The visa waiver countries include most European countries, friendly Asian countries (Israel, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan), and a few outliers. It does not include most other Middle East countries. Details can be found at the State Department web site.

 

[gorgothmog]

Came across this article: 2 Saudi Arabian Nationals Plead Guilty to Renting Guns, Buying Ammunition Illegally at Poway Shooting Range

Apparently tourists/students/etc. can't hold a gun legally without a California hunting license? https://www.atf.gov/firearms/qa/can...igrant-alien-visa-rent-firearm-lawful-hunting


Ignorance is bliss but having this knowledge causes some of my immigrant friends worry about trying to go shoot for the first time.

Are we recycling 10 year old news?

 

[2muchsoysauce4allthisrice]

“The gun range owner got suspicious when he saw them videotaping parts of their time there and contacted federal authorities.”

I noticed that sometimes the folks that hardly shoot or are bringing family/friends will do this. Sometimes the people filming start walking around filming other people too which is kind of rude for a gun range.

I’m surprised that a store owner would call the feds on paying customers filming their own time there. If it’s a group of people coming in to rent guns, none of them have guns, and rarely ever shoot guns or first time shooting guns; I wouldn’t be surprised if they were filming themselves. But, maybe the trio were doing some very unsafe actions that needed RSO mediation; along with plenty of tea cup handling or thumb over thumb for a slide bite.

How did the store owner even know they were not US citizens? All that was required for rental was that California drivers license.

What permit were they referring to in the article? An fsc?

“Neither of the two firearms rented, or the ammunition purchased, are manufactured in California and came from out-of-state.” What significance does this play?

 

[2muchsoysauce4allthisrice]

interesting. So its illegal if a friend from another country comes to visit you in California on a tourist visa and you decide to take him out to the desert and shoot your guns and ammo?

On a side note, I know someone who has quite the business going on by hosting Chinese tourists at gun ranges doing essentially the same thing.

I found this excerpt from a website from a range in Vegas: "The Gun Control Act of 1968 prohibits non-residents, including international tourists, from possessing firearms unless under specific conditions. A few exemptions include hunting or sporting activities. Visiting a gun range in Las Vegas qualifies as a sporting activity.

Federal and Nevada laws require that you shoot under the direct supervision of the firearm’s owner, or an agent of the company that owns it (like a range employee). This ensures compliance with federal regulations while also keeping you safe."

Isn't that pretty much the same thing the Saudi guys did?

Are you in nor-cal too?