Thanks, and I'm looking but to be honest I can't find it (yet, maybe). Could you give examples for one/a few states maybe? And/or the outer lines, like federal laws on this?

I think there's a specific law applying to anyone using the username "steephie22" that requires toe-prints to be taken *while in Europe* then faxed to the U.S. in advance of your arrival before approaching within 500 yards (*not* meters) of a gun shop.

No, you can't carry a gun just by being 21 and paying for it. You have to be licensed and have your permit, which you likely don't if you're just on vacation or something.

Having a gun isn't "regular business." It's a really sensitive privilege (not a right) and you can't just do what they do in the movies and show the trigger on your belt and fire off warning shots in the air. It's an actual responsibility and it's not something to do if you aren't good with going out of your comfort zone.

Gun stores can open wherever so long as the zoning allows for it and the likely protests from the regional people don't go anywhere, which is usually the case.

And, by the way, if you are considering carrying a gun here for whatever reason, you really shouldn't do it if you don't know the laws like the back of your hand.

First of all I'm not talking about me personally, just curious what the laws are. Second, wasn't the right to have a gun in some Amendment? I know that isn't too specific, but you probably know what I mean better than I do. So how is it a privilege then? Just by what everyone says everywhere including on this site I was under the impression that pretty much any American of legal age without a big criminal record or stuff like that could wear a gun, at least in some states. Did I get that all wrong?

That's the sensitive part. You may own a gun provided you aren't a convicted criminal, which I assume you aren't. That doesn't mean you can carry it with you though, and many places don't allow you to carry them at all (places as in private organizations).

But if you own a gun I assume you can always carry it in your own house, right? Any other places that are taken for granted?

And how do you get your gun from the gun shop to your home if you can't carry it with you? :P
And are there different rules for foreigners, I say Europeans just so we don't have to consider Israeli's, North Koreans, Palestinians, Iranians...

Just trying to see the logistics of this.

And no, they never caught me.



(they have no reason to do so either since I did nothing, just in case some suits read this and think I'm not joking...)

If you ask me, there are absolutely no logistics to it, but others would say otherwise.

To answer your question - the same way you get alcohol home.

To be honest I don't know what you mean with that, I don't drink alcohol and my dad doesn't even conceal it since you can just drink alcohol on the streets here to my knowledge, as long as you don't get too drunk :P

So unless you mean you can just walk around with guns as long as you're going home, which would be hard to check, I really don't know what you mean.

You can't drink and drive but you have to get it home in your car somehow. Nobody walks in the USA. It's one of the smaller things that bugs me to no end, but shopping centers and residential areas are a lot farther apart here than there in general.

Hide it under your hood if you think you'll need to.

So what you're saying is that there is no legal way to get your gun home unless you own the gun shop (in which case I don't see how the guns get to your shop but I suppose gun supplies work differently, at least juridically)?

@Steephie - The Constitution and its amendments apply to U.S. Citizens, not to foreign visitors. Plain and simple, never assume you can use the Constitution on your side just cause you are visiting here.

"You can't drink and drive but you have to get it home in your car somehow."

That is the single dumbest thing I've heard this week. Call a fucking cab, imbecile!

And virtually *every* state law has an exception for trasnporting the gun home or to the range. The restrictions are about barrying the gun in the car in general, not transporting it for a purpose. All one needs do is secure it in a locked portable gun safe and they are within the constraints of the law in most cases. I believe Chicago got smacked around recently for restricitng ever transporting a hand gun and it was found to effectively violate the 2nd amendment.

Let's think about this. There is a difference between transporting a firearm in a protable locked gun safe and strapping it to your fucking waist like an old west gunslinger or hiding it under your jacket in a shoulder holster like 007. The first is trtansportation and is not forbidden. The second is open carry and is generally allowed depending on the state or local government and the third is conceal carry that almost always requires a special license from the government entity in question.

@steephie: Arizona is one state where I know you can open carry. You can even conceal cary without any kind of permit or training (i disagree with this). There is a background check when buying a new gun, but not when buying from a private party (including gun shows). So a foreigner could fly into sky harbor (phx) and within an hour legally buy a tun and proudly wear it about town.

And by tun, I mean gun.

I'm not sure about purchase in the USA, but my brother-in-law is an arms dealer so I'll ask him.

But as far as renting a gun, non-citizens can *totally* do this. In fact, gun tourism is an actual thing! It turns out that Hawaii is not only important for it's beautiful beaches, it happens to be the US capitol of gun tourism.

Cheers!

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/02/gun-control-tourism-hawaii-assault-weapons/1957653/

I know people in Ireland who were stopped by police for carrying firearms from their car (on a public street) into their home.

And by 'firearms', i mean air rifle.

Result? confiscation and a fine.

@bo_sox,

" No, you can't carry a gun just by being 21 and paying for it. You have to be licensed and have your permit, which you likely don't if you're just on vacation or something."

You certainly do not have to be licensed to buy a gun in most states.

"That is the single dumbest thing I've heard this week. Call a fucking cab, imbecile! "

Huh? You think you need to buy a cab to take your alcohol home from the liquor store? That is certainly not the case. I know of nowhere where it's illegal to have unopened alcohol containers in your trunk.

The guarda?

@Semck - Read what he wrote again.

"You can't drink and drive but you have to get it home in your car somehow."

That specifically stated drinking and driving. Not carrying your unopened container home. Carrying the unopened container home equates with carrying your gun home. Having an open container in the car is the equivalent to having a loaded gun sitting under the seat. And drinking and driving is the equivalent to waving the gun out the window pulling the trigger on occassion.

Draug,

He said, "To answer your question - the same way you get alcohol home." Then a couple posts later, "You can't drink and drive but you have to get it home in your car somehow."

In other words, he is saying that, while you CANNOT drink and drive, you CAN take alcohol in your car from a liquor store.

"That specifically stated drinking and driving. Not carrying your unopened container home."

Did you notice the first two words of the sentence? You know, the "you can't"?

" Having an open container in the car is the equivalent to having a loaded gun sitting under the seat. "

In many states, you can have it in the trunk, though.

"Having an open container in the car is the equivalent to having a loaded gun sitting under the seat. And drinking and driving is the equivalent to waving the gun out the window pulling the trigger on occassion. "

Agreed. Anyway, it seems like our disagreement is in interpreting bo_sox.

In az you can have a loaded gun on your dashboard for all the world to see. Also there is no place in your car that a loaded gun would be considered concealed. Under the seat, in the glove box, whatever.

Even in California one may transport a gun in the trunk of one's car, as this is deemed a locked container.

'The guarda?' - no, Na Garda Siochain - literally the peace keepers.

Sorry orth, I was only there for 5 days, but every police car said guarda, and I was afraid very time I saw it that I was doing something wrong. Like driving on the wring side of the road or somethin

No apologies needed.

@semck ... you do need to be licensed around here. I find actual gun rights/control to be a non-issue in relation to the racial disparities in crime, so it's probably something I shouldn't speak widely about.

@Draug ... why would you call a cab to transport a six pack home? I'm not saying you drink it while you're on your way home. *That* is the dumbest thing you and I have heard all week.

It was a misunderstanding of what you meant, bo. I actually thought you were comparing drunk driving to transporting a gun home instead of putting the six pack in the trunk. my bad.

In Draug's defence: bo did say drink and drive, which is confusing :)
So, now I understand this system a little I'd like to know what's different for foreigners, if anything? Is there anything an American can do and a foreigner can't do with a gun?

It really depends on the state laws. Remember that the US is 50 states with their own governments and laws that, as long as they don't violate the Constitution, have a lot more freedom to self-govern than, say, Wales has. I am no expert on gin laws but I would imagine first and foremost that a foreigner might not even be able to get a hun license in some states to own and openly carry and is even less likely to be able to get a conceal carry permit. But other states with fewer restrictions may have no problem granting you a license for a term to equal your Visa should you be here on one of those.

And still other states have no concept of a gun license.

And in that last case, there's no special rule or something for foreigners, right?

@bo_sox "It's a really sensitive privilege (not a right)"

Ref. 2nd Amendment: "...the RIGHT to keep and bear arms..."

It is a right here. Felons are not allowed to own guns (or are at least greatly restricted), and specific states have different laws, but in general one has the right to keep a gun in one's home. Carrying concealed does, as stated before, require a permit, and getting a permit in one state does not mean you can carry in any state (the states must have agreed to honor one another's permits).

As far as foreigners purchasing guns, I really don't know. I'm not a foreigner and I've never bought a gun.

I do agree with bo, though, in that one should learn the gun laws backward and forward before buying a gun. Both to make sure that you don't inadvertently do something that will get you into trouble and so that you know your rights.

Can a foreigner carry a gun in Switzerland?

@steephie, that's correct. Theres nothing that asks about your nationality, so there can be no exceptions.

Now to buy a gun from a gun dealer, you have to pass a background check. I'm not sure if that takes nationality into account. But like I said, private party sales have no such check. So you can go to a swap meet, or look in the newspaper (it the online equivalent) for a private party sale. Or go to a gun show. All legal without a background check.

@rs2ex... you picked out the wrong word. You should have picked "sensitive." As in I played nice to both sides of the battle and really don't want to argue here.

There's not a battle, or at least shouldn't be. The Constitution is vague on a lot of things. There it isn't.

That doesn't mean there's not going to be a battle. There's a battle in practically everything here. There are so many more important things to focus on though; it's pathetic that we focus so much on it.