Gun Law Question

[regularguy]

I have a question brought up by me wanting to purchase a pistol from someone in Colorado, even though I live in Wyoming. Here's the catch, I am active duty military and a legal resident of Colorado (can prove it by my LES.) My driver's license and CCW are both from Wyoming. From what I have been able to gather, I am AM able to purchase a firearm from someone in any state, due to Part (a) in the below:
(from ATF laws)
§ 478.30 Out-of-State disposition of
firearms by nonlicensees.
No nonlicensee shall transfer, sell,
trade, give, transport, or deliver any firearm
to any other nonlicensee, who the
transferor knows or has reasonable cause
to believe does not reside in (or if the person
is a corporation or other business
entity, does not maintain a place of business
in) the State in which the transferor
resides: Provided, That the provisions of
this section:
(a) shall not apply to the transfer,
transportation, or delivery of a firearm
made to carry out a bequest of a firearm
to, or any acquisition by intestate succession
of a firearm by, a person who is permitted
to acquire or possess a firearm
under the laws of the State of his residence;
and
(b) shall not apply to the loan or rental
of a firearm to any person for temporary
use for lawful sporting purposes.

I will stick to purchasing firearms from dealers for now, but am wondering if there are any experts here that can point me in the right direction...

[Moviestar]

I think what you can do, is have them ship it to an FFL, you pay the FFL 20 bucks or so for a transfer, and its yours.

My Bersa was purchased from an out of state FFL, they shipped it to an in-state FFL, and i paid them for a transfer and it was all good. Idk what the ruling like that is in wyoming though.

[MuzzleFlash]

You are in a grey zone. I'll offer my opinion, but do not rely on it.

Paragraph (a) of 27 CFR 478.30 relates to an exemption for transfer of firearms you inherit. For instance let's forget your active duty status for the moment and assume you're an ordinary civilian. If you inherited your father's collection, but live in a different state, paragraph (a) of the CFR says the transfer could go from his estate to you without a transfer dealer as long as the firearms were legal in your state. If you lived in a state that requires handgun registration for instance, the interstate transfer would only be legal if you complied with the local requirement to register the handguns. Another example: if your state disqualified you due to a DUI (some states do this), you couldn't receive the firearms. If you receive the firearms in contradiction to state and local laws, you have also violated the federal law banning direct interstate transfer to individuals because you fail the test for the exemption in paragraph (a).

Paragraph (a) does not apply to transfers that are not part of an estate - even between family members.

Now for your Colorado handgun:

http://www.atf.gov/firearms/faq/unlicensed-persons.html

Q: What constitutes residency in a State?
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. A member of the Armed Forces on active duty is a resident of the State in which his or her permanent duty station is located. If a member of the Armed Forces maintains a home in one State and the member’s permanent duty station is in a nearby State to which he or she commutes each day, then the member has two States of residence and may purchase a firearm in either the State where the duty station is located or the State where the home is maintained. An alien who is legally in the United States is considered to be a resident of a State only if the alien is residing in that State and has resided in that State continuously for a period of at least 90 days prior to the date of sale of the firearm. See also Item 5, “Sales to Aliens in the United States,” in the General Information section of this publication.
[18 U.S.C. 921(b), 922(a) (3), and 922(b)(3), 27 CFR 478.11]

You didn't say if your WY CCW was resident or non-resident. Hopefully the latter since it's more consistent with being a Colorado resident. Does WY issue non-resident DLs to active duty military? If not, having a WY DL and no resident CO DL sorta makes things ambiguous for residency purposes, no? Do you file a CO income tax return? (I know, .mil salaries are under the threshold most likely). Where are you registered to vote? These are important criteria to make sure you are still a Colorado resident in the law's eye.

[regularguy]

I have a resident WY DL and CCW,
but I pay taxes ($100 a month) to Colorado, and registerd to vote in JeffCo.

[Circuits]

As a resident of more than one state, you may legally acquire firearms from either state of official residence... DURING THE TIME IN WHICH YOU ARE RESIDENT IN THE STATE IN WHICH THE TRANSFER OCCURS.

For active duty military, for instance, they are considered a resident of their permanent residence state, and also of the state in which they are at the time stationed, provided they are stationed there on permanent change of station orders, and not TDY.

If you normally live and reside in WY, but have property in CO, and reside there during part of the year, you are legally a resident of Colorado while living there.

There are some wierd laws regarding taxes, and voter registrations for dual/multiple residents, but this is the firearms perspective.

[tonantius]

That would make you a Colorado resident, but also a dual state resident, IMHO.

[TFOGGER]

Doesn't Colorado (and Wyoming) allow adjacent state purchases? I know this applies to long guns, but can't remember if it's allowed for handguns....

[BPTactical]

Doesn't Colorado (and Wyoming) allow adjacent state purchases? I know this applies to long guns, but can't remember if it's allowed for handguns....

Long guns only for adjacent state purchases/transfers.
Handguns must be purchased in the state you reside unless it is a out of state transfer.

[OneGuy67]

Old thread that got resurrected by a newbie.

[Circuits]

Especially since "adjacent state" requirement went away in 1986, unless preserved as part of some goofy state's goofy laws (for long guns).