Help me purchase handgun please!!!

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newbie4help

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Okay, first off so there's no confusion, I do no currently own any guns or have any permits etc.

I am a citizen of Texas (driver's license is there) but I live in Michigan as a student. I am older enough to purchase a handgun, etc. etc. I canNOT get to Texas until May. Is there any legal way I can purchase a handgun without having to leave Michigan? I mean anything - having it shipped, private parties, anything?
 
Need help w/ handgun purchase.

Here's the thing - I don't own any guns, and cannot get to TX until May. I am citizen of TX - my driver's license and everything is there. How can I legally purchase a handgun while living out of state (without having to travel back to TX to pick it up)?
 
You could register in Michigan as a resident. Get DL there and buy one.

Other than that, you have to buy in Texas I'm afraid.

You do need a purchase permit in Michigan. You don't in Texas.
 
Just sick of waiting - I've been mulling it for year and a half and I'm pretty impatient now. I guess I will have to wait since there's no way.

No way am I giving up TX citizenship. Too much hassle. Besides, I'm moving back after school.
 
Can't I get some form of Michigan ID without changing residence and getting a DL? I mean surely people w/o driver's licenses can buy handguns.
 
to get ID from a state you need to be a resident. I had the same problem where I had NJ ID and was in KS course it's way harder to get a pistol permit in NJ so I just got a KS DL-once you own the gun you can bring it back as yours as long as its not hi-cap(though I guess in TX that wouldn't matter)
 
Looks like I will be waiting until May then. Would it be worth it to drive down on a weeklong break I have to Texarkana area to get it? Or is it just worth waiting for?
 
Thanks qwert. I'm looking at a Glock 17 which has 17 round capacity. Is that considered hi-cap? Any restrictions on those in Mich?
 
Looks like I will be waiting until May then. Would it be worth it to drive down on a weeklong break I have to Texarkana area to get it? Or is it just worth waiting for?
Click to expand...

Whether it is "worth it" is entirely up to you, but if you have not had any handgun experience, I would try to take a basic handgun safety course before you laid money down on any firearm. It would stink to go through a lot of trouble to get one and then injure yourself or somebody else with it. Also, I might recommend (assuming you have handgun experience and you deem it worthwhile) trying to locate the particular firearm you want to purchase before hopping in the car. Walking into a gun store and buying whatever they have there won't do you any favors; you'd be better to first locate the proper gun, having it shipped to the appropriate FFL if necessary (you would need to find the right dealer who would receive a gun for transfer to somebody who is going to drive in, fill out the proper forms and do the background check, and then drive off).
 
You can have residences in two states, and legally buy a firearm in either, as long as you meet the ATF's requirements of residency. But I suspect that even if you are a resident of MI your problem will be convincing a seller of that without a MI license. I am not at all familiar with MI law, so I do not know what the requirements are to buy a handgun there. But you might call whoever it is that issues the purchase permits that Cartman mentioned and see if they will issue you one. Otherwise, Spring Break is coming up pretty soon.

http://www.atf.gov/firearms/faq/faq2.htm#b11
 
Good point techno - I plan on taking a course. How much do they generally cost?

Are handguns really dangerous? I remember rules of thumb from growing up around my dad's : never ever ever point it at self or others, and always treat it like its loaded. If you follow those how can you hurt somebody? Can you give me basic rundown on safety?
 
just out of curiosity, but couldn't the ffl transfer work both ways? Have the check done in TX, then ship the firearm to michigan?
 
Dallas:

I kind of suspected as much. I thought it would be impossible that they would just deny me the ability to lawfully purchase. How much hassle do you think a dealer would get? If michigan issues me the License to Purchase, and I golden?
 
I just called up local police - I will basically have to get a Michigan DL to do this. Does anyone know how much of a hassle it is to do that?
 
Why not just watch the local want ads for a decent used gun privately sold until you get down there and get settled?
 
We aren't citizens of the states in which we live. We're residents, and there's the rub. Our governments play games with the semantic differences between the two of them to their own end, however it best suits them to keep us under control.

As US citizens, we shouldn't have to live in states that deny us wholly, or in part, our 2A rights -- and yet the federal government would never do anything on their own to change the status quo, unless it were to restrict things further than they already are.
 
Good point techno - I plan on taking a course. How much do they generally cost?

Are handguns really dangerous? I remember rules of thumb from growing up around my dad's : never ever ever point it at self or others, and always treat it like its loaded. If you follow those how can you hurt somebody? Can you give me basic rundown on safety?
Click to expand...

Price of classes will vary. Around here it can go from a basic NRA safety course done through the department of conservation for the same price as a McDonald's lunch to a full-up CCW qualification course which will run about $100 or so.

As for safety, apparently you have some firearms familiarity (was unsure of that). Just search for the Four Rules and follow them religiously while learning your specific firearm backwards and forwards. Folks tend to have problems when they ignore more than one of the Rules and/or have extreme unfamiliarity with a particular gun.
 
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