Read the quote again......you are saying the same thing it does.
Note that a military buyer must be on permanent orders to that duty station, not temporary.
Example: An active duty Air Force pilot who is a Texas resident, but with permanent orders to a base in Nevada, may acquire ANY firearm (handgun, long gun or other) in either Texas or Nevada. If he flys to Florida for a weekend training event, he is NOT considered a resident as that is a temporary duty station. It doesn't matter if he is active duty or not. Therefore he can only acquire rifles or shotguns while in a state other than Texas or Nevada.
Mr. Tom, you would be wrong in your example. For example, I have had a Wyoming Driver's License since 1982. I would not be able to legally buy a handgun from anyone or a rifle from a private party in Wyoming since 1988 because since 1988 (when I enlisted active duty in the Navy) I have never been present in Wyoming with the intention of making a home there. I have only returned to Wyoming on a visiting basis to visit family.
An active duty military member is a resident of the state they have permanent orders to, AND if they live in an adjoining state and commute to work every day, they are also a resident of the state they live in and go home to every night. Home of record (generally where a military member's drivers license is from) has NO BEARING on state of residence for firearms purchases.
This is on page 178 of the Federal Firearms Regulations Reference Guide and is consistent with 27 CFR 478.11:
http://www.atf.gov/publications/download/p/atf-p-5300-4.pdf
(B11) 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.
In fact, my Wyoming driver's license has a Washington address on it because that is my state of residence because I both live here and have permanent orders here.
Well that may be what it says but I'm giving first hand knowledge after 20 years in the military, my actual residency was my home state.
While on active duty you have all the privileges of a state resident even if your not, your military I.D. and orders give you those privileges. I had a state I.D for most states I lived in but was still a legal resident of my home state, used my original drivers license even after it had long expired, I still payed taxes and voted in my home state.
I also had two conceal carry permits for the state I lived and my home state.
Your 20 years of military experience does not negate what Federal law says. In regards to purchasing firearms from a Federal Firearms Licensee and from a private party - what your home of record state is and what state your driver's license is from has NO BEARING whatsoever on what your state of residence is for the purposes of firearms transactions. There are
two things that define state of residence in Federal law for firearms transactions: 1. Physical presence in a state with the intention of making a home in that state and/or 2. Active duty permanent military orders to a state. Period.
Can you go into a gun shop in your home of record state and buy a gun using your home state driver's license? Sure you can. But you might be committing a Federal crime in doing so when you lie on the form 4473 and say you are resident of that state when you do not meet either definition above for state of residency.
I've got 27 years of military experience, BTW. I was in the Army National Guard of Wyoming and Kansas from 1984 to 1988 and active duty Navy since 1988.