Carrying as a non-immigrant

[BritStudent]

Try applying in Florida...You do not have to be a resident there to apply and you do not have to be a citizen of the US either.
(I think you have to be a resident of another state to qualify though...+ the usual qualifications e.g., CCW training certificates, etc.)

Thanks for the tip. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services website says you need to be a permenant resident with documentation from the USCIS, but the text of the law says you must only be a "resident of the United States," which I believe I will qualify as (either after 90 days of residency, which is how state residency works, or after at least 183 days of residency in the US in the past 3 years, which is how it works for tax purposes I believe, I'll probably have to ask a lawyer to find out which applies). In any case I've emailed them to ask them to clarify the discrepancy.

From the pictures you posted I would have to say that, in most locations in the US, those weapons would be too concealed to qualify as open carry and too visible to qualify as concealed carry. It seems that you want to walk a very thin line... one that's too thin even for citizens. Carrying in those manners will cause you grief from the authorities.

The bag idea (picture 2) is just asking for someone to snatch and grab your piece.... among other things.

Thanks. Re: the bag, good point. I had not thought of that. If I have to open carry I'll stick to a drop leg when wearing a jacket then.

North Carolina laws are screwed way up. You can possess and own a gun (as a non-immigrant) but your can't (legally) buy one in North Carolina. You have to be a citizen or a permanent resident alien (with a green card) to purchase.

This would normally be correct but I believe there is an exemption I can use. The North Carolina Department of Justice has a publication, North Carolina Firearms Laws. In the section regarding the issuance 'pistol permits' it reads:

As previously mentioned, federal law prohibits aliens who are illegally in the United
States from receiving or possessing firearms. Additionally, subject to certain exceptions,
aliens who are in a non-immigrant status are prohibited from possessing or receiving
firearms. 18 U.S.C. § 922(d)(5) Therefore, sheriffs must make additional inquiries of
applicants for pistol purchase permits to determine their alien status. The sheriff must first
determine if the applicant is a citizen. If the applicant is not a citizen, the sheriff must
obtain additional information on the person to include their country of citizenship; place
of birth; and alien or admission number. If applicable ,the sheriff may have to determine
the basis of any claimed exemption from the non-immigrant alien prohibition. For
example, a non-immigrant alien could possess or receive a firearm if he/she is in possession
of a valid hunting license issued in the United States; is an official representative of a
foreign government accredited to the United States; or has received a waiver by the United
States Attorney General. 18 U.S.C. § 922(y)[/b]

I will be getting a hunting license and none of the other prohibitors apply to me e.g. illegal alien, adjudicated mental defective etc. So I believe I can in fact purchase a handgun from an FFL in North Carolina.

If was gonna make a choice like yours, I'd go for ARIZONA. Vermont also allows open or concealed carry without any formal red tape. If you aren't a crook, you can open or concealed carry in Vermont.

I am limited in where I can study in that I need a graduate school which offers both a generous funding package, a tolerable climate for my Anglo Saxon heritage (i.e. any further south than NC and I'll be swimming to class instead of walking) and a world class doctorate program, as well as preferably being gun friendly. Unfortunately 'top graduate school' and 'gun friendly' are hard to put together. Other states I'm looking at academically include NY (Rochester, Cornell), RI (Brown), CT (Yale), PA (Carnegie Mellon), MI (U of Michigan), MA (U of Minnesota) and NJ (Princeton). I know they're all either shall issue or may issue states, but I haven't looked in depth at the technical, legal possibility of OC and CCW except in NC. Over the next few weeks I'm working through all the details of funding and living expenses and stuff like that to narrow down where I'm going to apply to. Gun laws will be on the list.

[Jim_Macklin]

Utah has some good schools, and allows licensed person to carry on campus. But even in states that have "shall issue" concealed carry laws, carrying a gun, open or concealed on a campus is generally grounds for expulsion by the school, even a a crime has not been committed.
In addition, many if not most colleges ban arms within college housing and dorms.

BTW, what is your major?

[BritStudent]

Utah has some good schools, and allows licensed person to carry on campus. But even in states that have "shall issue" concealed carry laws, carrying a gun, open or concealed on a campus is generally grounds for expulsion by the school, even a a crime has not been committed.
In addition, many if not most colleges ban arms within college housing and dorms.

BTW, what is your major?

I won't be carrying in campus unless it's legal and permitted by the school which, as you say, is not the case anywhere I'm likely to be going (unless this Campus Carry thing takes off soon). But I would like to be able to carry at other times. I won't be living on campus I don't think, I'll be in private accommodation.

I'm studying economics, which is what I'll be doing my doctorate in (given the general opinion of economists in the current climate, you can see I have need of protection!).

As I'm posting, according to the guidance on concealed pistol permits in Rhode Island (where Brown is), the only set-in-stone requirement is to not be disqualified from possessing a firearm under state or federal law, which I don't believe I will be with a hunting license. I've heard RI called 'shall issue' state but it seems the Attorney General can turn me down on whim so while I don't believe there's any specific reason I can't get a permit there, I'm not sure what my chances are.

[gdcleanfun]

This is what I mean (photochop):



Anyone I was talking with would be able to see it. People walking towards me on the street would be able to see it. But it wouldn't be visible from certain angles. Does that look like open carry? According to opencarry.org it is ok to open carry in a vehicle in NC.

Another option I thought of apart from a drop leg holster, if belt carry with a jacket (11:30 o'clock or so) isn't acceptable would be to attach a holster to a shoulder bag like so:



But like I say, hopefully I can get a CCW so I won't need to OC.

You would have to check the laws of the state in which you want to carry. I don't think that splitting hairs is what you need to do when deciding if open carry is really open, or if it's concealed. That can land you in jail quite quickly. Just my opinion, yours and other's may vary.

[Jim_Macklin]

I won't be carrying in campus unless it's legal and permitted by the school which, as you say, is not the case anywhere I'm likely to be going (unless this Campus Carry thing takes off soon). But I would like to be able to carry at other times. I won't be living on campus I don't think, I'll be in private accommodation.

I'm studying economics, which is what I'll be doing my doctorate in (given the general opinion of economists in the current climate, you can see I have need of protection!).

As I'm posting, according to the guidance on concealed pistol permits in Rhode Island (where Brown is), the only set-in-stone requirement is to not be disqualified from possessing a firearm under state or federal law, which I don't believe I will be with a hunting license. I've heard RI called 'shall issue' state but it seems the Attorney General can turn me down on whim so while I don't believe there's any specific reason I can't get a permit there, I'm not sure what my chances are.

Nothing wrong with econ, as long as you're not in the George Soros School.

BTW, maybe you can answer a question that has puzzled me. With government creating inlation to discount their old debt and printing fiat currency to finance new circuses, why do the people who have the gold want to sell it to the people who have only paper?

Maybe the answer is for you to convert a student visa to an immigrant status and become an American citizen and leave England to sink into total [instead of 90% sunk] disorder.

[BritStudent]

Nothing wrong with econ, as long as you're not in the George Soros School.

BTW, maybe you can answer a question that has puzzled me. With government creating inlation to discount their old debt and printing fiat currency to finance new circuses, why do the people who have the gold want to sell it to the people who have only paper?

Maybe the answer is for you to convert a student visa to an immigrant status and become an American citizen and leave England to sink into total [instead of 90% sunk] disorder.

I intend to. I'm definitely going to look into getting a green card (and then citizenship) as soon as possible but I think I will have to wait until after I complete my Phd. As far as I know it's not possible to convert a student visa into a green card, to get a green card I need an offer of employment from an American employer who can prove that they can't find any native workers to fill the position. As an undergraduate coming straight out of university, my only previous jobs being unskilled (shop work, phone work etc) I can't see that happening. Unless anyone here has a job going for me?

As to why people sell gold, why do people sell any stock? Cash is more convenient. People don't want gold stocks any more than they want fiat currency, what people really want is Cadillacs and flat screens. You can't buy a flat screen with a bar of gold, at least not in most places, but you can with currency. You can easily convert cash into any form of wealth you wish, be it a Big Mac, a yacht, or a share in Apple. You can deposit it in banks, write cheques against it, wire it to people, debit it out via PayPal, pay bills with it, pay taxes with it and pay debts. Cash is highly liquid (it is liquid) but gold has transaction costs, and in some cases impossibilities, associated with it. The same reasons apply as to why people do not buy their groceries with shares in General Motors shares or bonds. Instead people hold a portion of their wealth in stocks, bonds and other illiquid assets to grow their wealth, and keep the rest as cash or deposits to handle their spending needs. The more a person spends over a given period of time, the larger the proportion of their wealth they will hold in cash.

Whether a gold standard is preferable to a fiat currency system is a weighty question that economists are divided on. Personally I'm not certain either way, and I think that goes for many others too. One of the reasons I prefer microeconomics to macroeconomics, macroeconomics isn't very good at being predictive!

[S&WM&P40]

Your more then welcome in the US but leave your Gun hating trash talking hating America crap in that rat hole they call the UK. As for carrying with out being a us citizen and with out a green card I would steer clear of the east coast ( MA,NY,NJ.RI) Cops in those states are huge ass holes and would eat you alive. As for the photo you posted of carrying the gun up front with your jacket on. Be vary careful if that's how your going to carry that way with out a CWP if your jacket covers the gun for a second that's all they would need to arrest you ( in my state anyway) but it's like that in many others. Alaska and Vermont would be a good bet for you they do not use a permit system and anyone can carry concealed or open.

[billwot]

But you can't carry it in Cary, ...

Chapel Hill also disallowed both open and concealed carry, but as of 6/21/96, NC (state) gun laws generally pre-empt local ordinances.

"Effective June 21, 1996, a new Article 53B was enacted which provides that with certain exceptions the field of firearms regulations is preempted from regulation by local goivernments"

anonym.to - free dereferer service

The link should take you to the the Atty General's (Roy Cooper) complete summry of the NC gun laws. My quote is from P. 17.

bill

bill

[Blogengeezer]

Welcome to 'The States' Brit. Check out filling your residency on 'The Rez' (including Arizona). The Indian Reservations of the Southwest are always open for Medical professionals. New Mexico is a popular place to come for the 'Canucks'. New Mexico is definitely Rough around the edges, but great scenery and excellent travel opportunities. WE all Carry in New Mexico (most of our legislature including our Gov is Certified CCW. By it's nature, CCW does not encourage 'Interest' from the wrong parties.

The Anglo-Saxons harassed Demoralized Roman Legions out of Britain, after 400 years of Armed Occupancy. The Well Understood law of the 'Seaxe Armed' ANG-SAX.."The Man With a Sword, Is a Free Man...the Man Without, is...a Slave"..

[kengrubb]

You might wish to consider the UW (pronounced U-Dub), WSU (pronounced Wazzu), or any of Washington state's other fine Universities.

Here on the Wet, I mean West side of the state, the weather is much more like home for you. Over on the East side, it's more desert like.

Read through RCW (Revised Code of Washington) 9.41.173 and information on the DOL (Department of Licensing) website about an Alien Firearm License.

Who must have an alien firearms license?

Any non-immigrant alien who is temporarily living in Washington, such as Students on temporary school visas.
...
Can I apply for a concealed pistol license if I have an alien firearms license?

Yes.

If you're interesting, drop in and join the WA-CCW List on Yahoo Groups. Lots of very knowledgeable folks there including Dave Workman (NRA and Gunweek) and Joe Waldron (CCRKBA).