buying a shotgun or rifle in america

[nearly there]

Hi sorry if this has been covered before but is it possible to go on holiday to America and buy a shotgun or bolt action rifle that I have a slot for and bring it back home without importing to a rfd etc.

[breacher]

As I understand it you have to be resident. Either a green card or US citizen.

[nearly there]

Thanks for the clarification breacer

[Chuck]

What Breacher says. If you buy from dealer you'll need a background check - so NO.

Buy privately - not a good idea - plus I would imagine horrendous paperwork with the BATF etc

[bofor]

I think if you go to a gun exporter, there are some, they do the paperwork and then you can buy and bring the gun back on the same plane through US and UK customs.

[A.J.P.]

As I understand it you have to be resident. Either a green card or US citizen.

From my own research I've found that an individual can purchase firearms as a "nonimmigrant alien". This entails buying a hunting license, having a valid I-98 number (if you're there legitimately you'll have this automatically!) and being able to prove residence in-state - by showing a driving license, utility bill or similar. A 90 day continuous state residency requirement for nonimmigrant aliens was recently dropped after the Supreme Court ruled that Constitutionally protected rights applied equally to non-US citizens living in the States as they do with their own.

To the OP, this unfortunately means you cannot purchase whilst on holiday, a private individual buying on your behalf with the intention to help you export would also be considered as a straw buyer - certainly not something you'd want to get mixed up in. Not that you ever intimated that was something you were considering of course - just a few words of advice.

Buy privately - not a good idea - plus I would imagine horrendous paperwork with the BATF etc

Although you might find somebody willing to sell, if you were to purchase you'd be committing a felony under US law as you'd be considered as a prohibited person if you were simply over there on holiday. You may have already covered that if by "horrendous paperwork" you meant court and jail time!

[Browning_grrl]

Apart from all the BATFE stuff you'd be involved in, you would quite probably have Homeland Security all over you and you really don't want to do that. I'm a dual US/Canadian citizen, and even I don't bother crossing over to buy guns and/or ammo. It just isn't worth the bother.

[techguy]

The only way to do this is have a company purchase and export for you. The fees involved in doing so, will be as follows (approximately)

7-10% of retail cost as their fee (or $250, whichever is greater)
Export license $250
Shipping $200+
Import VAT and duty 20% and 2%
Freight forwarder+clearance fees c.£200

You might be able to bring it back on the plane with you, and avoiding some of the fees...but would likely be a hassle, and you would need to have a valid hunting permit to be in possession of a firearm in the US.

If you then wish to sell or transfer it at some point in the future, you will need to have it proofed before you do so...

[Chuck]

You may have already covered that if by "horrendous paperwork" you meant court and jail time!

[nearly there]

Ithanks everyone.I was just thinking why not get a good deal when over but as I thought it's a no no