The Department of Justice has decided to ease restrictions on gun purchases for legal non-residents, according to an open letter posted on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives website.
The letter, written by ATF’s Firearms and Explosives Industry Division Chief Chad J. Yoder, states that the department recently concluded that “applying a more stringent State residency requirement for aliens legally present in the U.S. than for U.S. citizens is incompatible with the language of the [Gun Control Act.]”
The Gun Control Act prohibits licensed merchants from selling firearms to any unlicensed person who they know, or have reason to believe, does not reside in the seller’s state, according to the letter. Writing to federal firearm licensees, Yoder says that licensed merchants must have documentation verifying that a legal non-resident has lived in the state continuously for at least 90 days before selling any firearms according to the current law.
With the department’s recent decision, ATF will revise the regulations and remove the separate 90-day residency requirement for legal non-residents, the letter states. Once these changes have been made, U.S. citizens and legal non-residents will face the same requirements for proof of residency.
Until ATF can make these amendments, the current regulations remains in place, Yoder writes. He did not provide a timeline for completion in the letter.
Update 5:45 p.m.: A Justice Department spokesperson said this does not expand any rules under the Gun Control Act, it merely removes a previous stipulation for legal aliens. Those who fall under the category of legal alien will still have to go through the same process as an American citizen does to purchase a firearm, showing proof of residency, among other things, the spokesperson said. The spokesperson could not specify when this decision was made, but said that the department regularly conducts legal reviews of these rules and such reviews occur on an ongoing basis.
