Ericman said:
He is trying to figure out the Laws in NH, which he knows are pretty liberal.
I guess I wouldnt've used that word to describe our gun laws ... but I suppose semantically it's correct. Honestly if your friend is used to Mass gun laws, he's going to LOVE ours, or rather our ABSENCE of restrictive gun laws.
There are NO licensing or registration requirements here at all. Period.
You don't need a license to purchase or own guns. You only need to be 18 to purch long arms and 21 to purch handguns (and the handgun restriction is per Federal law, not a state restriction). Your NH drivers license is all the proof required to make your purchases.
Here's how my latest gun purchase went.
3:00 pm: Walked into Gun shop with he intention of browsing a bit
3:07 pm: Saw a nice preowned Sig Sauer 9mm 226 pistol ... inquired about it, salesman showed me the piece, told me the price, I haggled a bit, we finally agreed on a fair price
3:10 pm: Filled out my form 4473, clerk then went and called in the background check. All I needed to show him was my NH Drivers License
3:20 pm: Clerk came back with an approval, gave me the safety overview of my new gun, and showed me how to field strip it, took my credit card, suggested a couple of boxes of defensive loads and rung me up
3:25 pm: Sale complete, firm handshake and a thank you, and I was on my way home.
It really couldn't be easier.
The most paperwork he's going to run into is if he wants a CCW. Since NH is a "Shall Issue" State, there is NONE of the town-to-town bullcrap that you hear about in Massachusetts. As long as you are not a criminal, or crazy you're going to get your permit to carry. it will only cost you $10, it's going to be good for 4 years, and they are required to get it to you within 2 weeks (unless you are denied for whatever reason, in which case they are required to tell you why you can't have a permit within 2 weeks) ... Most people I know that have gotten their CCW in NH have had it within DAYS, not months.
Oh, and buying ammo is easier. I buy a lot of bulk ammo these days at WalMart, and they just want to seee your license to verify you are a NH resident, they don't take numbers or anything. I guess if you're a Mass resident they need to see your FID card or something and record the sale, I'm not really sure what goes on in that case.
As for being on record, the form 4473 is a Federal form and is subject to Fed regulation. As I understand it, those forms are required to be kept on file by the dealer as long as they are in business, no copy of the form is ever sent to the Government, although if the dealer decides to ceas business, they are required to turn over their records to the BATFE. You do have the option of NOT putting your social security # on the form which a lot of people do who have their tinfoil hats on too tight ... The only caveat is that the Instant background check MAY be delayed if you don't choose to put your social security # on the form. If your friend has bought guns in Massachusetts, then this is the same federal form that he's filled out (takes less than 5 minutes). The Federal form is all you have to complete, there are no Stste forms or checks. You don't have to give them photos, or fingerprints, or DNA samples or a note from your Mommy.
I haven't gotten into any NFA stuff, but have been considering getting a suppresed .22 pistol for plinking. Since there are no restrictions on NFA stuff here, again it's subject to the standard federal restrictions.
Also worth noting there aren't any ridiculous "Assault Weapon" restrictions or "High Capacity" magazine restrictions. Or any of the other Attorney General restrictions like trigger pull, loaded chamber indicator and so on ... So ... go nuts.
Bottom line, tell your friend to get his NH drivers license as soon as possible once he moves here, and he'll be sittin' pretty.
