Talk:Gun law in the United States

People without U.S. citizenship

The article does not say anything about foreign people wo are staying or living in the U.S. for a period of time (maybe as tourists or for a temporary job). The statement that people, who have renounced their US citizenship, are excluded from owning a gun, implicitly suggests that indeed no non-US citizen may possess a gun in the U.S. But an explicit statement may be better since there are quite a (maybe even increasing) number of non-US (e.g. European) citizens living and working in the US for a period of time.

Since it seems to be logical (and to force a check by the experts of gun-law) I am adding this conclusion to the statement mentioned above. Please check if this is true or not.--89.0.64.184 (talk) 19:12, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Not true. Green card holders are entirely able to purchase guns in the US, the same as any other resident. The issue is legal residency within a state, not US citizenship. Tourists are not residents; they cannot purchase guns while in the US. Miguel Escopeta (talk) 20:13, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Hmm, but [1] and [2] tell something different: People with non-immigrant visas (e.g. for tourism, study or work for a limited time) can purchase guns and ammunition only if they have hunting license or permit legally issued in the U.S. And according to United States visas a non-immigrant visum applies to all people not wanting to be permanent residents to the U.S., with no distinction between tourists and temporary residents. Furthermore: If even former U.S. citizens who have renounced their citizenship are excluded from having guns, why should people who never were U.S. citizens should have more rights? Isn't renounciation of ones U.S. citizenship effectively the same as not being an U.S. citizen at all? Or is voluntary renounciation of U.S. citizenship treated as "treason" some way while being born in another country is just a fact?--SiriusB (talk) 07:29, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Therefore, there seems to be a contradiction between these articles and/or sources. So, I would conclude from this that even residents who are non-US citizens (including all those people who are staying in the US for a couple of years, but do not plan to become US citizens) are generally excluded from possession and carrying guns, except for legally issued hunting licences/permits, but not for self-defense. This is the only way I can understand these sources. Therefore I would suggest adding a line like "Non-U.S. residents without a valid Green card or hunting license" with citation of these references. Do these sources use the term "citizen" with different meanings? Or are they simply outdated or wrong?

I've just looked up: A Green card already implies a permanent residence, so my edit is indeed true for non-citizens without green card, or simplified, for all non-permanent residents (and non-residents).--SiriusB (talk) 07:33, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

I have added the conclusion of this thread: In general, all non-U.S. citizens are excluded. The green card is an exception for those who become permanent residents in the U.S. (thus "quasi" Americans). That effectively all non-immigrant aliens are excluded is what I conclude from this discussion and from the mentioned sources. And since this is an important information for a large number of people it should be mentioned at least somewhere. If this again is not true, and also non-immigrant aliens may possess guns for other things like hunting (namely for self-defense), then please give a valid reference for this.--SiriusB (talk) 07:02, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

really?

There is nothing in this article about which guns are banned like machine guns etc