Got a question:

I am a resident of Wisconsin. I am active duty military, stationed in Illinois. I have been send TDY to Mississippi for 30 days.

I'm looking into buying a firearm in Mississippi. Lots of pawn shops with some half decent deals.

One dealer tell me i can buy long guns, but no handguns. That is what i understood as legal.

Today i stopped in another place, and they said in order ot purchase any firearm, i needed my military ID and a copy of my orders. They said with the orders, i can legally buy a handgun or long gun.

Now... it was my understanding that i could only purchase a long gun from a dealer. I thought hand guns in other than your state of residence was verboten.

Thoughts? Comments? Legal knowledge?

NAM, when I was on active duty (retired now) I used to travel to several Southern States and what you thought seems to be correct.

I believe that you can buy long guns but not pistols.  However, once in Virginia, the gun store would not sell me a rifle because my Drivers License was from Florida.  I guess it was a State Law.

I have no idea what the laws are now, try calling the State agency in Mississippi responsible for Gun Laws for an answer.

You can buy a long gun from a DEALER in any state, provided both the state's laws and IL law permit this.

You cannot buy a handgun in other than your state of residence.

For military, only PCS orders establish you as a resident of the state in which you're stationed, not TDY.

So, if your permanent state of residence (home of record, whatever) is FL, and you're stationed permanently in IL, you could buy a handgun in FL on your FL ID, or in IL with a copy of your PCS orders, but not in any other state.

Being a student in a state other than your home of record also establishes you as a resident of the school state, provided you reside there instead of commuting from your permanent home, and only for the time period in which you're actually in residence at the school.

Lastly, if you have a vacation home or property in a state other than your home of record, you can be considered a resident of the other state during the time period where you're actually residing at your vacation home or on property.