Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

W2B and I have a friend who wants to get her own gun, which should be an easy proposition.

She has a clean criminal record, not a crazy person, etc.

Thing is, she is from Delaware. She has a Delaware license, Delaware tags on her car.

But, she works in Virginia. The nature of her work requires that she stay in Virginia. She spends more time in Virginia than in Delaware. I understand that in most cases, being a Delaware resident, she would be unable to legally purchase a firearm in a private sale with a Virginia resident.

What I was wondering, though, would the fact that she spends most of her time in Virginia, and works in Virginia, is their an exception in the law for such cases? Or would she do better to go find herself a gun in Delaware?

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If she has dual residency, she can buy whatever she wants in VA. Otherwise, she has to abide by Delaware law.

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That's what I figured. I told her to just change her residency to Virginia. Better gun laws and cheaper car insurance. No downside.

But, she said she would feel like she was doing something underhanded.

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"Feels" gotta move her AWAY from "FEELS" go towards the logic of 'THINKS".

I feel all sorts of things, but I THINK I will always win out.

I heard that. Thinking and feeling are two different things.

I wonder, if you make an underhanded maneuver, in order to get around an unconstitutional law (or laws), is it really underhanded?

I'll keep making my case to her. There's really no reason for her to maintain Delaware residency.

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I wonder where the people in Delaware shoot their guns . They are had enough to buy ....much less finding a place to shoot !!!

Off the back deck, just like Joe and his wife!

What specifically makes her a Delaware resident?

Can she convert her documents (DL, Tags, etc) to make her a Virginia resident and live in Delaware part time?

If you follow the law she should not have concerns for living in either place and buying a gun in the other. Thats not underhanded.

No, you're right. I don't believe that I have actually suggested any underhanded behavior. I believe her hesitancy is based on morals, rather than laws. In other words, she's more concerned with being in trouble with God, than being in trouble with some earth-based entity. Which, of course, I can understand.

What I assume makes her a resident of Delaware, is that her Delaware license and her Delaware automobile registration list a Delaware home address.

However, considering that she stays on the campground that she runs, almost full-time, which is located in Virginia, I believe that she qualifies for Virginia residency.

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Her campground must have a mailing address and if she stays (Lives) there most of the time ...She seems to be a resident of VA. I have a friend that lives in VA. He owns land and a home here but , he and his wife work in Florida for 10 months each year. They had to get dual residency for State Tax Purpose's. He said it was know problem , just a little paperwork.

Sorry if I implied any reference to you wanting to or suggest undermining the system. That wasn't my intent.

I read your comment as a concern that someone else might view the arrangement as undermining the system. That's why I said if you follow the law...

Perhaps she should consider a residency change. I don't know all the pros and cons between the two states (other than gun laws are better in Va) but it might benefit her with taxes, vehicle insurance, etc.

@Snake: Yes the campground has a mailing address.

As to duel residency, I don't think that that would be necessary. To the best of my knowledge, she doesn't own or rent any property in Delaware. As far as I know, her official current address is the home of her parents. Considering that she spends so much time in Virginia, that makes sense. So, I don't think that any tax purposes would be coming into play.

@Witt: No worries. I didn't think that you were implying that, at all. I was just clarifying, in general. This being a public forum, I didn't want any casual observers getting the wrong idea.

I know Virginia, despite the efforts of T-Mac, has better gun laws than Delaware, and it's my understanding that vehicle insurance is less expensive. It wouldn't surprise me if vehicle taxes were less in Virginia, too.

Now that I think of it, it occurs to me that a vehicle should probably be taxed in the area in which it is primarily garaged. At least, that's how James City County seems to see things.

As my friend seems concerned with the morality of it, I suppose I'll make that argument to her, to justify a change in residence.

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Sounds like she's probably actually already a VA resident, and has the wrong paperwork that says she's a Delaware resident.
She should fix that.
And then buy your gun.

If your sister is concerned about playing strictly by the rules, she may profit from considering the following:

Domicile, which is really the legal concept at issue here, is defined in Virginia as best I remember as "physical presence with intent to remain". In other words, your domicile is where you INTEND to be "at home", have your base of operations, and eventually return to after any trips to other places. (It's also where you pay taxes and can be sued most easily) "Residency" just means presence for some period of days; and you can certainly have dual residency if you live at various times in two different places; particularly of you do not intend to stay in either place permanently.

It is all about INTENT.

If your sister forms the intent to remain in Virginia and make it her home, her intent to remain coupled with her physical presence establishes her domicile in Virginia. If she changes her driver's license and tags to Virginia and pays her income taxes here those things will not make Virginia her domicile, but they will all be indicia of it. Of course, if she decides to buy a handgun in Virginia, she will need PROOF of "residency" (really they might should be talking about domicile; but who knows?), and the driver's license. et cetera will come in pretty handy because bureaucrats seldom if ever take one's word for anything. There may also be some administrative rules about how long it takes to establish "residency" to buy a gun, IIRC.

So tell her to ask herself what is in her heart about where her home is, then act in accordance with that with a clear conscience.

So far it seems she is not a resident of NC. If she were she's in trouble for not getting a NC driver's license:

"All new residents of North Carolina who plan to operate a motor vehicle in this state must obtain a driver license within 60 days of establishing a permanent residence."
http://www.ncdot.gov/dmv/moving/

If she should decide to make her current NC domicile a "permanent residence" then she's got 60 days to get her NC DL.

Does she still vote in Delaware?

What does she claim on her NC income tax statement? This, I think, is gonna be what decides it.