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Shooting Abroad

One of the questions I get asked most frequently is: "I want to shoot pistols, where can I go to do it?"  This is either asked by people who had pistols and had them banned in 1997, or by people who never had the chance and want to have a go.  Less frequently I am asked where to go to shoot self-loading rifles which are also banned, but the principle is the same.

I think it's safe to say there are few people who have travelled more than myself in search of the best place overseas to continue with the sport of pistol shooting, so I shall share my knowledge on the subject:

In general

Before you even think of going overseas, I will make the point here to novice shooters that you are probably better off going to your local gun club and trying air pistol shooting first.  If that doesn't tickle your fancy, you might find that shooting a muzzle-loading pistol, or long-barrelled revolver, or one of the other legal contraptions that we shoot nowadays in Britain does.  If, however, you really want to shoot a modern pistol, then...

About 80-90% of countries fall into a similar pattern when it comes to allowing non-residents to use and own pistols.  They all have their own bizarre quirks that I could spend hours listing, but I won't waste your time with the more esoteric provisions.  Suffice to say if you have a specific question, e-mail me, I may not know the answer but I can point you in the right direction most of the time.

Basically, in most countries it is not a problem to join a gun club there and shoot pistols owned by the club, provided pistols are legal there.  In Portugal and a few of the Eastern European countries the laws are so tough as to not be worth bothering with as there are so few types of handgun legal there and very few gun clubs.

However, once you've joined the club in the country of your choice, you probably will be thinking to yourself: "I'm tired of shooting with this old clunker, I want my own gun."  And that's where the trouble begins, because in most countries you need to be a resident of that country in order to own a pistol there.  Most countries also have some sort of secure storage requirement, so you have to have some sort of residence there, although in some cases you can store the gun with a dealer.  In addition to the residency requirement, most countries also require a probationary period that must be completed prior to your even being able to apply for a license.  For example, in France and Spain you must attend regularly for six months, in Germany and the Netherlands you must attend regularly for a year!  In some countries the probationary requirement is waived, but usually only if you are permanently moving to that country and taking up residence and if you have a license from your home country - i.e. a firearm certificate.  This is of course of little help, if you were moving country you wouldn't be reading this!

Countries and locales that fall into the "You can join a club and use a club gun but you must be resident to get a license" category include:

Austria, Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guernsey, Hungary, Italy, Jersey, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand (tourist license required), Norway, Poland, Sweden and doubtless many others.

Of course, you may be thinking to yourself that you don't even want to join a club, you just want to go out for the day and have a go.  Once again, this depends on the country, it would take me forever to detail each country but suffice to say in some countries it is possible to walk through the door, pay for a day membership and start shooting, but in many you need to attend on a specific guest day, and in some you also need to take safety training before they will even let you touch a gun.  If you have a firearm certificate, this usually helps grease the wheels as your hosts will assume that you at least know one end of a gun from the other and that you aren't a criminal.  It does help to take your FAC along and also your European Firearms Pass if you're in another EU country.

However, rather than me blather on about this I think if you just want a day out then you'll be far better off doing a search on the net or in the phone book (if possible) and giving the local club a phone call prior to travelling.

The other thing I'll point out to you is that even if you come to the conclusion: "Oh, I was going to buy a holiday home in France/Spain etc. anyway so I can keep a pistol there" is that you really need to have a good command of the local language as gun laws are extremely complex and the local licensing officer will expect you to understand them.  For example, in France not only does a pistol have to be unloaded but it has to be disassembled or fitted with a trigger lock while being transported to and from the range.  Also, a lot of overseas shooting schemes have tripped up by trying to play silly buggers with the residency requirement.  The police are usually the licensing authority, and they will expect that residence to be occupied by you for most of the time.

The pistol licensing laws in most other European countries are in fact a lot harsher than they were here prior to the ban, limits on the number of guns you can have, limits on the calibres you can have, limits on how you can carry them, limits (or even prohibitions) on the possession of ammunition, prohibitions on handloading etc.

However...

...there are exceptions to the above, and not surprisingly this is where most shooters have eventually gravitated to.  I will deal with these separately.

Belgium

There are two clubs in Belgium which are catering to British shooters, although from my investigations most of them are fairly accommodating to the idea.  There are advantages to shooting in Belgium because of a couple of quirks in their gun laws.

The actual licensing process is much more long-winded than in Britain, the main difference being that there is a written test (given in Flemish although an English version has been promised).  However the advantage is that licenses can be issued to non-residents.  This provision was originally put there so that Belgians living overseas in Belgian colonies could keep their guns at home.  However, when Belgium joined the EU a side-effect was that anyone who is an EU citizen can apply for a Belgian license.  Of course, once you have a Belgian license you can take your gun anywhere in Belgium to shoot, and also outside of Belgium.

Before you get your hopes up let me emphasise that it is not a simple process, so far as I know only a tiny number of Britons have so far gotten a Belgian license.  You have to attend regularly, and you have to get a reference from the gun club secretary.  Obviously he isn't going to give that reference if you only go to the club a couple of times a year.  Suffice to say the only person I know so far who has gotten a license lives in Kent and goes over to Belgium every month.  Plus the police are awkward just as they are here and you have the added difficulty for a non-resident license that not only the local police are involved, but also the Justice Dept.  Even if you do get a license, the gun carrying laws apply to the premises of a gun club in a very bizarre legal quirk, so if you want to shoot IPSC you have to get another license that authorises carrying a gun, too!  If you want a self-loading rifle (I haven't forgotten you) this is more complex also because this license is issued by the Governor of the State in consultation with the Minister for Justice, and you must have an excellent reason for wanting it, such as IPSC disciplines and you must be able to demonstrate that.  Each gun requires a separate license.  And as a final footnote, remember you must get an Article 7 authority from your local police in Britain before you can buy a handgun or self-loading rifle in Belgium.  Ain't European integration great?

However, even if you don't get a Belgian license you do have the advantage that a dealer can store your guns for you, have them registered to him, and can lend them to you so that you can use them on his premises (obviously he'll need a range).  This is somewhat annoying because it means you have to clean your guns at his range too, but c'est la vie!  Belgian regulations require increasing levels of security depending on how many guns the dealer stores, when these Belgian shooting schemes first started the dealers didn't charge much for storage but the costs have increased substantially.  Not their fault; at least you get to shoot your guns.

As a postscript let me also mention that Belgian gun laws are under review and are set to get very much tougher (the new law will be based on Dutch law); if this happens Belgium may well not be the best place to go.

Bulgaria

I am reliably informed that this club is very accommodating to British shooters; you can buy a pistol from them and store it there, but as with a lot of other countries getting a license to take it from the club is the difficulty.  Although the website is in Bulgarian they do speak English!  At the time of writing there are direct flights from Gatwick and Heathrow.

Canada

Canada is unusual in having a specific provision in their law that specifically allows non-residents to hold firearm licenses, and moreover, with that license you can get permission to buy a firearm.  However, Canadian gun laws are of Byzantine complexity and there are so many permits and licenses you have to get that I'd better run through it.

Firearms are divided into three main classes, prohibited, restricted and non-restricted.  Handguns with a barrel length of 105mm or less or chambered in .25 or .32 calibre are prohibited, as are a long list of semi-automatic rifles, and also (really annoyingly) is any pistol magazine that can hold more than ten rounds of ammunition or any magazine for a centrefire semi-auto rifle that holds more than five rounds (with some very limited exceptions).  So you are somewhat limited in what you can legally own.

You can't get authority for prohibited weapons.  Handguns that aren't prohibited plus AR-15 rifles are "restricted", but many types of semi-automatic rifle are "non-restricted".  However in both cases you still need a Canadian firearm license.  To get it, first you have to complete the Canadian Firearm Safety Course and also the Canadian Restricted Firearm Safety Course, which is offered by most gun clubs in Canada.  Then you fill out the license application and send it in - what is not mentioned anywhere on the application form is that you also need to send a copy of your police record with it - you can obtain this from your local police under the provisions of the Data Protection Act.

Once you've got the license, you can then apply for authority to buy a firearm.  If the firearm is non-restricted you will be issued a registration certificate for it.  Same for a restricted firearm, but with these there is another catch - you also need to apply for an "authority to transport" the firearm so you can take the firearm from the shop to the place you store it, although this may not be absolutely necessary if the shop/club/place of storage are all the same business, usually to get an ATT for range use you must be a member of a gun club, but obviously you will be so that shouldn't be a problem.  Contrary to what it says on the CFC website and the ATT application form, in Ontario and Quebec the club you are a member of applies for the range use ATT for you.  If you store it with someone who has a license, they must get a "restricted firearm storage permit" because the gun isn't registered to them.  So basically for a handgun, you need as many as four bits of paper/plastic (license, registration, ATT, storage permit)!

This is a very quick run-through, and there is more information and a comprehensive cure for insomnia at the Canadian Firearms Centre website.  You can download the many, many forms you will need and marvel at the complexity of their licensing system and wonder how much money people are making out of supplying it to them.

France

Not as good as it looks at first glance, because you must be a resident, plus there are all sorts of silly restrictions, such as limits on the number and calibre of the guns you can own.  Last time I checked you could own seven centrefire Category 1 firearms (i.e. chambered for military calibres such as 9mm, .45ACP etc.) or Category 4 firearms, (i.e. handguns or semi-automatic rifles in non-military calibres such as .22LR, .222 Remington or .357 Magnum) and five .22 rimfire Category 4 firearms (such as .22 pistols, and .22 semi-auto rifles).  Magazines for Category 1 and 4 firearms require a license (if they hold more than ten rounds), as do ammunition components (and ammunition).  There are also ammunition limits, 1,000 rounds per licensed firearm, although this isn't a problem for things such as .22s, as most .22 rifles are unlicensed.

However, France is close, so if you want to join a club there I suggest you have a look at the French Shooting Federation website clubfinder gizmo.

You can also have a look at the French firearm laws via the UFA website.  Another good place to look for a gun club is in the French gun magazine Cibles.

My personal view however is that Belgium is a much better choice, I mention France separately purely because I get asked about it so often.  French gun laws are currently under review also, so this information is subject to change - at the moment the main difference that is being proposed is to reduce the number of Category 1 and 4 firearms that a person can be authorised to possess.

Israel

I mention Israel separately because some people seem to be under the illusion that Israel is some sort of gun-owning nirvana.  Actually Israel has a licensing system that was put in place originally by the British, however the police are not quite so narrow-minded as in other countries about issuing licenses, well, at least if you're an Israeli.  You can join an Israeli gun club but once again, you need to be resident or at least a very frequent visitor to get an Israeli license.

There are however lots of ranges in Israel and it's worth mentioning  because if you go there you may be able to wangle a go with an Uzi or an M16 as loads of people are issued them and a lot of ranges are used by both the military and civilians.  There was a company in London called Edenbridge that was organising trips to a training camp in Israel where you did get to have a go with lots of interesting things that go bang but I haven't heard from them recently.  Main problem is the cost of getting there.

Isle of Man

I've done a summary of the gun laws on the Isle of Man.  After the handgun ban a lot of people moved their handguns to the Isle of Man, one of the reasons being that the Isle of Man has a treaty with the UK so you don't need an export license to send your guns there.  However, once the Government there realised what was happening they sent a circular to the dealers on the Island pointing out that people could only shoot their guns if they held a certificate or permit issued by the Isle of Man Police.  In theory, the Isle of Man Police can issue a visitor's permit so that you can use a gun held by an Isle of Man dealer or firearm certificate holder, but I don't think they have done this to date.

As with France etc., you can join a club there and shoot the club guns, but you really need to be a resident to have your own guns and shoot them.

The main reason I mention the Isle of Man separately is because it is so convenient to get there, at least during the summer when the Sea Cat is running.  There are two pistol ranges on the Island, although only one club that is primarily a pistol club, and only some sixty-odd firearm certificates on issue to pistol shooters.  However, one of the ranges is about five minutes walk from the port in Douglas, so you can go across as a foot passenger on the Sea Cat, which costs little, and stay in a hotel in Douglas, which costs very little indeed (due to a 5% VAT rate and massive overcapacity except during the TT) and you don't need a car.  The range in Douglas itself is a typical 25m indoor dungeon, and it is only open on Sundays and a couple of weekday evenings, but if you get a large enough group together they will open especially for you (P.S. this range flooded in February 2002, and is not currently in service although there is a plan to get it running again).

One of the endearing qualities is that the back of the range is part of the wall of the port, so there is a water pump going most of the time!

Ireland

In Ireland the Garda (police) have recently dropped their long-standing policy (since 1972) not to issue firearm certificates for pistols after a drawn-out court battle.  As a result people are in the process of getting certificates for their pistols seized in 1972, and clubs are getting an influx of new members.  Irish law makes it clear that certificates can be issued to non-residents for "sporting purposes", so theoretically it would be possible for someone in Britain to get a certificate for a pistol stored in Ireland (with a dealer; I don't think there's any other way), however this hasn't been tried so the Garda have yet to form an opinion on how to go about it, or whether they will issue a certificate to a non-resident on this basis.

However, there's no reason I can see why a resident of GB (or anywhere else for that matter) can't join an Irish pistol club and use someone else's pistol.  Irish law isn't that clear on the subject of club guns, but certainly club members can use the gun of another club member who holds a certificate.

I do not know the current status of centrefire self-loading rifles in Ireland; there is nothing in the law that prohibits them but I'm not aware of anyone getting a certificate for one (yet).

Jersey

Jersey is nice and close, you can't own a handgun there but you can join the Jersey Pistol Club and borrow a member's gun (they don't have any club guns).  Their laws have recently gotten much more restrictive, however, the provisions relating to handguns are largely unchanged.  The one point I would make is that the Jersey Government made a policy statement saying they wanted to discourage "gun tourism" and attempted to ban non-residents from joining clubs.  I talked them out of that, and the Jersey legislature also removed a prohibition in the Bill against temporary members also.  However, clearly the situation is not going to improve to the point where you will be able to keep guns there.

Northern Ireland

The advantage of Northern Ireland is that it is part of the UK so your firearm certificate carries some weight there and handguns are still legal.

The club that gets most of the press is the Carrowdore Pistol Club run by Roy Mogowan.  There are however many other pistol clubs in Northern Ireland, the only people with a comprehensive list to hand that I know of are the PSNI firearm licensing dept. in Belfast.

As with most other places, it's not a problem to join up and use the club guns, the procedure is essentially the same as GB (except there is a 12-month probationary period - but that won't matter if you have a certificate already).  The problem is, as per usual, if you want your own gun.

Up until recently it was possible with considerable effort to get a non-resident firearm certificate and potentially store a firearm with a dealer or club, but the new Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 introduces a new system of visitor permits (for people resident outside the UK) and letters for visitors from Great Britain (to bring in guns covered by their certificates).  The new law doesn't make any provision for storage of guns in Northern Ireland by non-residents, unfortunately.

Spain

I get asked about Spain a lot, not surprising seeing as two million British citizens live there now.  Spain has a complex licensing system.  To begin with, you have to have Spanish national ID, as well as a certificate of Empadronamiento (proof of property ownership).  Then you also have to join the Spanish shooting Federation, and join an affiliated gun club.  Once you've done that, you also have to take a comprehensive written test, and a shooting test.  This is given in Spanish of course, and is apparently quite tricky, so training is recommended.  Once you pass, you pay for your training certificate, and then you also have to have a criminal background check done as well as having a psychometric test done, and photos taken, all of which costs more money.  Once you've done all that, you can then apply for your license, which allows you to buy a single handgun.  If you shoot well with it, you can have your license upgraded so that you can acquire up to six handguns.  You must also attend at least one competition a year to retain your license.  This website gives more info.  Use a translation engine if you can't understand it.  Lots of different license categories covering different things, Category F is probably the one you'll be interested in, if target shooting is your interest.  There are also demonstration tests on the site, but not for Category F unfortunately.

Spain (like everywhere else) has its quirks, the licensing issue mentioned above basically rules out shooting holidays by non-residents.  Also, semi-automatic rifles in modern military rifle calibres are banned (5.56mm NATO, 7.62 NATO, 7.62x39, 5.45x39), although you can have, say, an AR-15 in .222 Remington, or a semi-automatic rifle in 9mm Parabellum.  There aren't many rifle ranges suitable for centrefire rifles either, and no private rifle ranges at all longer than 100m.  Handloading of ammunition is also tightly controlled, and you can't have more than 200 rounds of ammunition.

Switzerland

Without doubt the best place for target shooting on the face of the planet, if you can afford it, go there!  Staying in Switzerland is actually inexpensive, it has a reputation for being costly because of the tourist trap areas, but outside of those there are plenty of inexpensive hotels and taxes are the lowest in Europe.  Switzerland also has the severe advantage of being a damn nice place to go on holiday even without any shooting, so if you are dragging the family along they will have something to do.

Although there are heaps of ranges all over the place, it is assumed you're going to bring your own gun, so you may be limited to the commercial indoor ranges.  There are several throughout Switzerland, and the fastest way to find one near where you are going is to buy a copy of Visier and look at the ads, or you can look on the net (remember, French or German, not English) or you can ask me if you're really stuck.

A lot of the indoor ranges have club guns that are far superior to other clubs in Europe.  Usually in most European countries they will have a tatty S&W, an IMI Jericho, perhaps a Hi-Power or if you're lucky a Glock.  Go to Switzerland and you may find that you can rent a SIG P210 or a Hämmerli target pistol!

You can also buy a pistol in Switzerland and keep it there, essentially you apply at the local town hall for a permit (takes two weeks usually), although it is more complicated for non-residents (you'll need your firearm certificate, passport and a letter of good character from your local police, and perhaps other paperwork such as details of your Swiss address).  My suggestion is to look at the legal summaries on some of the Swiss gun dealer websites, such as Gun Factory.  Once you've got the gun you have to find somewhere to keep it, such as with a local club.  From a legal standpoint it is your possession at that point so it has to be locked up somewhere so that you don't inadvertently "transfer" it, which requires some paperwork.

If you're really keen you can join the British Alpine Rifles who organise regular trips to Switzerland, if you have a firearm certificate and complete the rather complex membership requirements (including heavy duty references) the Swiss become more trusting and will issue an acquisition permit more quickly, usually in a day.  The only problem is that I don't think BAR can handle too many more members.

There are some snags.  Basically it is nearly impossible to take your guns out of Switzerland once they're there, unless you are permanently moving them.  This is a teeny bit annoying if you want to shoot a competition in Germany, for example.  The only way is to get a Swiss export license and import license, but once outside of Switzerland you have nothing to indicate legal possession as you are not a resident of Switzerland, so it's best avoided unless you want to spend time in a German or French nick trying to explain the complexities of gun laws.  

Remember, Switzerland is not part of the EU so your EFP etc. carries no weight there.  This is important if you fancy taking a rifle along, as there are various requirements for marksmen bringing in guns for competitions (such as a limit of 250 rounds of ammunition).  On the subject of rifles if you want to shoot SLRs, Switzerland is the closest thing to heaven you will find, almost everyone there seems to have one, many given to them by the Government!

As is the case with most countries nowadays, there is a plan to tighten the gun laws in Switzerland, but it won't make much difference to the procedures outlined above - there are more details on the Gun Factory website.

The only other real problem is getting there.

United States

Often I am asked something along the lines of: "I'm going on holiday to Boston, where can I go and shoot a pistol?"  Er...

Although the US has a reputation of being full of guns (that is true to some extent, some two-fifths of privately owned firearms in the world are in the US), you need to pick the destination carefully.  Many States and cities have very tough gun laws.

Following is a brief list, States with very tough handgun laws include Hawaii, New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts.  In addition, various cities such as Chicago, Cleveland, and Washington, D.C. have tough handgun laws.  Most gun owners have simply moved out of those areas, so there aren't many places to shoot even if you are permitted to.  (There are some ranges in the Chicago suburbs and a fair number in Massachusetts despite the laws).  In addition, many States also prohibit non-resident aliens from possessing firearms, and this includes Rhode Island and Washington for example (there are quite a few others).  This usually does not preclude you from renting a pistol at a pistol range, but sometimes it does (see FAQ below).

My best advice is to pick somewhere in the southern part of the US (excluding California) or the south-east, as regardless of the gun laws, this is where most of the pistol shooting is to be had.  There are loads of places to shoot in Nevada, Arizona, Texas and Florida, and these are also good tourist destinations.  I also quite like some of the ranges around Atlanta but there's not much else to do other than shooting (okay, Six Flags and Civil War battlefields, but not like Florida).

In some places there are even dealers who will rent you a submachinegun, although these places come and go due to the heavy duty insurance they have to have which is very expensive, plus the legal complexities of them doing it.

Ranges vary in my experience from a single lane with a single gun to rent, to a mammoth setup with huge indoor ranges and dozens of guns to pick from (and those two quite ironically were about 30 miles apart).

A good place to start looking is Real Pages, search under "Guns" or "Rifle Ranges".

And then of course people ask me how to keep a gun in America.  Ugh.  This is a very difficult question to answer.  First of all you need to be in a State that allows aliens to possess firearms under State law.  Assuming you're past that one, you still have the Federal requirements to fulfill and that is very complicated to explain.

The US tightened up its requirements for possession of firearms by aliens in 1998 and this was also tightened by a regulatory change in 2002 because of the attack on the World Trade Center.  The 1998 law introduced a 90-day residency requirement.  This had been in place before, but you could get a waiver from your embassy.  No longer.  Now you have to demonstrate residency through having utility bills or similar going back 90 days, this is in addition to proving that you are a resident of the State where you are buying the gun, which is demonstrated by having a State ID or driver's license from that State.  In addition, 18 USC 922 (y) requires the purchase essentially to be for "hunting or sporting purposes".  Sporting purposes are very narrowly defined by the 2002 regulations, basically only for a competition or to attend a trade show - obviously you aren't going to be in the US for 90 days so this is a fairly useless provision, you can prove "hunting" basically only with a valid hunting license, but you still have to comply with the rest of the preceding requirements, such as residency for 90 days etc.  I'm not sure how you would demonstrate to a dealer that you wanted it for a "sporting purpose" other than hunting, although technically that's as sufficient as a hunting license.

One principle of US law that is difficult to wrap your head around is the prohibition on interstate transfers of handguns.  What this means is that a person resident in one State cannot buy a handgun in another State, but in this context, a person from another country cannot buy a handgun in a State either unless they are a resident of that State, which is why you need to be there for 90 days: to prove residency.

The exemption in 18 USC 922(y) of Chapter 44 for sporting or hunting purposes can be looked up at www.gpo.gov if you really want to (scroll down to subsection (y)), for sporting or hunting purposes.  There is another exemption for people who have been in the US for 180 days and have a letter from the Attorney General etc., but I'm assuming six months is a bit long for a visit!

ATF has their own FAQ, but it doesn't cover all the likely questions - it's probably best if I give some of my own Q&A, although bear in mind this may not be 100% accurate:

1) Can I buy a handgun in the US?

Only if you've been resident for 90 days, can prove it, have State ID, and have a hunting license (or were admitted for "sporting purposes" and can prove it) -or- you've been resident for 180 days, can prove it, have State ID, have a letter attesting to your good character from the embassy and have been granted a waiver by the Attorney General of the United States.  I strongly suggest you read this ATF newsletter which has the details chapter and verse.  (You also have to complete the general purchasing requirements that apply to everyone else, i.e. be at least 21 years of age, not be a convicted felon, comply with any waiting periods and so on).

2) Can I rent a handgun at a rental range?

Yes, depending on State law, you can rent and use a handgun at a range, because of an exemption in the federal law for this purpose, as licensed dealers can lend a handgun to a non-licensee for use on a range on their premises for "sporting purposes".  However, and this is the real problem, the new regulations introduced in 2002 require that you have a hunting license to prove that you are renting it for "sporting purposes".  Non-resident hunting licenses can be quite expensive in some States.  I strongly suggest if you plan on doing this that you check prior to arrival where you can obtain a hunting license from as it varies from State to State.  In most cases you can get a non-resident hunting license through the mail before you travel to the US.  It doesn't matter which State issued the hunting license, but you must have one.

3) Can I borrow a handgun for use in a competition?

I've gotten conflicting advice on this from ATF, sometimes they say it is okay, sometimes not - so I don't think they know.  Here is my interpretation of the law - even if you have been "admitted to" the United States specifically for the purpose of attending that competition, then you still cannot have a handgun transferred to you, because you also have to have been resident for at least 90 days.  However, I have been told by the ATF that if you have a hunting license you can borrow a gun from a fellow competitor, but I have also been told the contrary by ATF also, it boils down to what is a "transfer": the longer you have the firearm the more likely it is to be considered a "transfer" - borrowing a competitor's gun and using it on a course of fire under their supervision is probably okay, taking it back to the hotel and cleaning it probably isn't; but there is no case law so no-one really knows for certain.  (Note that if you take your own gun to the US with you, such as a rifle, that's okay because there is no interstate transfer and you don't need to be resident for 90 days - but you must be attending a competition or going hunting and have an import permit however, and to get one you have to attach proof such as a copy of a hunting license from any State or a match entry form.)

4) Can someone else buy a handgun for me?

No, this is a straw purchase and is a federal felony, even if you did complete all the residency requirements, unless it is a gift from a close relative who is a resident of the same State.  (Plus many States have restrictions on private transfers).

5) What if they buy it and keep it and I only borrow it?

Probably not, because the exemption for borrowing guns for "sporting purposes" only extends to federal firearm licensees (gun dealers) lending people guns to use on their own range - the exemption doesn't extend to you borrowing a gun off a non-licensee.  However, once again it depends on what you consider to be a "transfer", which a court would probably decide on how temporary or not your possession of the firearm is.

6) Does this apply to rifles?

Unfortunately, pretty much yes, because although interstate transfers of rifles are legal, it is conditional on the laws of both States being complied with.  Obviously a US dealer cannot comply with a foreign law, so you're in the same situation.  Plus you've still got all the non-immigrant alien crap to comply with also.

7) I'm staying with a friend, can I use their handgun for self-defence?

No, because the exemption in 18 USC 922(y) applies only to sporting purposes (and moreover, that you have specifically been let into the US to attend).  After being in the US legally for 180 days you can get a waiver from the Attorney General which you get by showing you have been resident for 180 days and have a letter from the local embassy attesting to your good character.

Fun isn't it.  You'd never guess the US is the most litigious society in the world would you?  Anyway this article has gone on long enough, I'm ending it here!

"Exterminate gangsters with guns.  Fight fire with fire... If I had my way, I would arm honest, dependable citizens and declare open war on all manner of gangsters.  I would shoot on sight.  If the gangsters were obliged to face the same weapons they use in menacing honest citizens, they would change their tactics." - Police Commissioner Roche, quoted in the Buffalo Times, Buffalo, New York, July 11, 1933.

"The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks.  We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence.  It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men." - Samuel Adams, 1771.

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