[Rick Lee]

I believe you have to have at least a green card to buy a gun legally in a store. That's a matter of federal, not state, law. Plenty of states allow private party sales between residents of that state. And most folks only want to see your in-state driver's license in a private party sale, which you could have and not have a green card. So it's not too hard to get around if you don't care about complying with the law. Of course, get caught breaking any gun law and you're usually looking at mandatory minimums for jail. And real criminals aren't gonna submit to background checks or filling out forms anyway. I've bought lots of guns in parking lots and gun shows and have sold several to cops that way. I'll probably sell a gun to a cop next week in a parking lot.