First things first, living part time in one state or another does not necessarily count as legal residency. I held dual residency in KS and MN, and then later KS and TX for some time as an adult. I owned property in all 3 states, and owned, registered, and insured vehicles in all 3 states. I also carried RESIDENT hunting licenses in all 3 states. The burden of proof always falls to the individual, so you can always expect to encounter skeptical salespersons and clerks whenever you attempt to prove residency in any state beyond that which is on your driver's license.

If you are "legally residing" in FL at the time of purchase, then no, you will have no trouble buying a long gun OR handgun in FL. However, you WILL have to provide identification showing your legal residency, which is usually the problem. The EASIEST way that I see around this, based on my own experience when I have held dual state residency, is to keep your drivers license in one state, then keep a valid RESIDENT hunting license (which qualifies as a state issued form of ID) in the other. You will have to point out to the seller that you have dual residency and need to use your FL address from your hunting license on your FTR Form 4473. By having your hunting license up front, you will have ALREADY proven your dual residency in some way, so it will look less shady to the gunshop owner, which greases the wheels. That's the method I used when I carried dual residency.

SOME STATES, have laws that their residents may only execute "pay and carry" purchases on longguns in contiguous, meaning IN residents could ONLY buy guns in IL, MI, OH, and KY.

Pay and carry handgun purchases can ONLY be executed in your home state. Does FL really count as your home state of record? See above for my simple technique.

All that said, regardless of the pay and carry restrictions and regardless whether it's a handgun or longgun, if you want to buy a gun in FL, as long as you are not prohibited from owning/purchasing said firearm in your home state, you may purchase the firearm, then have it transferred to an FFL in your home state. Usually adds about $75 to the price of the weapon ($50 shipping, $20 FFL transfer fee).

The Florida ffl Holder will handle all the paper work that you will need. Jim

I see I did notice a rental agreement can count as proof of res for ones license and such, likely when I finish college I will switch since most of my time is spent down there. I figured since we have our house here I and I will be spending time here about 3 months here, 3-6 months in florida, and repeart till I finish college no reason to switch my DL, since I would then need to switch my permit, go to out of state tuition(3-4times as much) and so on

What I might do is make some calls and if a rental lease will be enough to let me do dual res I will. I was told before there is no such thing, it sucks when the folks inforcing laws have no idea about said laws.

Technically, they DO know what they're talking about. No, there is no real official "dual residency". You either live in one place or the other. But special circumstances can be granted to recognize that you can interchange between states without filing change of address, changing driver's licenses, car registration, etc etc over and over again.

I had an instance once where I was driving my "Texas Truck" while living in KS. A sherrif noticed that our company had a lot of vehicles with out of state plates parking there for quite some time. The laws in KS stated that if you're living and working in a state for 90days+ then you are required to transfer your tags and update your address, essentially updating your residency as a Kansan. My company employed a lot of temporary contractors, including myself, so even though we lived and worked in KS, we never actually moved there. I was a somewhat special case because I maintained a KS driver's license, as well as a KS address and vehicle registration.

It's actually a VERY convoluded system based on what rules are in effect in which state. To tag and insure my truck in TX as well as get a hunting license in TX, all I needed was a physical address (not just a PO box) and "proof of residency", which is basically having my name on a bill at that location. In KS, proof of residency is more stringent. The State of KS had to yield to the TX law that even though I maintained a KS address, and KS driver's license and car registration, the State of TX still recognized me as a resident.

Technically, once you're 18, you're actually MOVING back and forth. The only way "dual residency" works is if one state or both have short or lax residency requirements. In KS, they want to keep residents, so if you do more than stay in a hotel here, we want to make you a full-fledged resident, but if you move, you basically have 6months to cease residency in KS (you're considered a KS resident if you spend 1 day over 50% in KS that year, and you're required to BECOME a resident if you stay in KS longer than 90days). Other states are more lax, like TX, where if you keep a physical address and get bills as if you lived there, you can qualify for residency there, but aren't required to spend "1 day over 50%" there.

What it comes down to is that your legal residency is base on whichever driver's license you hold. However, some states let you live there LONGER without changing your drivers license. For example, Kansas is strict. You have 10 days following a move (registered at US post office) to update your drivers license. This is true even for Kansas residents moving WITHIN KS. TX seems to be much more lax. I was pulled over a few times while I was licensed in KS and living in TX. I just said "I live up in Denton, here's my current address, I just haven't updated my address...". So I basically always had to keep my license in KS.

So I guess the moral of the story is, if you really expect you'll be moving back and forth, read your individual state's laws closely.

Also, remember, for college tuition, you may be required to prove TERM OF RESIDENCY. In Kansas, universities require one continuous year of residency prior to enrollment to qualify for resident status. There LITERALLY is no way around this. So if you tried to play a "dual residency" game and bought a gun in FL as a resident and effectively prove your FL residency, you would be discounting yourself from qualifying for resident status in IN. Of course, this only applies to the year PRIOR TO ENROLLMENT. Once you qualify as a resident, then you're in for the rest of your term.

The easy way around that, since it sounds like your PARENT will be living in FL, is to have them buy the guns for you. It will NOT count as a "straw purchase" since they are your parents.

There absolutely is dual residency as far as buying a firearm is concerned.

Directly from the 4473 that you will fill out. Instructions for question 2 and 13.
http://www.atf.gov/forms/download/atf-f-4473.pdf
Basically if you own a home or lease a home all year long in the other state you qualify.

You must provide the dealer with proof that you are actually residing in this state. The proof must be government issued. A lease is not valid. A vehicle registration, voter registration card, hunting or fishing license, tax receipt, etc... etc... is valid proof of residency

will the lease work for proof for my hunting license, thus that working for the ffl
also when in florida would I put florida as my residence and when in indiana put indiana ?

Like I said above, this is the easy way around. Do the "dirty work" of providing the burden of proof for the EASY item, like a hunting license, then use THAT for the firearms purchase. You will have to provide burden of proof to get your hunting license (like presenting your lease, electric bill with your name on it, or a vehicle registration) and then you're home free for your 4473. That's the exact process I've used in the past.

You know when I looked at sending in for my dads disabled license, I noticed a rental lease counts for proof of res. SO I could use that for me.

How will it look with me having a indiana ID, a florida res fishing license and such

No, you can't use a rental lease to count as proof of residence for firearms purchases. Residency must be proven, for firearms purchases, by using a STATE ISSUED FORM OF IDENTIFICATION.

Again, yes, you can use your lease agreement to apply for a STATE ISSUED FORM OF IDENTIFICATION, like your hunting license or a DL, which would then qualify for firearms purchase, but the lease agreement itself won't mean jack unless the FFL is lazy.