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I do a lot of international business, and when associates visit the U.S. I like to dissuade their preconceptions of U.S. weapons interest by taking them shooting. In the past I have taken them to private land in the far south of Texas and let them shoot some of my weapons at inanimate targets. I have a couple of visitors from France this week, but do not have time to take them to the private land. Is it legal to allow them to shoot my weapons at a local range?

I know of no US. statute which prohibits a person with a valid non immigrant visa to shoot someone else's firearm in a recreational venue in which the owner of the firearm could shoot it. As long as the weapon is not "transferred" to the alien, y'all should be allright.

nuparadigm wrote:I know of no US. statute which prohibits a person with a valid non immigrant visa to shoot someone else's firearm in a recreational venue in which the owner of the firearm could shoot it. As long as the weapon is not "transferred" to the alien, y'all should be allright.

There are several people each year that take foreign nationals to shoot, skeet, sporting clays, targets, etc. As long as you are not giving them a firearm to take home you should be ok.

I never had a problem with it, I have taken a friend from Colombia and an ex from France, no problem each time. I also didnt say anything to the range about it. I just put everything in my name and they didnt even ask for their ID or anything.

jamullinstx,
I just want to say I think what you do is a very, I hate to use the word cool but a very cool thing.

I've taken foreigners shooting before, and it's interesting to see the change as they start shooting. It goes from somewhat nervous apprehension to intense concentration and then big smiles.

I had a tiny Japanese girl who was a house mate of mine go with me once, along with another house mate. She probably weighed all of 80 pounds, but she LOVED it. I have a priceless photo of her giant smile (below) immediately after she took the first shot from my Mosin-Nagant 91/30. She finished all 5 rounds, too. Lots of people shoot 2 or 3 rounds and they're done with it.

In Japan, they have commercial tours to the U.S. for people who want to shoot guns, so if it's legal for a foreign tourist to come here just for the purpose of shooting guns at commercial ranges, it is surely legal for you to bring a foreign friend to a private range to shoot guns.

It is also common to see shooters from other countries competing in most large sanctioned matchs. I remember there being several shooters from Italy at the first Texas state IDPA match I attended. The Japanese gentleman who won the steel challenge a couple years ago had never fired a real gun until less than a week before the match, all of his practice was done using airsoft guns.