Joseph Paul

jpaul@jconline.com

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Every year, Michael Reckowsky, adviser for Purdue University's rifle and pistol club, asks a fresh crop of college students a question.

"Has anybody fired a gun?"

The response is typically the same on any given callout night: A handful of students raise their hands, but the rest look on in anticipation.

"We train approximately 180 students every year (who have) never handled a firearm before," said Reckowsky, director of industry engagement for Purdue Polytechnic Institute.

Many of those students are international, Reckowsky said, and for a variety of reasons have joined the group to take advantage of the United States' and Indiana's generous policies on owning and shooting guns.

In some cases, guns have taken on taboo status in countries where they are highly regulated; in others, students are continuing a hobby picked up in the military back home, he said.

"A lot of times, they tell us the countries they live in, you can't own a gun, you can't fire a gun," he said.

As their curiosity has piqued, the West Lafayette Police Department has continued to receive applications for licenses to carry handguns from Purdue's 10,000-strong international population, which ranked the West Lafayette campus fourth among public universities this year.

State regulations on carry licenses, however, do not address foreign people specifically, forcing local agencies such as WLPD — which must screen each applicant — to rely on limited local, state and national criminal background checks, while an international student's history outside the U.S. remains a mystery.

"We have been hyper vigilant in this area; we've gone overboard to make sure that we're doing proper background checks as required," WLPD Chief Jason Dombkowski said. "And in that hyper vigilance, we had a difference of opinion with the state."

Handguns and headaches

WLPD and state law enforcement reportedly bumped heads over the summer regarding one particular application from an international student.

In 2015 and 2016 combined, WLPD has received at least 13 such applications among 218 total as of Dec. 5.

It may not seem like much, but the steady trickle of forms has caused a headache for the agency, which has routinely denied those applicants due to their limited background in the U.S.

One person, for example, had only lived in the country for three months, Dombkowski noted.

"I have an obligation to make certain that we vet every person that presents themselves for handgun carry applications," he said. "And this has been challenging having so many international students here that are starting to apply for carry permits."

WLPD was forced to change its approach over the summer after an international student appealed the decision to Indiana State Police, a right afforded to civilians through state law, according to ISP Lt. Micheal Rogers.

Rogers said prospects for a carry license should be recommended for approval if they pass local, state and federal criminal background checks and meet several other requirements, regardless of their status as an international student.

"If there is nothing to disqualify an individual, then we will move forward with the process," Rogers said.

As a result, the applicant was approved for a carry license, and WLPD has recommended at least five more international students for approval since then, according to Deputy Chief Troy Harris.

Harris said it's not unusual to see a renewed interest in carry licenses from both international and domestic populations during presidential campaigns. In 2015, for example, WLPD vetted only 76 applicants, compared to 142 so far this year.

"Any time that there is an upcoming major election ... where people think that there's a possibility of some type of a firearms restriction or change, it seems that you see a spike in applications," he said.

Working the system

During conversations with state officials, Dombkowski said WLPD was assured that international students are vetted before they're granted permission to enter the country.

Rogers, however, declined to comment on the specific appeal.

"The state, after some research, advised us that the student visa process requires a criminal background check, and that they are comfortable with that," Dombkowski said.

Mike Brzezinski, dean of international programs at Purdue, said student visa applicants first interview at a U.S. consulate in their home country, where an officer establishes their family, social and economic ties to their homeland.

"Exactly what visa officers are looking for, it's not public," he said. "So we can only speculate that they're looking at: Do they have a job? Are they married? What's their family situation? What's the situation like in their homeland?"

After 9/11, when the U.S. began scrutinizing visitors more thoroughly, many students have been subjected to administrative processing, which prolongs the visa process for up to 60 days as they are further investigated, Brzezinksi said.

"Now what does that administrative review mean?" he said. "Well, once again, it's not public information. Our best guess — those of us who have been in this field — that you’ve got multiple security agencies looking at those cases."

Brzezinksi noted, however, that the vast majority of students don't trigger administrative processing, which he described as thorough. He speculated that a student's anticipated field of study, such as nuclear engineering, or the country from which they're traveling, such as Middle Eastern or Islamic nations, could be factors.

"Anything related to security, our government is pretty tight-lipped, and probably for good reason," he said. "They wouldn't want 'the bad guys' to work the system."

Brzezinski added that he's "no more concerned" about international students owning or carrying firearms than "a domestic student of the same age."

Layers of security

Before applying for a carry license, however, international students must jump through several hoops in order to buy a gun in the first place.

Those regulations, in addition to the student visa process, offer additional layers of security before a firearm finds itself in the hands of a foreign person.

Suzanne Dabkowski, a public information officer for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' Columbus Field Division — which includes parts of Indiana — confirmed that nonimmigrant aliens, such as individuals on a student visa, can legally purchase guns.

"The short answer is 'yes,' " Dabkowski said, "but there are some conditions that they have to meet."

For example, nonimmigrant aliens must fall under one exception in order to possess a firearm or ammunition, according to the ATF website. The most commonly used and most easily accessible exception, Dabkowski said, is a state-issued hunting and fishing license.

Aaron Lorton, owner of Applied Ballistics in Lafayette, said a large portion of his company's clientele are international students, many of whom visit his indoor range to test out their skills.

"It’s a bit of a novelty for them," he said, "and they come in fairly large numbers."

Some enjoy the experience so much they return regularly, he said. More intrigued students go as far as purchasing their own guns, first completing a hunting safety course to acquire an Indiana hunting permit.

At the time of purchase, those customers almost always trigger a "delay" response when their information is entered into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System — a process required when purchasing firearms from a licensed dealer.

Lorton speculated that security agencies such as the FBI or Department of Homeland Security use the extra several days to further screen those customers.

"It takes a considerably longer period of time for somebody who is not a U.S. citizen to purchase a firearm," he said.

A melting pot

Of course, Lorton noted, more inconveniences exist that might deter an international student from owning or carrying a gun.

For example, they would have to sell their firearms before traveling back to their home country. And those who live on campus are prohibited from possessing guns anyway, according to Purdue policy.

That could have changed, however, had a measure proposed to the Indiana General Assembly in January gained more traction.

House Bill 1055, proposed by Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, would have prohibited state agencies — including public universities — from regulating firearms and ammunition on their properties.

The bill, however, never made it past a first reading.

The entire law could become moot after Indiana's next legislative session, in which Lucas said the "planets are aligned" to do away with the state's requirement for a carry license altogether. It's unclear how such a law would apply to noncitizens.

"I want to decriminalize our constitutional right to bear arms," Lucas told IndyStar in November. "Our right to self-defense shouldn’t be controversial."

While the debate surrounding carry permits is far from over, Dombkowski said the headache involving international students is one he's willing to deal with.

"West Lafayette is a melting pot; it's one of the neat things about our community. The international flavor of West Lafayette makes it a great place to live," he said. "With that, this is one of the challenges we have with having such a diverse community."

Call J&C reporter Joseph Paul at 765-420-5339, email him at jpaul@jconline.com or follow him on Twitter:@JosephPaulJC.