I cant move to PA since the NYPD requires I live in NYC or a surrounding county in NY as my primary residence, and I am unwilling to buy or rent a place in PA just to own a gun there.

I am a former Marine and considered having one of my Marine friends in another state buy a rifle for me and hold onto it until I am in a state where I can legally possess it (when I retire) and then I would reimburse him the cost and have him sell it to me. But my concern there is that any new assault weapons ban might have the sale or transferring of such rifles be illegal by then too.