He's right. You can buy long guns from a dealer, but no pistols and nothing private sale.

not true at all. you can buy a gun in ND as long as you are going to school here. should have gone over to the ATF table and asked them to set the guy straight.
I have always kept my FFL happy with
ND fishing license with my ND address
MN drivers license
enrollment verification from my school verifying that I am a student.
its not a common thing, but it is legal and can be done. it's kind of a paperwork pile too, if the FFL ever get audited they are going to want to have all that info on hand to cover their ass.
if you need an FFL, I know a guy in Larimore which isn't to far away. he has done a 1911 for me and after the many phone calls to the ATF to double check all of this we were both comfortable going forward.
ETA:
27 CFR 178.11: MEANING OF TERMS
An out-of-State college student may establish residence in a State by residing and maintaining a home in a college dormitory or in a location off-campus during the school term.
ATF Rul. 80-21
"State of residence" is defined by regulation in 27 CFR 178.11 as the State in which an individual regularly resides or maintains a home. The regulation also provides an example
of an individual who maintains a home in State X and a home in State Y. The individual regularly resides in State X except for the summer months and in State Y for the summer
months of the year. The regulation states that during the time the individual actually resides in State X he is a resident of State X, and during the time he actually resides in State Y he is a resident of State Y.
Applying the above example to out-of-State college students it is held, that during the time the students actually reside in a college dormitory or at an off-campus location they are considered residents of the State where the dormitory or off-campus home is located. During the time out-of-State college students actually reside in their home State they are considered residents of their home State.
[ATFB 1980-4 25]