What rights will a non-citizen have to own and possess a firearm?

This column cannot provide legal advice; for obvious reasons we can only deal with the hypothetical situation, but some issues are very clear.  Here is how the situation can be analyzed:

A.     The first analysis of the question requires that we define our category of non-citizens; the immigration service has parsed groups of aliens into various categories.  So first, 27 CFR 478.11:

Alien. Any person not a citizen or national of the United States.   This means every non-citizen is an alien, but the next step is to determine how they got in.

Alien illegally or unlawfully in the United States. Aliens who are unlawfully in the United States are not in valid immigrant, nonimmigrant or parole status. The term includes any alien -

(a) Who unlawfully entered the United States without inspection and authorization by an immigration officer and who has not been paroled into the United States under section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA);

(b) Who is a nonimmigrant and whose authorized period of stay has expired or who has violated the terms of the nonimmigrant category in which he or she was admitted;

(c) Paroled under INA section 212(d)(5) whose authorized period of parole has expired or whose parole status has been terminated; or

(d) Under an order of deportation, exclusion, or removal, or under an order to depart the United States voluntarily, whether or not he or she has left the United States.

You cannot receive a firearm if you entered illegally; meaning without inspection, at a border control point.  You also cannot receive a firearm if you were admitted under a non-immigrant visa (see below for exceptions).

By 'receive' I refer specifically to the bar on purchasing a firearm, or receiving one by transfer.  The actual prohibition is that an illegally present alien may not receive a firearm "or possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition; or to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.

An alien legally in the U.S. is not prohibited from purchasing firearms unless the alien is admitted into the U.S. under a nonimmigrant visa and does not meet one of the exceptions as provided in 18 U.S.C. 922(y)(2), such as possession of a valid hunting license or permit.

The exceptions they talk about are limited to persons admitted for hunting or sporting purposes, or in possession of a hunting license.  Notice, you just have to be in possession of the hunting license.  The other exceptions apply to officials of foreign governments, and their security, or foreign law enforcement on business.

A non-immigrant visa is limited to certain categories of temporary or work visas, or entry of certain purposes:

1.      Temporary visitors who do not intend to immigrate.

2.      A crewman or someone passing through the U.S.

3.      A student intending to return to their home country.

 Notice there are no constitutional rights to firearms for aliens in this county.  Where some rights like equal protection and due process apply to people or persons in the text of the Constitution itself, the right to bear arms has not been read to include non-citizens beyond the statutory language above. This clashes directly with the actual language of the Second Amendment, which applies to "the people".  "Citizens" furthermore would include those lawfully admitted for residency, so any legal permanent resident.