For detailed information on firearm safety, firearms, and ammunition, we recommend the free online Firearms Safety/Hunter Education Certification course offered by Minnesota’s DNR at:

http://www.huntercourse.com/usa/minnesota/

On the website, click on the green button with the following label:

• Online-only Course, Ages 14 & Older

You do not need to pay $24.95 at the end of the course unless you would like to print the completion certificate. The certificate is only required for hunting game in Minnesota; not for handgun permits to carry.

If you plan to purchase a hunting permit in Minnesota and were born after December 31^st, 1979, you will need to pay the fee to print the certificate.

This comprehensive course covers the following topics:

• Know your firearms.
• Know your handguns.
• Know your ammunition.
• Firearms safety.
• Cleaning, safe storage, and transportation of firearms.
• Hunting safety.
• Shooting skills.
• Survival and first aid.
• Ethical, responsible behavior with firearms.
• Wildlife management and identification.

The course will require you to sign in with a name and email address. This allows you to save your progress and return to the course at a later time. Each of the 16 chapters of the course ends with a quiz. There is a final exam at the end of the course. If you are not printing the completion certificate, you are not required to take the final exam.

The four basic rules of gun safety:

1. All guns are always loaded. Even if they are not, treat them as if they are.
2. Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy. (For those who insist that this particular gun is unloaded, see Rule 1.)
3. Keep your finger off the trigger till your sights are on the target. This is the Golden Rule. Its violation is directly responsible for about 60 percent of inadvertent discharges.
4. Identify your target, and what is behind it. Never shoot at anything that you have not positively identified.