Significance

• A free firearms safety training course will teach you the basics of gun safety. The most important guideline to remember is to treat every gun as if it's loaded all the time. If you can remember this, you will instinctively remember all the rules that flow from it, like "Never point your gun at anything you don't wish to destroy." These classes are required before you can purchase a firearm from a firearms dealer in several states.
  
  

Types

• Free firearms safety training courses taught by a live instructor are hard to find. The National Rifle Association, for example, offers these courses, but virtually all involve fees ranging from $39 to $99 as of 2010. However, online courses are plentiful, such as those administered by the Maryland Department of Public Safety and HunterExam.com.
  
  

Time Frame

• The live classes usually take a couple of hours, while online classes typically last between 30 minutes and one hour.