The new gun owner's questions answered, from training to travel to wills

Congratulations. You bought your first gun, you drove it home, and now you are sitting at the kitchen table wondering what nobody told you at the counter. The honest answer is plenty. The dealer sold you a firearm. He did not hand you the other half of ownership, which is a stack of rules about where it goes, who touches it, and what happens to it when you do not come home.

Good news: the questions are predictable. After a first year with a gun, most owners have run into the same ten or twelve. I've collected eleven below and answered each with the federal rule where there is one and an honest "it depends on your state" where there isn't. That second phrase will come up a lot, because gun law in America is a layer cake with federal frosting. This is general information, not legal advice, and where I give a statute number, take it as a place to start reading rather than a substitute for it.

If you haven't yet bought your first gun, start with how to buy your first firearm lawfully from the counter to the car. If you have, read on.

Training and the range

Where do I find real training?

Look in three places. First, certified instructors: several national organizations certify instructors in basic pistol, rifle and shotgun skills, and your local gun store can usually point you to one. Second, your state wildlife agency runs hunter education courses, which are inexpensive and teach handling and safety whether or not you ever hunt. Third, ask the range itself. Many ranges run introductory classes for new owners.

What you want from a class is the fundamentals: the safety rules in the four rules of gun safety and the reason behind each one, handling, loading and unloading, cleaning, and what the law says in your state about when you may use a firearm in defense of yourself. A first class is the cheapest insurance you will ever buy. Take it before you carry the gun anywhere but home, and plan to take another once a year. The same course also teaches the habit that matters most, which is that you treat every gun as loaded until you have personally checked it, every single time, no matter who handed it to you or how many times you have done it. Complacency is the enemy, and it shows up after the hundredth trip to the range, not the first.

What does a range require of me?

Most ranges require the same basics. You will need eye and ear protection, which many rent or sell. You will sign a waiver and listen to a safety briefing. A range safety officer will watch the line and has the authority to stop anybody who breaks a rule, and you should do what he says immediately, without argument. You keep the muzzle pointed downrange, your finger off the trigger until you are on target, and your gun unloaded and cased until the line is called hot.

Most will also ask you to bring ammunition that matches your firearm and to clean up your brass if the range requires it. Call ahead for the rules. If it is your first visit, tell the staff, because every good range would rather coach a beginner than catch a mistake.

Storing it, losing it and lending it

May I leave a gun in my car?

Federal law has no general rule against it, so the answer comes from your state and from the property you're parking on. Some states regulate how a firearm must be stored in a vehicle, for example unloaded and in a locked container, and some places, such as schools, federal buildings and certain workplaces, bar guns on the premises, parking lot included. Many employers have a policy. In some states a law protects an employee's right to keep a lawfully owned gun in a locked car in the employer's lot, and in others there is no such protection.

My own view as a plain matter of common sense: a car is a bad place to leave a gun. Thieves know that people leave valuables in vehicles, and a stolen firearm is a loss to you and a danger to everyone else. If you have to leave one in the car, lock it in a secured case or vault fixed to the vehicle, out of sight. Better, take it with you or leave it at home in the safe described in a home storage plan that keeps kids out and keeps you ready.

What do I do if my gun is stolen or lost?

Call the police right away and file a report. Give the make, model, caliber and serial number, which is the reason I told you to write it down when you bought the gun. The serial number goes into the national database used by law enforcement, and if the gun later turns up in a crime, a prompt report is evidence that it was taken from you rather than handed over.

A growing number of states require owners to report a lost or stolen firearm within a set time, and failing to do so can be an offense. Check your state's rule. Then call your homeowner's or renter's insurer, because some policies cover theft of firearms and many cap the amount. If the thief used a lock-picked safe or a smashed window, say so. Details matter. Keep a copy of the police report number, because the insurer and, in some states, the court will want it, and ask whether your policy treats firearms as a special category with its own limit. Many people discover that limit only after the loss.

May I lend a gun to a friend or family member?

Federal law has one clear rule: you may not sell, give or lend a firearm to a person you know, or have reasonable cause to believe, is prohibited from having one. That covers felons, domestic abusers, and the other categories described in my buying guide. Beyond that, the answer is state law, and it varies. Some states require a background check or a licensed dealer for any transfer, which may include temporary loans, with exceptions for family members or for supervised use at a range. Others place no restriction on a friendly loan.

The cautious approach is to lend only to someone you know well, in person, for a defined purpose such as a hunting trip or a range visit, and to check your state's rule first. Remember that you may remain responsible for what happens with the gun. It's yours, and "I lent it to a guy" will not play well in front of a jury.

Moving it around the country

How do I fly with a firearm?

You may fly with a firearm only in checked baggage, never in the cabin and never at the security checkpoint. The rules, enforced by the Transportation Security Administration under federal regulations at 49 C.F.R. 1540.111 and the related rules for airlines, run like this. The firearm must be unloaded. It must be in a hard-sided container that is locked, and you should keep the key or combination. You must declare it to the airline at the ticket counter when you check the bag. Ammunition must be in a proper container, which is generally the manufacturer's box or a case designed to carry ammunition, and it may be in the same locked case if packaged correctly. Airlines add their own rules about weight limits and where the declaration is made, so read your carrier's policy.

Then there is the destination. Flying with a gun does not exempt you from the law where you land, and a layover in a state with strict rules can create trouble. The safe passage law I explain in before you drive across state lines with a gun, run this checklist covers more than driving. Read it before you book.

Can I carry a gun in a national park?

Yes, in general, thanks to a federal law that passed in 2009. The Credit CARD Act of 2009 was a bill about credit card regulation, signed by President Obama on May 22, 2009, to which Senator Tom Coburn attached an amendment on firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges. It allows a person who may lawfully possess a firearm under the law of the state where the park is located to possess it in that park or refuge, subject to that state's law.

Two caveats. First, the rules in a park are the rules of the state the park sits in, so a park that crosses state lines may mean different rules in different sections. Second, the federal ban on guns in federal facilities, covered below, still applies to buildings in the park where federal employees work, such as a visitor center or a ranger station, and those are generally posted. Check the park's website before you go, and check the state laws too.

Places with their own rules

What changed with the Gun-Free School Zones Act?

Congress passed the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990, which made it a federal crime to knowingly possess a firearm in a school zone, defined as within a thousand feet of school grounds. In 1995 the Supreme Court struck it down in United States v. Lopez. The case involved a high school student in San Antonio who was found at school with a handgun. The Court held, five to four, in an opinion by Chief Justice Rehnquist, that the law exceeded Congress's power under the Commerce Clause, because carrying a gun in a school zone was not an economic activity that substantially affected interstate commerce. I trace the broader story of that power in A Farmer's Wheat Crop and the Long Fight Over the Commerce Clause.

Congress responded in 1996 by rewriting the law to add language that the firearm must have moved in or otherwise affected interstate commerce, and the amended law is in force. The federal statute has exceptions, including for a person who holds a license from the state and for unloaded firearms in a locked container, but state laws on school property are separate and are often stricter. In practice, treat school grounds as a place where you do not carry unless your state law clearly says you may.

Are there federal buildings where I can't carry?

Yes. Federal law at 18 U.S.C. 930 makes it a crime to knowingly possess a firearm or other dangerous weapon in a federal facility, which includes courthouses, with exceptions for law enforcement and a few lawful purposes. Notice of the prohibition is supposed to be posted at the public entrances. Post offices have their own regulation. State and local courthouses, city halls and similar buildings have their own rules, often with metal detectors. Leave the gun at home or locked up before you go in.

The questions people skip

What happens to my guns when I die?

This is the question owners skip, and families pay for it. Your firearms are part of your estate, and your executor must handle them lawfully. Federal law lets a firearm pass by bequest or intestate succession to an heir without the transfer going through a dealer, even across state lines, but the heir must not be a prohibited person, and state law may add requirements. Items regulated under the National Firearms Act, such as suppressors or short-barreled rifles, have their own transfer procedures with the ATF. Why the National Firearms Act of 1934 taxed guns instead of banning them explains why.

Here is what a sensible owner does. Keep a written list of each gun with make, model and serial number. Tell your executor where the guns are and how to open the safe, in a sealed note rather than a conversation at Thanksgiving. Name in your will who should receive each one, and ask an estate attorney in your state to check that the plan works. Leaving a safe full of guns and no instructions is a burden on the people who grieve you.

How do I know the rules in my own state?

Start at the source. Your state legislature publishes its statutes online, and the chapters on weapons, use of force and carrying are short. Your state attorney general and state police often publish plain-language summaries. A local firearms attorney can answer the questions that are specific to your case, and a good instructor knows the local landscape. For anything that changes how you carry or store a gun, treat a social media post as a rumor until you see the statute.

What to do this month

Here is the short list. Take a class. Write down your serial numbers and put the list somewhere other than the safe. Check your insurance policy's firearm coverage. Read your state's statute on transporting and carrying. And make a note for your executor. None of this takes a week. All of it takes a decision.

The bottom line

• Get real training now: a certified instructor, a hunter education course, or a range class, and repeat it every year.
• Your state decides most of the day-to-day questions about cars, lending, reporting a theft and carrying near schools. Read its statutes yourself.
• Fly with a gun only in a locked hard-sided case in checked baggage, declared at the counter, and remember that a flight does not exempt you from the law where you land.
• National parks follow the carry law of the state they are in, thanks to a 2009 federal law, but federal buildings and school zones are their own separate problem.
• Write a plan for your guns in your will. It is the kindest thing a gun owner can do for his family.