NSSF's District of Columbia Firearm Owner's Checklist
Know and understand the District's
firearms regulations and registration procedures. Carefully read
the Metropolitan
Police Department's brochure about registering
a firearm in the District.
 As the brochure points out, applicants
must . . .
- Be 21 years old to own a firearm
- Complete a firearms application
- Bring proof of residency (e.g., a DC driver's license)
- Bring two passport-sized, front-facing photos
- Be fingerprinted
- Pass a 20-question multiple choice test
- Complete a notarized firearms eligibility statement
- Pay fees
Firearms that can be legally owned
in the District have been defined by the City Council as follows:
Learn
the basic rules of firearm safety.
- Always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction
- Treat every firearm as if it were loaded
- Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire
- Know your target and what's beyond it.
- Read NSSF's "Firearms
Safety Depends on You" or
watch the video
Learn
and understand how to safely store firearms in the home. Make
sure you take steps to prevent a loaded firearm from being accessed
by unauthorized users, especially children. Learn about safe
storage at Project
Child Safe.
- Teach your children about firearm safety. Read NSSF's "Firearms
Responsibility in the Home" brochure.
View, with your children, the
NSSF videos "It's Your
Call: Playing It Safe Around Guns" (grades
6-9) and "McGruff The Crime Dog on Gun Safety" (grades
K-6)
Take a course that provides an
introduction to handgun ownership.
- NSSF's First Shots provides an introduction
to handgun shooting.
- Take an NRA-sponsored course. Find
a course.
Practice
your shooting regularly at a range to ensure you know how your
firearm functions and how to load and handle it properly. Locate
a range.
If
you keep a firearm for personal protection, experts recommend
acquiring advanced training, regular practice at the range and
understanding the quick-access safe storage options available
to you. Consider
taking an NRA-sponsored course that provides
education in this area.
At this time there are no federally
licensed firearms dealers in the District from which residents
may purchase a firearm or to which residents may transfer a
firearm purchased outside the District. Eventually, there will
be licensed dealers in the District from which you may purchase
or transfer a firearm.
- For assistance in selecting a firearm, find
a federally licensed firearms dealer or a
shooting range near you.
- Understand that any firearm purchased
from a federally licensed dealer outside the District must
be "transferred" to
a federally licensed dealer in the District before the purchaser
can take legal possession of the firearm.
- Understand that when purchasing a firearm,
the purchaser must undergo the National Instant Criminal Background
Check that prevents
prohibited persons from purchasing and owning a firearm.
Remember to exercise your 2nd Amendment rights to keep
and bear arms safely and responsibly. Your conduct with firearms
affects the positive image of all law-abiding firearms owners.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation believes the Supreme Court's recent decision overturning the District of Columbia's handgun ban and affirming the Second Amendment as an individual right to keep and bear arms gives District residents the right to own pistols as well as revolvers. NSSF believes the District is not following the intention of the Supreme Court's ruling by continuing to ban residents from owning pistols, the most common type of handgun. NSSF looks forward to seeing the legal challenge to the D.C. regulations succeed in eliminating that restriction.
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