Photograph specifications
You must supply a recent, good quality digital photograph that is a good likeness of yourself. A scanned copy of a photograph will not be accepted.
The photograph must meet the minimum requirements as set out in Regulation 30 of the Arms Regulations 1992. Passport photos from commercial outlets will typically meet these requirements.
This means the photograph must:
- have been taken within the last 12 months
- be a full front view of your face – chin to forehead and both sides of your face
- show head and shoulders, with the head filling most of the photograph
- be of you without a hat or head covering (except where your religion requires you to wear a hat or head covering)
- have a plain, light-coloured background
- be in colour and in focus
- be in portrait format (with a 4:3 aspect ratio)
- be in JPG or JPEG format
- be between 25KB and 10MB
- be between 900 and 4500 pixels wide and 1200 and 6000 pixels high.
We will not accept photographs that do not meet these standards.
A scan or photo of your identity documents and proof of address
If you have a New Zealand firearms licence or dealer's licence, you must provide a scan or clear photo of the following:
- Your licence card (current or expired within 12 months)
- Proof of address dated within the last 3 months
If you do not have a New Zealand firearms licence, you must provide a scan or photo of one of the following:
- New Zealand passport
- Overseas passport
- New Zealand driver licence
- Police identity card
- New Zealand Defence Force photo identification
- Kiwi Access card (18+ Card)
- Identity document issued by New Zealand government
AND one of the following:
- Birth certificate
- Citizenship certificate
- Permanent resident document
- Identity document issued by secondary or tertiary institution
- Card issued by a New Zealand bank with your full name and signature
- Educational records or certificates
- Professional or trade association membership certificate
AND proof of address dated within the last 3 months.
Details about your business
You must provide information about your business, including its name, business number, how long it’s been operating and your role in the business.
Dealer activities
You must select from the following list which dealer activities you wish to carry out:
- selling (hiring or wholesale)
- hiring
- lending
- otherwise supplying
- auctioning
- repairing and modifying
- displaying as a director or curator of a bona fide museum
- manufacturing for sale, hire, lending or other supply
- manufacturing prohibited parts for permitted supply.
If you wish to manufacture pistols, restricted weapons, pistol carbine conversion kits or air pistol carbine conversion kits, you must also complete an ‘Application by licensed dealer for approval to manufacture' form and submit it with your application.
Application by licensed dealer for approval to manufacture
To manufacture, test or demonstrate prohibited parts, you must be an ‘exempt person’ under section 4A (1A) and (2A) of the Arms Act 1983. This means your business must have been running before 12 April 2019.
Section 4A (1A) and (2A), Arms Act 1983
Current or planned operations, business arrangements and obligations
You must provide details about your:
- prior experience using firearms
- relevant business experience
- technical skills, knowledge and safety plans that ensure you can safely undertake your business.
You must also describe your business arrangements – such as your purchase and supply arrangements with suppliers – and be able to explain your obligations as a dealer under the Arms Act and Arms Regulations.
Financial soundness
You must provide a letter from your accountant (or business advisor) confirming the business has, or is being established with, a sound financial structure
Your personal history details, including health and criminal history
To understand if you and others will be safe if you have access to firearms, we ask questions in your application about your personal history.
You must provide information about any criminal offending you have been involved with, in accordance with the Clean Slate Scheme.
Clean Slate Scheme – Ministry of Justice
If you have a relevant health condition, you’ll be asked to provide details. You must supply a certificate from your health practitioner that is related to the condition.
Depending how you answer these questions, we may ask for more information.
Information about your referees
You must provide the names and contact details for:
- one next-of-kin referee, aged 16 or over
- at least two unrelated business referees, aged 25 or over.
Your next-of-kin referee:
- vouches for your character, not necessarily your firearms experience
- does not have to be a firearms licence holder or have seen you handle a firearm.
Your business referees must:
- be living in New Zealand
- know you well – this may include someone you’ve known and been in regular face-to-face contact with for a significant period of your life (at least 3 years, preferably more)
- have a firearms licence and have had long-term experience with firearms
- have first-hand knowledge of your experience in firearms dealer-related activities
- be available for an in-person, face-to-face interview.
Your business referees must not:
- be related to you (for example, not your parents, stepparents, cousin, aunt or in-laws)
- live at the same address as you (for example, not your flatmate, lodger or boarder)
- be your current spouse or partner, a former spouse or partner within the past 5 years, or an otherwise related person
- be employed by New Zealand Police.
We will interview your referees to help us decide if you are a fit and proper person to have a dealer licence.
Security details for storage and display
You must explain how you are meeting security requirements for stock on display and in storage.
This should be for:
- the location where you conduct your business, and
- any storage location where you store any other firearms and ammunition the business may possess.
Body corporate senior managers must complete this section for the place of business from which they ordinarily conduct business.
Secure storage and transportation guide for firearms and ammunition (PDF, 4 MB)
Details of the business’s record-keeping system
You must provide details of your dealer transaction and stock record-keeping systems as they apply to your business activities.
You must also describe the access Police are allowed to your records, and how you will ensure they are kept secure.