Firearms Registry requirements apply from 24 June 2023
The first time you apply for a licence or endorsement from 24 June 2023, you must register all arms items in your possession within 30 days.
Find out what the Firearms Registry means for you
What the New Zealand firearms licence allows
A New Zealand firearms licence allows you to have and use unsupervised:
- non-prohibited firearms that do not require an endorsement
- ammunition,
- especially dangerous airguns, including pre-charged pneumatic (PCP) air rifles.
A firearms licence holder can supervise someone without a licence using a non-prohibited firearm, unless we revoked that person’s licence.
The licence holder:
- must be within reach of the firearm and able to control it
- must not be using another firearm at the same time.
New Zealand firearms licence lifespan
A firearms licence lasts five or 10 years, depending on the circumstances of your application.
Your new licence lasts 10 years if you apply before your current licence expires.
Your new licence lasts five years if:
- your firearms licence expires before you apply for a new one
- your previous firearms licence was revoked or surrendered
- you’ve never had a firearms licence
Endorsements
To have or use some classes of arms items, you must apply to Te Tari Pūreke to add to your firearms licence endorsements
Who can apply for a New Zealand firearms licence
To apply for a New Zealand firearms licence, you must:
Before you get a firearms licence, the authority must find:
- you are a fit and proper person to have and use firearms
- you have secure storage at all addresses where you store firearms and ammunition
- no-one who has had a firearms licence revoked, been disqualified from having a firearms licence, or been found not fit and proper to have and use firearms, has access to your firearms and ammunition
Visitors to New Zealand
You need a visitor firearms licence, not a New Zealand firearms licence, if:
- you are a visitor to New Zealand
- you plan to use firearms during your visit
- your visit is for less than a year.
Note
If your visit is for more than a year, you need a New Zealand firearms licence.
What you must tell us when you apply for a New Zealand firearms licence
Referees
In your firearms licence application, you must give names and contact details for referees.
Te Tari Pūreke interviews your referees to help us decide if you are a fit and proper person to have a firearms licence. In your application, you must give details for:
- one next-of-kin referee
- at least one unrelated referee, 20 years of age or older
These referees should not be related to each other or live together.
If you are 16 or 17 years of age, you must:
- use your parent or legal guardian as your next-of-kin referee, if you do not have a spouse or partner
- give details for all your parents, stepparents, and legal guardians, or explain why you cannot.
Former spouses and partners
In your firearms licence application, you must give the names and contact details of anyone with whom, in the last five years, you've either:
- been married, or
- had a relationship like a marriage.
Te Tari Pūreke interviews former spouses and partners to confirm applicants are fit and proper to have and use firearms.
Former spouses and partners know applicants and their domestic lives well. They may be affected by applicants having access to firearms. They may also have ongoing relationships with applicants through childcare and other domestic arrangements.
We know not all separations are friendly. We take this into account when we interview former spouses and partners, and when we consider your application.
Secure storage and locations
Check out our helpful Video guides on secure storage and transport of firearms and ammunition
As a firearms licence holder, you must make sure your firearms:
- cannot be accessed by young children
- are stored separately from their ammunition
- are secured against theft
Secure storage addresses
You must have secure storage for firearms and ammunition at:
- your home address
- the other addresses where you store your firearms and ammunition
Your home address can be, for example, a mobile home, campervan, or caravan. Even if it’s a temporary arrangement, if it is your home, you must make sure it has secure storage.
Other addresses where you store firearms and ammunition can be, for example, a holiday home, a business premises.
We issue a firearms licence only when an applicant has secure storage for firearms and ammunition that we have inspected and found meets requirements.
Secure firearm storage
To keep your firearms secured against theft, you must keep on your premises at least one type of lockable firearm storage:
- a cabinet, container, or strongly made receptacle
- a steel and concrete strongroom
- a display cabinet or rack in which firearms are immobilised and cannot be fired
You must:
- securely fix to your premises all lockable firearm storage
- keep every firearm* on your premises locked, or immobilised and locked, in firearm storage
Before Te Tari Pūreke issues or renews your firearms licence, we carry out an inspection of your secure firearm storage.
We must approve your secure storage for your licence application to succeed.
*Every firearm not in the immediate possession of a firearms licence holder.
Secure ammunition storage
You must store your ammunition in either:
- a secure storage container, like a cash box or an ammunition box in secure storage
- a lock box in a gun safe cabinet
- a locked room or storage area on your premises
Your secure storage container for ammunition must have a locking mechanism, or a padlock, with a different key or combination number from your firearms container.
Your lock box for ammunition in a gun safe cabinet must have a different key from the gun safe cabinet, and you must store these keys separately.
Your locked room or storage area for ammunition must be strongly enough made to stop the theft of the ammunition, and have been inspected and approved by New Zealand Police.
People with access
As a licence holder, you must think of the safety of people who have access to locations where you store arms items and ammunition.
Te Tari Pūreke cannot issue a New Zealand firearms licence or dealer licence to you if someone else has access to your arms items and ammunition, who either:
- has had their firearms licence revoked
- is disqualified from holding a firearms licence, or
- is not a fit and proper person to have and use firearms
In your firearms licence application, you must give details of everyone who lives or works at your home address and the other addresses where you store arms items and ammunition.
You also must give details of everyone who has free or unsupervised access to these addresses.
If you give the details of your spouse, partner, or parent as a referee, do not also give their details as people with access.
Healthcare practitioner
In your licence application, you must give details of your primary healthcare practitioner
Health history
To understand if you and others will be safe if you have access to firearms, Te Tari Pūreke asks questions in your licence application about your health history
If you answer 'yes' to any of these questions, we do not automatically refuse your application. However, we will probably have more questions.
Criminal history
In your licence application, Te Tari Pūreke asks questions to understand if you are a:
If you answer 'yes' to any of these questions, we do not automatically refuse your application. However, we will probably have more questions.
If you have a criminal record when making an application under the Arms Act, you are required to say so under the clean slate scheme
Immigration status
In your licence application, if you're not a citizen or permanent resident of New Zealand, Te Tari Pūreke asks questions to understand why you are in this country and how long you can stay here.
When to apply for a firearms licence
Applying for the first time
If you have not applied before, we recommend you allow 6 months for your application to be processed.
Renewing your licence
We recommend you apply 4 months before the expiry date on your current firearms licence.
If you have not applied to renew your licence before this date, your licence will expire. This means it will not be valid, and you will not be able to buy firearms or ammunition. You must also transfer possession of your firearms to a person with the appropriate licence.
If you apply early
You can apply for a firearms licence at any time. If you choose to apply earlier than our recommended time frames, we may ask you to resupply some details before we issue your licence. This is to make sure we have the most recent information to consider when deciding on the outcome of your application.
1.Before you begin
To access MyFirearms you'll need a RealMe®login and your mobile phone.
The fees for New Zealand licence applications are:- for a first-time licence is $126.50
- before the end of the previous licence is $126.50
- when the previous licence has expired is $241.50
These fees include GST and are not refundable. Applying online using MyFirearms will also incur a small card payment fee.
Overseas firearms licences
The authority asks if you have been granted, or refused, a firearms licence or equivalent certification to have and use firearms in another country.
We also ask if you've had an overseas firearms licence or equivalent suspended, revoked, or cancelled.
You must include in your application scanned copies or digital photos of your firearms licences or equivalents from other countries.
You must include these whether they are current or have been suspended, revoked, or cancelled.
Overseas criminal record checks
In your firearms licence application, Te Tari Pūreke asks if you have stayed in another country for more than six months in total in the last 10 years.
You must include in your application a scanned copy or digital photo of a criminal record check for each country you've stayed in for that long.
The criminal record check must be no more than two months old when you submit your application.
Immigration New Zealand has guidance about criminal record checks, also known as police certificates, from other countries. Go to Immigration New Zealand to see how to get a police certificate
If you were posted or deployed to another country as part of your work for the New Zealand government, you can use a signed letter from your commanding officer or a senior manager instead of a police certificate.
The letter is to confirm you were not charged with or convicted of a criminal offence in that country while deployed there.
Secure storage photos (Optional)
You can, if you want to, include digital photos of your secure storage to support your application.
2.Login via RealMe®
Follow these steps:
have your mobile phone handy and go to RealMe®
follow the steps to Create a RealMe® login
you'll be asked to verify your email address
you can log out of RealMe® now
when you're ready to start your MyFirearms application come back to this page
If you do have a RealMe® login but can't remember your username or password, you can reset it by following these steps:
go to RealMe®
select Forgot Username or Forgot Password?
You will be asked to verify your email address or your mobile phone number as part of the process.
when you're ready to start your MyFirearms application come back to this page
If you have any issues or questions about applying online using MyFirearms please check:
- the About MyFirearms section for videos and help
- or call the Firearms Enquiry team on 0800 844 431 for support.
You can still complete the forms by hand and pay at NZ post shop. Go to Tools and Forms
Once you have submitted your application:
- Te Tari Pūreke assesses if you are a fit and proper person to have and use firearms
- If you are applying for your licence for the first time or Te Tari Pūreke requires you to, you must attend a course on firearm safety
- It is recommended that you study the Firearms safety code BEFORE you attend the Firearms Safety Course to help with the written part of the course.
- If you are applying before the end of your current licence, at your interview you must take a multi-choice safety test based on the Firearms safety code
- You must attend an in-person interview with Te Tari Pūreke, to help us decide if you are a fit and proper person to have and use firearms
- Te Tari Pūreke arranges interviews with your referees. We may ask your referees to complete and return questionnaires before their interviews.
- Te Tari Pūreke arranges an inspection of your secure storage at all addresses where you store firearms and ammunition