How to get a firearms licence in New Zealand

The requirements are spread across several pages and an application form, which is why people often discover a step late. This is the whole sequence in one place, in the order it actually happens, with the two steps that most often add months flagged before you reach them.

What are the steps, in order?

1. Apply and pay the application fee. The application is what starts everything else, including booking onto the safety course.
2. Attend the firearms safety course and pass the theory test. Thirty multiple-choice questions, plus a practical session under supervision.
3. Install secure storage. It has to meet the Arms Regulations 1992 before a licence can be issued. Start this early.
4. Supply identification and two referees. The form specifies who is suitable; referees are contacted.
5. Police vetting. Covers you, and extends to the people you live with.
6. Storage inspection and interview. Someone visits to check what you have installed.
7. Fit and proper assessment by Te Tari Pūreke under the Arms Act 1983.
8. Licence issued.

Who can apply for a firearms licence in New Zealand?

Anyone aged 16 or over may apply for a standard firearms licence. Age is the only hard eligibility threshold stated up front; everything else is an assessment rather than a qualification, which is what the fit and proper test below is about.

What are the requirements?

What does the firearms safety course involve?

Two parts: a theory test of 30 multiple-choice questions drawn from the Firearms Safety Code, and a practical session where you handle firearms under supervision. The Code is published free and is the source of everything on the theory test: there is no separate syllabus to buy.

If you have not sat a test in a while, this is the part worth preparing for properly. What is actually on the theory test breaks down the five topic areas, and the seven rules of firearm safety covers the material the largest share of questions comes from. Our complete guide to the licence test puts both in context.

What secure storage do you need?

The security precautions are set in the Arms Regulations 1992. The expectation is a combination rather than a single purchase: storage that is locked, of stout construction, secured against theft, with ammunition stored separately from firearms.

This is the requirement that most often delays an application, for the simple reason that it involves buying and installing something. If you know you will need it, do it early rather than waiting for the inspection to be scheduled. A cabinet that satisfies three of the four conditions satisfies none of the requirement, so check what you buy against all four before it goes on the wall.

Who can be your referees?

Two referees are required, and the application form specifies who is suitable. Referees are contacted as part of the assessment. They are not a formality, and what they say feeds into the fit and proper decision.

The practical implication is worth stating: tell your referees they have been named, and tell them before they are contacted. A referee who is surprised by the call is a slower and less useful referee than one who was expecting it.

What does vetting involve?

Police vetting covers you, and it extends to the people you live with. That surprises applicants, and it is worth understanding the logic: the assessment is partly about the environment the firearms will be kept in, not only about the person applying.

What is a fit and proper person?

This is the assessment underlying the whole licence, and it is broader than a criminal record check. Te Tari Pūreke considers your history, your circumstances, what your referees say, and what vetting turns up.

There is no checklist that guarantees an outcome, which people find frustrating. The practical read is that it is about judgement and reliability over time rather than any single fact.

What most often delays an application?

• Storage bought late, or bought without checking every condition. Ordering a cabinet after the inspection is scheduled is the most avoidable delay on the list.
• Course availability. Places are finite and vary by region, so book as early as the application allows rather than when you feel ready.
• Referees who were not warned. Two people who take a fortnight to respond add a fortnight.
• An incomplete application. Identification and details that have to be chased are handled at the pace of the chasing.
• Failing the theory test. A resit is not a disaster, but it is the one delay entirely inside your control before you arrive.

How long does the whole process take?

It varies, and the variable parts are the ones outside your control: course availability in your area, vetting, and scheduling the storage inspection. The parts inside your control are getting storage installed early and passing the theory test first time. Both are worth doing.

What does a firearms licence cost and how long does it last?

Fees and licence duration have both been revised in recent years, and duration differs between a first licence and a renewal applied for before expiry. Confirm the current figures with Te Tari Pūreke before you apply rather than relying on any third-party page, including this one, a stale fee is the most commonly repeated error on this subject.

Where should you start?

Two things this week, in parallel. Get the application in, because it books the course and the course fills. And price up storage that meets all four conditions, because that is the step that decides whether the rest of the process waits on you. The theory test is the one step you can revise for, and how hard it actually is sets out how much revision that is worth.