You will need this licence to own, possess or use, a firearm. There are five categories of firearm requiring a licence:
- Category A: an air rifle, rim-fire rifle (other than self-loading), a shotgun, (other than pump action or self-loading) and any shotgun and rim-fire rifle combinations.
- Category B: a muzzle-loading firearm, centre-fire rifle (other than self-loading), and shotgun and centre-fire rifle combinations.
- Category C: a self-loading rim-fire rifle with a magazine capacity of no more than 10 rounds, a self-loading shotgun with a magazine capacity of no more than 5 rounds, and a pump action shotgun with a magazine capacity of no more than 5 rounds.
- Category D: a self-loading centre-fire rifle, a self-loading shotgun with a capacity of more than 5 rounds, a pump action shotgun with a capacity of more than 5 rounds, and a self-loading rim-fire rifle with a magazine capacity of more than 10 rounds.
- Category H: a sport or target shooting firearm, business or employment firearm such as for use in a security firm, or a firearms collection.
As part of your application you must be able to demonstrate a genuine reason for requiring a firearm. Genuine reasons include, sport or target shooting, recreational hunting or vermin control, primary production, animal population control, animal welfare, business or employment requirements, firearms collection, show or exhibition, fishing for commercial purposes and paintball businesses.
Your genuine reason will determine the category of licence for which you may apply and in turn this will determine the type of firearm you will be authorised to use and possess.
Please consult the Contact Officer for more information.
