Gun licence for sport shooting in Belgium

Licence

Sport shooting with a weapon subject to authorisation takes a sport-shooter licence for that category of gun, a provisional one, or another document the Community’s decree accepts. Each Community accepts the licences of the other two.Decreet 11.05.2007, art. 8 § 1; Décret 20.12.2011, art. 6 § 1; Dekret 20.11.2006, Art. 3

Provisional licence

You start with a provisional licence: for one category, valid 12 months (Flemish) or six months with one six-month extension (French-speaking), or for one or more categories, valid at most 12 months (German-speaking). With it you shoot only under supervision.Decreet 11.05.2007, art. 9 § 4; Décret 20.12.2011, art. 7 § 1; Dekret 20.11.2006, Art. 5

Tests

The licence needs a theory test and a practical test for each category of gun, a criminal record extract and a medical certificate, from age 16, or 14 in some disciplines in two Communities.Decreet 11.05.2007, art. 9 § 2; Décret 20.12.2011, art. 7 § 2 and 11 § 3; Dekret 20.11.2006, Art. 6

Sessions

To keep the licence, you show at least 12 shooting sessions a year, counted under your Community’s rules: in your shooting logbook in Flanders and the French-speaking Community, as proof of activity in the German-speaking Community.Decreet 11.05.2007, art. 2, 12° and 10 § 1; Décret 20.12.2011, art. 3 and 11 § 1; Dekret 20.11.2006, Art. 2 Nr. 3 and 9

Permit

A gun on the minister’s list of sport guns needs only the licence. Any other firearm subject to authorisation needs the governor’s permit, for which the licence proves the legal reason and spares you the permit’s tests and medical certificate for the same type of gun.Wapenwet art. 11, 12, 2°; KB 29.12.2006, art. 2, 2°; MB 15.03.2007, art. 1

Five-yearly check

A permit has no end date, but once every five years the governor checks that you still meet its conditions. For a permit granted for sport shooting, you then show a sport-shooter licence valid for the type of gun you hold (Wapenwet art. 32; KB 29.12.2006, art. 2/1).Wapenwet art. 32; KB 29.12.2006, art. 2/1

Every firearm that is neither prohibited nor freely available, and a few other weapons the King adds (for air guns, see Air rifles below), is vergunningsplichtig / soumise à autorisation (subject to authorisation), whether you hold it on a permit or, for a gun on the minister’s list, on your licence (Wapenwet art. 3 § 3). The Wapenwet forbids a private person to hold such a firearm, or its ammunition, without a vergunning tot het voorhanden hebben / autorisation de détention (permit to hold) from the governor of the province where you live, unless an exception applies. The governor decides after the local police chief’s advice, and each permit covers one gun (Wapenwet art. 11 § 1). In the Brussels-Capital Region, the hoge ambtenaar (high official) of the Brussels agglomeration decides instead (safe.brussels).

The sportschutterslicentie / licence de tireur sportif / Lizenz für Sportschützen (sport-shooter licence) is a Community document, issued under the Community’s decree by the federation your club belongs to, for the categories of gun it names. The two meet in four places:

• The licence is the proof of the legal reason “sportief en recreatief schieten” (sport and recreational shooting) when you apply for a permit, and a permit granted for it is for using the gun only for that reason or for historical, folkloric, cultural or scientific activities (Wapenwet art. 11 § 3, 9° b; KB 29.12.2006, art. 2, 2°).
• A licence holder may hold the guns on the minister’s list of sport guns, and their ammunition, without a permit, as far as the licence covers their use (Wapenwet art. 12, 2°; MB 15.03.2007, art. 1).
• A licence holder applying for a permit is spared the theory and practical tests for a gun of the same type as one tested for the licence, and the medical certificate (Wapenwet art. 11 § 4).
• The licence and the right to hold a gun are tied together. Every federation tells the governor who holds a licence: at each decision in Flanders, by 30 April each year in the French-speaking Community and before 30 April in the German-speaking one. The Flemish and French-speaking federations also tell the governor at once when a licence is withdrawn or suspended, and in Flanders the governor tells the federation when a right to hold a gun is suspended or withdrawn. In the German-speaking Community the Government suspends or withdraws a licence, and its decision is passed to the governor (Decreet 11.05.2007, art. 16; Décret 20.12.2011, art. 20–21; Dekret 20.11.2006, Art. 11 § 2 and 13 § 1).

The minister’s list (Ministerieel besluit of 15 March 2007) has seven lines:

• repeating guns over 60 cm long or with a barrel over 30 cm, except smooth-bore repeaters with a barrel under 60 cm and pump-action guns;
• single-shot rifled guns over 60 cm long or with a barrel over 30 cm;
• single-shot smooth-bore guns;
• single-shot rimfire guns at least 28 cm long;
• side-by-side or over-and-under double-barrelled guns over 60 cm long;
• pistols designed for sport shooting, in .22, with at most five shots;
• guns loaded only with black powder whose patent dates from before 1890.

Holders of a licence, or of a permit, may lend each other guns of a type the borrower may hold, for the length and the place of the activity. Unless both are present, they must be able to show a signed and dated written agreement with both names and addresses, what is lent and for how long, and their documents or copies (Wapenwet art. 12/1).

A licence holder, or a permit holder shooting for sport, may carry a gun without a carry permit, but only in the course of sport shooting and with a legal reason (Wapenwet art. 15). Holders of a licence or a permit transport their guns only with a legal reason: out of sight and out of easy reach, unloaded with empty magazines, in the vehicle’s locked boot unless that is materially impossible, either in a locked case or made unusable with a trigger lock or by removing an essential part, and with the ammunition apart in a locked case or bag (KB 24.04.1997, art. 15).

1. Join a shooting club that belongs to a shooting federation: the Flemish decree’s sport shooter is a member of a federation through a club, the French-speaking applicant must be affiliated to the recognised federation, and the German-speaking applicant must be a member of a Schützenverein (Decreet 11.05.2007, art. 2, 8°; Décret 20.12.2011, art. 7 § 2, 2°; Dekret 20.11.2006, Art. 5).
2. Apply to the federation for a voorlopige sportschutterslicentie / licence provisoire / provisorische Lizenz (provisional licence), with a criminal record extract no more than three months old, a medical certificate (Flemish and French-speaking) and your parents’ consent if you are under 18 (BVR 01.06.2007, art. 7; Décret 20.12.2011, art. 7 § 2 and 24 § 1, 1°; AGCF 13.09.2012, art. 3; Dekret 20.11.2006, Art. 5 and 6 § 1). The Flemish federation issues it within 15 days of a complete file (BVR 01.06.2007, art. 8 § 3).
3. Learn to shoot under the supervision of a federation instructor (Flemish), a monitor or, if none is at the range, a verifier with five years’ experience (French-speaking), or an approved range officer (German-speaking). In Flanders and the French-speaking Community, each session goes into your logbook. In the French-speaking Community, you shoot at least six sessions in six months, one a month and at most two a month counted (Décret 20.12.2011, art. 7 § 1 and 9; AGCF 13.09.2012, art. 16 § 2). The Flemish licence asks for active membership, at least six months in a federation with 12 sessions a year (Decreet 11.05.2007, art. 2, 12° and 9 § 2, 3°); the German-speaking one, six months as an active sport shooter in the club (Dekret 20.11.2006, Art. 6 § 1 Ziffer 2).
4. Pass the theory test and the practical test for the category (see the tests below). In the French-speaking Community, you sit them in the last month of the provisional licence; if you fail, it is extended by six months on request, and if it ends without a licence you wait a year for a new provisional licence (Décret 20.12.2011, art. 10). A Flemish candidate who fails may apply for a new provisional licence (Decreet 11.05.2007, art. 9 § 4).
5. Receive the licence for that category. In the French-speaking Community, you also hand in the written consent of your spouse and every other adult living with you to your keeping a gun at home (Décret 20.12.2011, art. 11 § 3, 4°).
6. Buy the gun. A gun on the minister’s list is registered on form model 9, which the seller sends to the governor within eight days (KB 20.09.1991, art. 25 § 1). For any other firearm subject to authorisation, apply to the governor for a permit, model 4, with a copy of your licence, the signed consent of every adult living with you and a criminal record extract no more than three months old (Wapenwet art. 11 § 3; East Flanders governor). The governor decides within four months of receiving the application, a term that can be extended once by up to six months (Wapenwet art. 31). The permit lets you buy or import the gun within three months of its issue; if you do not, it lapses and must go back to the governor within eight days (KB 20.09.1991, art. 10).

There is a second way in, without a licence: apply straight away for a permit. After the theory test, the procedure can be suspended for up to a year, and with the dated certificate the governor gives you, you may practise for the practical test at an approved range, with a gun and ammunition provided there for that purpose. By the end of that year you must pass the practical test, or the permit is refused (KB 20.09.1991, art. 9bis § 1; East Flanders governor).

The country page has a section on the Royal Belgian Shooting Sport Federation (RBSSF) and the Belgian targets Shooter scores.

Each Community sets its own tests, taken once for each category of gun on the licence. The Flemish categories are revolvers, pistols, smooth-bore long guns, rifled long guns and black-powder guns; the French-speaking and German-speaking ones are handguns, rifled long guns, smooth-bore long guns and black-powder guns (Decreet 11.05.2007, art. 6; Décret 20.12.2011, art. 2; Erlass 23.05.2007, Art. 2).

The German-speaking order still names articles 416 and 417 of the Criminal Code of 1867, its self-defence articles, which the new Criminal Code replaced on 1 September 2026 (Erlass 23.05.2007, Art. 4).

If you already hold a permit for a gun of the same category, you are spared both Flemish tests for that category (Decreet 11.05.2007, art. 9 § 3); a permit, or a licence for another category, spares you the French-speaking theory test (AGCF 13.09.2012, art. 10). The other way round, a licence spares you the permit’s tests for a gun of the type you were tested on, and a theory test passed for an earlier permit counts for two years (Wapenwet art. 11 § 4).

Every Community asks for regular shooting and checks it every year. Flanders and the French-speaking Community record it in the sportschuttersboekje / carnet de tir sportif (shooting logbook); the German-speaking decree asks for proof of activity and names no logbook. A licence that falls short is withdrawn or stops being valid, and a permit granted for sport shooting rests on a valid licence at its five-yearly check.

• Flemish: by the anniversary of the licence for your first category, you give the federation a copy of your logbook showing you are an active member, and a certificate of good conduct no more than three months old. If you do not, the federation starts withdrawing the licence (BVR 01.06.2007, art. 4). The logbook records the organising club, the date and place, and the category of gun (BVR 01.06.2007, art. 12).
• French-speaking: in the month before each anniversary of the licence, you send the federation a copy of your logbook showing regular shooting in each category, with a criminal record extract no more than three months old. Without the logbook copy, the licence is no longer valid for that category (Décret 20.12.2011, art. 11 § 1; AGCF 13.09.2012, art. 15). Each session is entered with the date, the place, and the stamp and signature of the monitor or verifier (AGCF 13.09.2012, art. 15).
• German-speaking: the licence runs to 31 December and is extended each year on proof of club membership and of your activity in each category (Dekret 20.11.2006, Art. 8–9).

In the French-speaking Community, you can ask the federation for a break of up to six months, which can be extended or renewed twice during a licence. During an authorised break, one session a month is counted for each category (Décret 20.12.2011, art. 15; AGCF 13.09.2012, art. 17). The Flemish and German-speaking rules read for this guide set no such break.

The permit has no session count of its own for a licence holder: at the five-yearly check, a licence valid for the type of gun is the proof (KB 29.12.2006, art. 2/1). A permit holder without a licence, shooting for recreation, shows at least five sessions in each calendar year and 50 over the five calendar years before the check (KB 29.12.2006, art. 2/1, 2°).

A category added to a licence later runs only to the end of the first licence’s term (Decreet 11.05.2007, art. 10 § 1; Décret 20.12.2011, art. 11 § 2).

A permit has no end date, but once every five years the governor checks that you still meet its conditions. For a permit granted for sport shooting, you then show a sport-shooter licence valid for the type of gun you hold (Wapenwet art. 32; KB 29.12.2006, art. 2/1).

The law sets the fee for applying for or renewing a permit at a flat amount for all the permits in the same person’s name: 85 euros at the November 2006 index, indexed every year, and not refunded if the application is refused (Wapenwet art. 51, 1°, 53 and 55). The East Flanders governor’s office asks €134.94 on each application, and says the five-yearly check is charged for, without giving the amount.

A Flemish federation may charge at most 100 euros for a five-year licence, 50 for a provisional licence and 50 for each test, amounts adjusted every year to the health index (BVR 01.06.2007, art. 19). The French-speaking and German-speaking rules read for this guide set no licence fee.

No Belgian rule read for this guide sets a maximum number of guns for a sport shooter. Each permit covers one gun, and the type of gun must match the reason given for it (Wapenwet art. 11 § 1 and § 3, 9°). At the five-yearly check, the licence must be valid for the type of gun you hold (KB 29.12.2006, art. 2/1).

What changes with the number is storage. The storage rules count every weapon subject to authorisation, list guns held on a licence included; they step up at 6 and at 11 guns, and the private holder’s tiers end at 30 (see storage below). A private collection or a store of more than 30 firearms subject to authorisation falls in the storage decree’s class G (KB 24.04.1997, art. 1, 9° and 5, 8°).

Always: guns unloaded, guns and ammunition out of children’s reach and not to hand together, and nothing outside the place that shows guns or ammunition are kept there (KB 24.04.1997, art. 11 § 2). Then, by the number of weapons subject to authorisation you keep, list guns included:

• 1 to 5: at least one of a trigger lock, removing and keeping apart a part the gun cannot work without, or a chain to a fixed point (KB 24.04.1997, art. 11 § 3).
• 6 to 10: a lockable gun cabinet of sturdy material that cannot easily be forced and does not show what it holds (KB 24.04.1997, art. 11 § 4).
• 11 to 30: a purpose-built gun safe with a key, combination or biometric lock, in a room whose doors and windows are properly closed, with the keys kept safe and out of others’ reach (KB 24.04.1997, art. 11 § 5).

Other measures may be used if they are as safe, which the inspection judges (KB 24.04.1997, art. 10). The Flemish decree adds that a sport shooter keeps guns and ammunition apart, in a locked cabinet or a locked room, out of reach of children and unauthorised persons (Decreet 11.05.2007, art. 4). Report the loss or theft of a weapon subject to authorisation to the local police at once (Wapenwet art. 10).

• Air guns: see Air rifles below.
• Recreational shooters: a permit can be granted for sport or recreational shooting without a licence, on written proof of shooting; at the five-yearly check, at least five sessions in each calendar year and 50 over five years (KB 29.12.2006, art. 2, 2° and 2/1, 2°). The French-speaking and German-speaking decrees accept a governor’s permit as a document for sport shooting (Décret 20.12.2011, art. 6 § 1, 5°; Dekret 20.11.2006, Art. 3).
• One day a year: an adult may hold a weapon subject to authorisation at an approved range once a year, on a day card the range makes out (Wapenwet art. 12, 5°; East Flanders governor). The German-speaking decree accepts the day card for sport shooting (Dekret 20.11.2006, Art. 3).
• Hunting: a holder of a jachtverlof (hunting licence) may hold the long guns allowed for hunting where that licence is valid, without a permit (Wapenwet art. 12, 1°).
• Collectors: building a collection of historical guns is its own legal reason, and such guns are held without being used until the collection is recognised (Wapenwet art. 11 § 3, 9° e; KB 29.12.2006, art. 2, 5°).

Licence-free

An air rifle is a niet-vuurwapen / arme non à feu (non-firearm: not propelled by powder or a detonator), so vrij verkrijgbaar / en vente libre (freely available) unless a special rule applies. A long air gun, over 60 cm or with a barrel over 30 cm, is freely available at any power, the Justice Minister’s circular confirms; it needs no governor’s permit and no Community’s sport-shooter licence, though the French- and German-speaking orders list 10 m air rifle and air pistol as disciplines.Wapenwet art. 2, 10° and 12°; art. 3 § 2, 1° and § 3; KB 30.03.1995, art. 3; Omzendbrief 25.10.2011, 3.2.2; Decreet 11.05.2007, art. 8 § 1; Décret 20.12.2011, art. 6 § 1; AGCF 13.09.2012, art. 2; Dekret 20.11.2006, Art. 2 Nr. 6–7, Art. 3 and 4.1; Erlass 23.05.2007, Art. 2

Age

No one may sell an air gun to a private person under 18, and it may be transferred only once the person acquiring it has shown an identity card or passport. FOD Justitie / SPF Justice (the federal justice ministry) states that buying or acquiring any freely available weapon other than a blade is reserved to adults, and that whoever hands one over must check the other person’s identity card.Wapenwet art. 19, 2°; KB 30.03.1995, art. 2 and 4; FOD Justitie, Vrij verkrijgbare wapens

Younger shooters

The weapons law names no age for holding or shooting a freely available air gun. In the sport, the three Communities’ rules for young shooters apply to air guns as the table below sets out, though the Flemish instructor rule and the German-speaking definition do not fit air guns exactly.Wapenwet art. 11 § 3, 1° and 19, 2°; Decreet 11.05.2007, art. 2, 5°, art. 5 and 6; Décret 20.12.2011, art. 24 § 1; Dekret 20.11.2006, Art. 2 Nr. 10 and Art. 4

Buying and selling

Trading in air guns habitually takes the governor’s approval as a wapenhandelaar / armurier (arms dealer), toy shops included, the ministry says. Selling, offering or transferring one is banned at a public market, a trade fair (beurs / bourse) or another place without a fixed establishment, bar a bailiff’s or notary’s public sale or, for freely available ones, a trade fair the Justice Minister permits; so is organising distance sales to private persons. The ministry also rules out mail-order and online sales, online buying, and funfair sales and prizes.Wapenwet art. 2, 1°; art. 5 § 1; art. 19, 1° and 5°; KB 30.03.1995, art. 2; FOD Justitie, Vrij verkrijgbare wapens

Where you may shoot

The weapons law does not say where an air gun may be fired, and under it an air-only range needs no approval: its schietstand / stand de tir (shooting range) is for firearms. Elsewhere, councils decide by municipal police regulation, made under the New Municipal Law for cleanliness, health, safety and peace in public places. Shooting at animals falls under the Regions’ hunting, nature conservation and animal-welfare law, which this guide does not cover.Wapenwet art. 2, 19° and 20; Omzendbrief 25.10.2011, 2.1 and 8.1.1; Nieuwe Gemeentewet art. 119 and 135 § 2; Bijzondere wet 8.08.1980, art. 6 § 1, III, 2° and 5°, and XI

Brussels

In Brussels, for example, the regulation common to the 19 municipalities bans using an air gun without the competent authority’s permission in public space, in places open to the public and on private property where it may threaten public safety, except at authorised ranges and fairground shooting stalls. It applies from 16 (14 in Koekelberg, Berchem-Sainte-Agathe and Etterbeek). Administrative fines go up to 500 euros, or 175 for a minor; the gun is seized and, if seized administratively, may be destroyed.Règlement général de police commun aux 19 communes bruxelloises, art. 1 § 1, 2, 4 § 2 and 43

Carrying

Carrying a freely available weapon, air rifles and look-alikes included, is allowed only to someone who can show a wettige reden / motif légitime (legal reason). The law does not define the reason. The Justice Minister’s circular leaves the final say to the courts and expects them to weigh how fit the gun is for the activity and how responsibly it is pursued.Wapenwet art. 9; Omzendbrief 25.10.2011, 3.3.6

What counts as carrying

In the circular’s reading, carrying is holding the gun, having it on you, even in a bag or case, having it within reach ready for immediate use, or using it, on or in sight of a public road or place, such as within reach in a car or in a garden seen from one, but not indoors. The transport decree names no freely available air gun: its rules are for permit holders, those exempt from one (sport-shooter and hunting-licence holders among them) and anyone transporting a freely available firearm.Omzendbrief 25.10.2011, 10.1; KB 24.04.1997, art. 15 § 1; Wapenwet art. 12

Storage

The federal storage measures (see the Storage section) cover weapons subject to authorisation: a short air gun needing a permit, not a freely available one. In Flanders, a sport shooter (a federation member through a club) keeps guns and ammunition apart from each other, in a locked cabinet or locked room, out of reach of children and unauthorised persons; the rule names no type of gun, so it covers air guns.KB 24.04.1997, art. 1, 9°, 10 and 11; Decreet 11.05.2007, art. 2, 8° and art. 4

Short air guns

A short air or gas gun that is repeating, semi-automatic, automatic or a firearm look-alike, firing over 7.5 joules at 2.5 m from the muzzle, is subject to authorisation and needs the governor’s permit (see The governor’s permit and the licence). A target pistol stays freely available with a sight line over 300 mm, a weight over 1 kg, windage- and elevation-adjustable sights, a 4.5 mm (.177) calibre and at most five shots.KB 30.03.1995, art. 3 and 4; Wapenwet art. 2, 9° and 11; Omzendbrief 25.10.2011, 3.3.2

Moderators

The weapons law makes a firearm fitted with a geluiddemper / silencieux (moderator), and a moderator on its own, a prohibited weapon, and the Justice Minister’s circular adds that this holds when it is built into the gun. Whether that reaches a moderator for an air gun is not settled in the texts read for this guide, so ask your governor’s weapons service (in Brussels, safe.brussels).Wapenwet art. 3 § 1, 15°; Omzendbrief 25.10.2011, 3.1.1

Penalties

Breaking these federal rules on purpose, such as selling an air gun to someone under 18 or carrying one without a legal reason, is a crime with a level 3 penalty, more than three and up to five years in prison and possibly a fine of up to 200,000 euros (see If you stop or fall short); the court orders the offender’s gun forfeited. The law punishes dealing without approval at level 4, up to ten years in prison; the royal decree on air and gas guns brings air-gun dealers under that approval.Wapenwet art. 5 § 1, 9, 19, 2°, 23 and 48; KB 30.03.1995, art. 2 and 4; Strafwetboek art. 36 and 53 § 2

More on air rifles on the Shooter blog →

The licence starts at 16 in all three Communities. The French-speaking Community allows it from 14 for a category in an Olympic discipline, the German-speaking Community for an ISSF or IBU discipline (Decreet 11.05.2007, art. 7; Décret 20.12.2011, art. 7 § 2, 1°; Dekret 20.11.2006, Art. 6 § 2). A minor needs the parents’ consent and shoots under supervision: a federation instructor who holds a licence for the category (Flemish), an adult who has held a licence for at least two years (French-speaking, with a weapon subject to authorisation), or an approved range officer (German-speaking) (Decreet 11.05.2007, art. 5; Décret 20.12.2011, art. 24 § 1; Dekret 20.11.2006, Art. 4–6).

A permit is only for adults (Wapenwet art. 11 § 3, 1°). The French-speaking decree says outright that a minor’s licence allows neither holding nor buying a weapon subject to authorisation (Décret 20.12.2011, art. 24 § 2).

Air guns under 18: see Air rifles above.

A licence whose conditions are not met is withdrawn; in the French-speaking Community it already stops being valid for a category whose yearly logbook copy is missing (Decreet 11.05.2007, art. 11 § 2; BVR 01.06.2007, art. 4; Décret 20.12.2011, art. 11 § 1 and 17 § 1, 6°; Dekret 20.11.2006, Art. 11 § 2).

If you stop shooting, you send the licence back: within three months (Flemish) or at once (French-speaking). In the German-speaking Community, you send it back at once when you are no longer an active sport shooter, that is, when you no longer shoot 12 exercises in a calendar year. A Flemish or German-speaking shooter who keeps it loses the right to have it renewed or extended (Decreet 11.05.2007, art. 10 § 2; Décret 20.12.2011, art. 16 § 1; Dekret 20.11.2006, Art. 2 Nr. 3 and 11 § 1). In the French-speaking Community, after you stop, or after a withdrawal or a suspension of six months or more, a new licence goes through the provisional licence again (Décret 20.12.2011, art. 19).

Guns from the minister’s list may be kept for three years after the licence runs out, but without ammunition, which you have three months to pass on. Taking up the sport again stops the clock; after the three years the gun needs a permit (Wapenwet art. 13). The permit to keep it without ammunition is applied for within three months after the three years end (Wapenwet art. 11/1 and 11/2).

For a gun held on a permit, the governor may limit, suspend or withdraw the permit when the legal reason no longer exists, after the public prosecutor’s advice (Wapenwet art. 11 § 1 and 32). After a refusal, suspension or withdrawal, the gun must be deposited with or transferred to an erkend persoon (approved person, such as a licensed dealer) or to someone entitled to hold it, within the time the decision sets (Wapenwet art. 18). You can appeal to the Minister of Justice, by registered letter to the federal weapons service within 15 days (Wapenwet art. 30).

Breaking the weapons law, or the royal and ministerial orders that implement it, on purpose is a crime punished with a level 3 penalty, to which the court may add a fine of up to 200,000 euros (Wapenwet art. 23, from 1 September 2026). The three Community decrees set no criminal penalty of their own; they act on the licence. In the new Criminal Code, a level 3 penalty is imprisonment of more than three and up to five years, or treatment with deprivation of liberty of more than two and up to four years, replaced by a level 2 or 1 penalty where there are mitigating circumstances (Strafwetboek art. 36). Lending a gun without the written agreement when lender and borrower are not both present carries a level 1 penalty with a fine of at most 800 euros for each gun, or 2,400 euros if done with malicious intent (Wapenwet art. 23, fourth paragraph).

The Shooter app has no Belgian defaults; it counts against figures you set, and it counts nothing per gun until you set Shots for an approved session and Sessions per gun. Those two and the Activity window (months) are single settings for all your guns; only the Next activity deadline belongs to a gun, and a gun without one is not counted. For each gun with a deadline, the app counts the days on which you fired at least that many shots with it, in the window before that date. Give the gun the licence’s anniversary as its deadline (31 December for a German-speaking licence, since the count runs by calendar year) and set the window to 12 months.

Because Sessions per gun applies to every gun with a deadline, it matches the rules only where one gun carries a count on its own, such as the gun of your first category in the French-speaking Community, 12 a year. The Flemish 12, and the French-speaking 3 for your other categories, are totals across your guns, which the club count follows better: over a rolling window of months you set, it counts the days on which you marked a session as a club session; set it to 12 over 12 months for the Flemish figure. A shot threshold of 30 matches the French-speaking handgun and rifle session, but would leave out a 25-clay or a 13-shot black-powder session. The app does not check the spread over quarters or count by category of gun, so its figure is your own tally: the session that counts is the one your Community’s rules accept, in your logbook in Flanders and the French-speaking Community.

Shooter is not affiliated with the provincial governors or with any shooting association. The licence is your federation’s decision, and the permit is the governor’s.

Do I need both a sport-shooter licence and a gun permit in Belgium?

For a gun on the minister’s list of sport guns, such as a bolt-action rifle over 60 cm or a five-shot .22 sport pistol, the licence is enough (Wapenwet art. 12, 2°; MB 15.03.2007). For any other firearm subject to authorisation, such as a centre-fire semi-automatic pistol, you need the governor’s permit as well, and the licence proves the legal reason for it (KB 29.12.2006, art. 2, 2°).

How many shooting sessions do I need a year?

At least 12, but each Community counts them its own way. The Flemish rule asks for 12 on at least 12 days in at least two quarters; the French-speaking rule 12 for your first category over at least three quarters, plus 3 for the others; the German-speaking rule 12 in each calendar year (Decreet 11.05.2007, art. 2, 12°; AGCF 13.09.2012, art. 16 § 1; Dekret 20.11.2006, Art. 2 Nr. 3).

Does a competition count as a session?

In the French-speaking Community, a provincial, regional, national or international competition counts as one session (Décret 20.12.2011, art. 3). The Flemish decree counts shooting a weapon subject to authorisation at a range, in a session a club organises (Decreet 11.05.2007, art. 2, 10°), and the German-speaking decree exercises a federation or club organises (Dekret 20.11.2006, Art. 2 Nr. 3).

Does my gun permit expire after five years?

No. A permit is granted for an indefinite period, but every five years the governor checks that you still meet its conditions (Wapenwet art. 32). For a permit granted for sport shooting, you then show a sport-shooter licence valid for the type of gun (KB 29.12.2006, art. 2/1). The Flemish and French-speaking licences run five years; the German-speaking one is extended every year.

Can I buy a gun with a provisional licence?

The provisional licence is for learning: you shoot a gun of its category only under supervision (Decreet 11.05.2007, art. 9 § 4; Dekret 20.11.2006, Art. 5). The French-speaking decree says outright that it does not let you hold a weapon subject to authorisation (Décret 20.12.2011, art. 7 § 1).

What happens to my guns if I stop shooting?

You send the licence back to the federation. Guns from the minister’s list may be kept for three years without ammunition, after which they need a permit (Wapenwet art. 13). For guns on a permit, the governor may withdraw the permit once the legal reason is gone, and the guns must then go to an approved person, such as a licensed dealer, or to someone entitled to hold them (Wapenwet art. 11 § 1 and 18).

From what age can I shoot with a firearm?

From 16 with a licence in all three Communities, and from 14 for an Olympic discipline in the French-speaking Community or an ISSF or IBU discipline in the German-speaking Community (Décret 20.12.2011, art. 7 § 2; Dekret 20.11.2006, Art. 6 § 2). A minor needs the parents’ consent and shoots under supervision. A permit is only for adults (Wapenwet art. 11 § 3, 1°).

Do I need a licence for an air rifle in Belgium?

No. An air rifle, like any long air gun, is freely available at any power: it needs no permit or sport-shooter licence, but it may not be sold to anyone under 18, and carrying it takes a legal reason (Wapenwet art. 3 § 2, 1°, art. 9 and art. 19, 2°; KB 30.03.1995, art. 2). A short repeating, semi-automatic or automatic air pistol, or a short look-alike, needs the governor’s permit if it gives more than 7.5 joules at 2.5 m from the muzzle, unless it is a 4.5 mm target pistol with at most five shots, a sight line over 300 mm, adjustable sights and a weight over 1 kg (KB 30.03.1995, art. 3).

How much does it cost?

The governor’s fee is set by law at 85 euros at 2006 prices and indexed every year; the East Flanders governor’s office asks €134.94 per application, not refunded if refused (Wapenwet art. 51, 53 and 55). Licence fees are the federation’s: in Flanders at most 100 euros for a five-year licence, 50 for a provisional licence and 50 for each test, indexed (BVR 01.06.2007, art. 19).