Gun licence for sport shooting in the Netherlands

Verlof

A firearm (pistol, revolver, rifle or shotgun) needs a verlof tot het voorhanden hebben (licence to possess) from the korpschef, the head of the national police.Wwm art. 26 lid 1, art. 28 lid 1

Club

You must have been a regular member for at least a year of a club certified by KNSA (or by KNTS, for traditional shooting), practising in competition a discipline the Circulaire designates.Circulaire wapens en munitie 2019, B 2.1 and B 2.4.1

Schietbeurten

At least 18 shooting sessions with a firearm at a certified club in the 12 months before you apply, and again before every extension.Rwm art. 43 lid 4; Circulaire B 2.4.2

One year

A verlof is valid for at most one year, and is extended only if you still meet the requirements.Wwm art. 28 lid 4

Number of guns

Up to five guns, and one in the first year of your first verlof. More than five only if you show they are indispensable for your sport.Rwm art. 43 lid 1, 3 and 6

In person

You always apply in person, with valid ID. Unless you hold a verlof that has not yet expired, you also name at least three referees on the WM 32 information form and are present when the police check your gun safe at home.Wwm art. 6a lid 1–2; Rwm art. 48a

• Since 1 July 2026, holding a firearm without a valid verlof carries up to eight years in prison, up from four (Wwm art. 55 lid 3 a; Stb. 2025, 333). The law’s other 2026 changes are about seizure and criminal penalties.
• From 1 October 2026, a former verlof holder who applies again is assessed like a first-time applicant. The rule that let a returning shooter ask for the guns of his old discipline (Circulaire B 2.8.2) was repealed (Stcrt. 2026, 30483).
• The e-screener, an online psychological questionnaire for applicants and holders, was suspended in 2022. The police now assess the WM 32 information form instead (Rwm art. 48a).
• On 17 June 2026 the justice minister announced a wholly new Wet wapens en munitie (Kamerstuk 33 033, nr. 40). If work goes smoothly, the bill goes out for public consultation in the first half of 2027; the plan is to send it to parliament at the end of 2027.
• The letter’s directions include a compulsory psychological examination for applicants and holders, minimum requirements of knowledge and skill, clubs that no longer take licence decisions in practice, and tighter rules for, or alternatives to, keeping guns at home. None of this is law yet.
• The letter also calls it contrary to law that clubs now take some of those decisions in practice, and says that legal proceedings and court rulings have found some rules incomplete, unclear or inadequate, some even without a legal basis, so that they may no longer be applied. Its example is the e-screener, found incomplete partly because no psychologist assessed its results.
• A possible faster ban on heavy air guns: see Air rifles below.

1. Join a shooting club certified by KNSA. Clubs start new members with an introduction and trial period; KNSA’s model procedure for clubs has at least six months as introducé (guest) and aspirant before full membership. A guest may shoot a firearm no more than three times in 12 months, and only from the age of 18 (Rwm art. 43b lid 12; Circulaire B 2.2.5).
2. Give the club a VOG (Verklaring Omtrent het Gedrag, certificate of conduct) from Justis. The law has a recognised club collect one from every member without a verlof, and a member hands one to the board before shooting the club’s guns (Wwm art. 6b lid 2; Rwm art. 43b lid 7). KNSA asks for it, no older than six months, when a club registers a new member aged 16 or over. The VOG screening for membership of a shooting club looks back eight years instead of the usual four.
3. Be a regular member for at least a year, practising a designated discipline in competition (in wedstrijdverband). KNSA counts the year from the day you became a full member, after the trial period (Circulaire B 2.4.1; KNSA).
4. Shoot at least 18 schietbeurten with a firearm in the 12 months before you apply, each signed in your schietregister (see the activity requirement below).
5. Fill in the application form, model WM 3: the gun you want, by make, calibre and serial number, and who will sell it to you. The club board fills in its part, confirming your membership, your schietbeurten, your competence with firearms and the discipline the gun is for. Add the WM 32 information form with at least three referees, who sign it themselves, proof of membership (a club membership card or KNSA pass), two passport photos and your schietregister.
6. Hand in the application in person at the police, with your ID, and pay €138.20 (Wwm art. 6a lid 1; Rwm art. 50a). The police check the judicial and police records and your WM 32 form, and may talk to your referees or to you (Circulaire A 1.4.4.1).
7. When the police are ready to grant the verlof, they check your gun safe at home with you present. You collect the verlof in person, with a verlof tot verkrijging (permit to acquire) for the gun (Wwm art. 6a; Circulaire A 1.4.4.5 and B 2.4.1).
8. Buy the gun and give the seller the verlof tot verkrijging. Show the gun to the police within two weeks, so they can check it against your verlof (Wwm art. 31 lid 3; Circulaire A 1.4.4.5).

KNSA calls the verlof itself the WM4. The law sets no skill test: the club board declares on the WM 3 form that you handle firearms competently. The minister’s letter of June 2026 notes that no knowledge or skill requirements have been set in the rules, except for hunting.

The schietbeurten (shooting sessions) show that you really practise the sport, which is the redelijk belang (reasonable interest) the verlof rests on, and that you keep your skill up. The rule is in Rwm art. 43 lid 4; the Circulaire sets out how the police apply it (B 2.4.2).

You need at least 18 schietbeurten with a firearm at a certified club in the 12 months before you apply for a verlof, and in the 12 months before every extension. It is a total: how they are spread over the year, and which of your guns you shot, does not matter (Circulaire B 2.4.2).

Each schietbeurt goes in a schietregister (shooting log) in your name, certified by the club board, with the date, the stamp of the club or range, and the name and signature or initials of a board member, or of a range officer, safety officer or match organiser acting for the board. The range’s presentieregister (attendance register) must also show you were there, unless you shot a competition and are on its list of entrants; the police may ask to see it if they doubt your log (Circulaire B 2.4.2).

For a semi-automatic firearm in EU category A 6 or 7 (one converted from automatic fire, or a centre-fire gun with a large magazine), the Besluit wapens en munitie itself makes membership of a recognised association compulsory and requires 18 schietbeurten in the 12 months before the application, at a recognised association, with a gun that meets the specifications of a recognised or regulated discipline, each signed by a board member or someone acting for the board (initials are not enough). The Besluit makes no exception for a shortfall (Bwm art. 4 and 7).

If you fall short because of something you cannot reasonably be blamed for, the requirement gives way; the Regeling says so for any application except one for a category A 6 or 7 firearm (Rwm art. 43 lid 4; Bwm art. 7). At an extension, the Circulaire asks you to show it to the police’s satisfaction, and gives long illness, a long stay abroad and other personal circumstances as examples (Circulaire B 2.4.2).

No rule says how many shots or how long a schietbeurt is, and shooting outside the EU is not addressed.

The requirements are not a one-off test. A verlof is extended only while you still meet them, and it may be revoked when you no longer do (Wwm art. 28 lid 4; art. 7 lid 2 d).

A verlof is valid for at most one year and can be extended if you still meet the requirements for it (Wwm art. 28 lid 4). A 2011 amendment that would have made it valid for five years, with a yearly check, has never been brought into force (Stb. 2011, 447).

A condition written on every sport verlof: hand it in for extension at least two weeks before it runs out, with your KNSA licence (KNSA-licentie), your KNTS licence, or the membership card of a club that KNSA certifies without its being a KNSA member, and your schietregister (Circulaire B 2.4.8). An extension costs €68.20 (Rwm art. 50a).

You still apply in person with valid ID. The law drops the screening, the referees and your presence at a safe check for a holder whose verlof has not yet expired, unless the police find them necessary (Wwm art. 6a lid 2). The Circulaire nonetheless asks for a new WM 32 information form at every extension, though not a new application form unless your circumstances have changed (Circulaire A 1.4.4.1), and that form includes the referees (KNSA).

Hand it in on time: no text read says what applies while an extension is pending after the end date, so ask the police. Holding a firearm without a valid verlof is a crime (misdrijf): since 1 July 2026 it carries up to eight years in prison or a fine of the fifth category, up from four years (Wwm art. 26 lid 1, art. 55 lid 3 a, art. 56; Stb. 2025, 333).

If you move within your police region, hand in the verlof without delay to have it changed; if you move to another region, hand it in and apply there in good time (Circulaire B 2.4.8).

A verlof covers at most five guns (Rwm art. 43 lid 1). More is possible only if you show that six or more are indispensable for your sport, with a statement from KNSA supported by your club board; the Circulaire calls that an exception (Rwm art. 43 lid 3; Circulaire B 2.4.4).

In the first year of your first verlof you may hold one gun, and the Regeling says it must be suitable for an Olympic discipline (Rwm art. 43 lid 6). The Regeling is generally binding law; the Circulaire is not (Awb art. 1:3 lid 4).

The Circulaire builds up the kinds of gun in stages (B 2.4.4). A first applicant who has been a member for up to two years gets a verlof for one gun suitable for the Olympic disciplines, not a semi-automatic rifle. At the extension after the first year, guns for the disciplines of the International Shooting Sport Federation and of the MLAIC (muzzle-loaders) become possible too, still not semi-automatic rifles.

The Circulaire also gives a first applicant with more than two years’ membership that wider choice, and KNSA reads this as allowing a pistol up to 9 mm on a first verlof. That does not square with the Regeling’s first-year rule above, which is the binding text, nor with the Circulaire’s own paragraph on conversion kits, which says that a first application gets no verlof for a gun of a larger calibre than .22 (B 2.5.1); ask your club or the police before you rely on it. The Circulaire does not say when semi-automatic rifles become possible; KNSA reads them as possible from the second extension.

Spare barrels, slides and conversion kits can be added to the verlof and do not count towards the five. On a first application, a pistol that comes with a conversion kit may be held only with its .22 parts, and the larger-calibre parts stay with a dealer (Circulaire B 2.5.1).

Two holders may share a gun: it counts towards the five of the one who keeps it, not of the co-user, and no more than 10 guns can be entered on one verlof this way (Circulaire B 8.4).

Every gun must be for a discipline listed in the Circulaire’s Appendix C8 that you practise in your club (Rwm art. 43 lid 5; Circulaire B 2.6).

• Guns and ammunition are kept apart, each in a safe made for storing weapons, or a safe that counts as equal, locked and not easy for others to reach. The same goes for essential parts such as barrels and slides (Rwm art. 43c lid 1–3; Circulaire B 8.1). KNSA reads this as a separate safe compartment for the ammunition.
• A safe that weighs less than 200 kg must be anchored to the floor or the wall (Rwm art. 43c lid 4). No standard or grade is named.
• You may store guns at your club if it has a lockable room with separately lockable safes, and the keys are not kept on the premises (Circulaire B 8.2). A temporary address, such as a holiday address, can be noted on the verlof if you can store the guns there to the same standard (Circulaire B 8.3).
• You may transport your guns and ammunition only between home and the range, a licensed dealer or, with the police’s consent beforehand, the police station; by a reasonable route and in a reasonable time; packed so that they cannot be used at once; and with you in control of them all the time (Rwm art. 44).
• The verlof adds that the gun is unloaded and uncocked, with no cartridges in the magazine, and never left unattended in a vehicle (Circulaire B 2.4.8).
• Transporting guns outside these rules breaks the ban on transport without a permit, which carries up to nine months in prison or a fine (Wwm art. 22 lid 1, art. 55 lid 1). Breaking a condition written on the verlof is an offence punished with a fine (Wwm art. 54) and a ground for revoking it (art. 7 lid 2 e).
• The police check unannounced at home at least once every three years, and every year for holders under 25, more often where they see a risk (Rwm art. 43d; Circulaire B 9.1).

• Air guns: see Air rifles below.
• Hunting: hunting guns are held under an omgevingsvergunning voor een jachtgeweeractiviteit (hunting-gun permit) under the Omgevingswet, not a sport verlof (Wwm art. 26 lid 2 b). The Rwm still speaks of the jachtakte (hunting licence) under the Wet natuurbescherming, and caps its holder at six guns (Rwm art. 1 and art. 43 lid 2).
• Collectors: an individual collector’s verlof is only for members of a collectors’ association the minister has recognised; museums and similar institutions have a route of their own (Circulaire B 3.1.1).
• Traditional shooting (schutterijen and gilden, the shooting guilds): the club is certified by the KNTS (Koepel Nederlandse Traditionele Schutters). A first-time traditional shooter whose club shoots .22 can get one such gun; a heavier calibre needs two years’ membership (Circulaire B 2.1 and B 2.4.4).
• European firearms pass: issued by the korpschef on request, valid for up to five years, €72.60 (Wwm art. 28a; Rwm art. 50).

Licence-free

Air, gas-pressure (such as CO2) and spring guns, air rifles among them, are category IV weapons and need no verlof; the look-alikes below are banned instead. The law sets no limit of energy or calibre, and a 2016 plan to make air guns over 80 joules licensable like firearms was never enacted: in June 2026 the justice minister confirmed that heavy PCP air rifles, which he said can now be many times more powerful than an ordinary handgun, may be held without a licence too. An air gun is not a vuurwapen (firearm) in the law’s sense, since it does not fire by a chemical explosion or reaction, and its pellets are not munitie (ammunition).Wwm art. 1 3°, art. 2 lid 1 (cat. IV 4°), art. 26 lid 1; Circulaire A 1.2.2; Kamerstuk 33 033, nr. 18; Aanhangsel Handelingen II 2025/26, nr. 2289

Look-alikes

An air gun that in shape and size can hardly or not at all be told apart from a real firearm is category I and banned outright: that is how the Hoge Raad reads the Regeling’s sprekende gelijkenis (striking resemblance), upholding in 2018 an appeal court’s acquittal over a Benjamin Marauder PCP rifle, which that court had found could be told apart from a real firearm. An air gun altered so that it can be carried hidden or less visibly is banned the same way. Airsoft guns are exempt for adult members of a recognised airsoft club. Holding, selling, carrying or importing a banned air gun is a crime (misdrijf), punished with up to nine months in prison or a fine of up to €27,500.Wwm art. 2 lid 1 (cat. I 7°), art. 13 lid 1, art. 55 lid 1, art. 56; Rwm art. 3 a and c, art. 17a; Hoge Raad, ECLI:NL:HR:2018:153; Sr art. 23 lid 4

Age

From 18, you may buy and own an air rifle without a licence. Under 18 you may not have one, and no one may sell, give or lend one to you, except under the club rules below; breaking either rule is an offence, with a fine of up to €11,000 for whoever hands it over; a minor aged 12 to 17 is normally tried under juvenile law, where the fine is at most €5,500. A recognised dealer records each sale with the buyer’s name, address and the type and number of their ID, and keeps the record for at least seven years. No rule asks for a record when one owner sells to another.Wwm art. 1 11°, art. 26 lid 5, art. 31 lid 4, art. 54, art. 56; Rwm art. 12 lid 10; Sr art. 23 lid 4, art. 77a, art. 77l lid 1; Aanhangsel Handelingen II 2025/26, nr. 2289

Younger shooters

Under 18, you may have an air rifle for sport in a club once you can show, with proof of membership, that you have been a member of a shooting club for at least three months, and only a gun that KNSA’s Schiet- en wedstrijdreglement (shooting and competition rules) allows. Before anyone sells, gives or lends you one, you hand them a statement from your club’s board, no older than fourteen days, that you have been a member for at least three months; they note the date of the handover on it and keep it for at least five years. The Regeling sets no minimum age, and this is its only exemption for sport from the under-18 ban: there is none for shooting under a parent’s supervision.Wwm art. 1 11°, art. 26 lid 5–6, art. 31 lid 4–5; Rwm art. 26 lid 1 and 3, art. 27 lid 1–2

Storage

The Regeling’s storage rules, with guns and ammunition in separate safes, are for firearms of category II and III. It sets none for an air gun you own.Rwm art. 43c lid 1

Carrying and transport

Carrying an air rifle on the public road or in any other public place without a verlof to carry it is forbidden and punished with a fine of up to €11,000; the korpschef may grant such a verlof where a reasonable interest requires it. Taking it with you packed so that it cannot be used at once is vervoer (transport), not dragen (carrying), and needs no permit: the ban on transport without one is for categories II and III. The police add that it must be well packed, with no pellets in it. At a club’s sport event in a public place other than the road, those entitled to hold the gun may carry it with the korpschef’s written consent beforehand, while the event lasts and near where the shooting is. Taking a category IV air gun into or out of the Netherlands needs no consent (import or export permit) under the Wwm, which asks for one only for categories II and III, though the other country’s own rules still apply; nor can it be entered on a European firearms pass.Wwm art. 1 9° and 10°, art. 14 lid 1, art. 22 lid 1, art. 27 lid 1, art. 29 lid 3, art. 54; Rwm art. 28; Sr art. 23 lid 4; Circulaire A 1.4.5.1 and A 1.4.5.3; Politie, Mag ik een luchtbuks hebben?

Where you may shoot

The Wet wapens en munitie does not say where an air rifle may be fired, but its ban on carrying one keeps it out of public places, save for the exceptions above. The police’s guidance is that you may use one only on your own land, not on the street, and may not shoot at animals or people with it.Wwm art. 27 lid 1; Politie, Mag ik een luchtbuks hebben?

Not yet law: the justice minister finds today’s rules for zware luchtdrukwapens (heavy air guns), powerful PCP rifles among them, inadequate. On 17 June 2026 he said he is exploring whether holding them can be banned faster, through a change to the Regeling ahead of the new weapons law. His intention is to allow them only with a permit for certain uses, and he will take account of the light air guns used for paintball and sport shooting. Neither text defines a heavy air gun, and by 13 October 2026 the Regeling had not been changed (Kamerstuk 33 033, nr. 40; Aanhangsel Handelingen II 2025/26, nr. 2289).

More on air rifles on the Shooter blog →

The age for a verlof is 18, with an exception for members of a shooting club (Wwm art. 28 lid 2 c). The police may make it only for serious, promising competition shooters, shown by a written statement from the KNSA board (Circulaire A 1.4.4).

Air guns under 18: see Air rifles above.

KNSA states that the law sets no minimum age for shooting a firearm, and that clubs as a rule allow it from 16, under supervision and with a club gun. A guest shooting a firearm must be 18 (Circulaire B 2.2.5).

The police refuse a verlof if you leave out the required forms and documents, if you were convicted of one of the listed crimes in the last eight years, or if there is reason to fear that you cannot be trusted with weapons or would misuse them (Wwm art. 7 lid 1). Justis notes that your mental state or other facts can also be reasons to refuse.

The requirements are not a one-off test. A verlof is extended only while you still meet them, and it may be revoked when you no longer do (Wwm art. 28 lid 4; art. 7 lid 2 d).

Other grounds for revocation are false information, signs that you can no longer be trusted with weapons, misuse, and breaking a condition of the verlof (Wwm art. 7 lid 2). A final conviction for a listed crime means it must be revoked (art. 7 lid 3). Using the gun for anything but the sport is itself a ground (Circulaire B 2.4.1). When a sport verlof is refused, not extended or revoked, the police tell the boards of KNSA and KNTS, and your club’s board too if it belongs to neither (Circulaire A 1.4.4.7).

You can lodge an administratief beroep (administrative appeal) with the minister, within six weeks from the day after the decision was made known; Justis handles it, and after that the courts (Wwm art. 34; Awb art. 1:5, 6:7 and 6:8; Circulaire A 1.4.4.6). An appeal does not suspend the decision (Awb art. 6:16). In an urgent case you can ask the court for an interim ruling (voorlopige voorziening) while the appeal runs (Awb art. 8:81).

Without a valid verlof you may no longer hold the guns. Anyone who holds a weapon without the right to must hand it in to the police at once (Wwm art. 8 lid 1); passing it to someone entitled to hold it, such as a licensed dealer, is allowed (art. 31 lid 2). Holding a firearm without a valid verlof is a crime (misdrijf): since 1 July 2026 it carries up to eight years in prison or a fine of the fifth category, up from four years (Wwm art. 26 lid 1, art. 55 lid 3 a, art. 56; Stb. 2025, 333).

The police charge €15 a gun a month from the third month of storage, and after five years the gun becomes the state’s unless you object in time (Wwm art. 8 lid 6; Rwm art. 47 lid 4). No text read sets a period of grace for selling.

The Dutch requirement is a count over a period: 18 schietbeurten with a firearm in the 12 months before you apply, over all your guns together and, as a rule, one a day. In the Shooter app that is the club requirement: set its activity window to 12 months and its occasions to 18, and mark as a club session each day that goes into your schietregister: a firearm session at any certified club, a championship, a government range, or a range in another EU country you can prove. The app then counts the separate days you marked over the last 12 months. It counts days, so the extra schietbeurten the Circulaire allows for championships and for big-bore or historic rifles on government ranges are not counted. Leave air-gun days unmarked, since they do not count here.

The app can also count qualifying days for each gun against a figure you set, but the Dutch rule is one total over all your guns, not a figure per gun. No Dutch figures are filled in for you; you set them yourself. The count is your own record: the schietregister signed by your club is what the police accept.

Shooter is not affiliated with the Dutch police or with any shooting association.

How many schietbeurten do I need for a verlof?

At least 18 with a firearm at a certified club in the 12 months before you apply, and the same before every yearly extension (Rwm art. 43 lid 4; Circulaire B 2.4.2). It is a total over all your guns, as a rule one a day, with extra counts for official championships and for big-bore or historic rifles on government ranges.

Do I need a licence for an air rifle in the Netherlands?

No, not from 18: air, gas-pressure (such as CO2) and spring guns are category IV and need no verlof, whatever their power, though one that in shape and size can hardly be told apart from a real firearm is banned (Wwm art. 2, 13 and 26; Rwm art. 3 a; Hoge Raad, ECLI:NL:HR:2018:153). Under 18, you may have one only for sport in a club, after three months’ membership, and only a gun that KNSA’s shooting and competition rules allow (Rwm art. 26). The Circulaire asks for schietbeurten with a firearm (B 2.4.2), so air-gun sessions do not count towards the 18 a verlof needs, and KNSA tells clubs not to sign them in the schietregister.

Does shooting abroad count?

Shooting in another EU country counts if you can prove it with the original competition cards or a certified statement from a reputable club there (Circulaire B 2.4.2). The rules say nothing about countries outside the EU. Wanting to shoot only abroad is no ground for a Dutch verlof.

How long must I be a member before I can apply?

At least a year as a regular member of a certified club (Circulaire B 2.4.1). KNSA counts the year from the day you became a full member, so the introduction and trial period before that does not count.

How long is a verlof valid?

At most one year (Wwm art. 28 lid 4). Hand it in for extension at least two weeks before it runs out, with your KNSA or KNTS licence (or, if your club is certified by KNSA without being a KNSA member, its membership card) and your schietregister (Circulaire B 2.4.8); an extension costs €68.20. Holding a firearm without a valid verlof is a crime.

How many guns may I own?

Up to five, and only one in the first year of your first verlof (Rwm art. 43). More than five only if you show they are indispensable for your sport, with a statement from KNSA backed by your club board. Spare barrels and conversion kits do not count towards the five.

Do I need a VOG?

Yes, in practice. The law has a recognised club collect a VOG from every member without a verlof, and a member hands one to the board before shooting the club’s guns (Wwm art. 6b lid 2; Rwm art. 43b lid 7). KNSA asks for it from every new member aged 16 or over.

Is there still an e-screener test?

No. The e-screener was suspended in 2022, and the police now assess the WM 32 information form you hand in with your application (Rwm art. 48a). The planned new weapons law would make a psychological examination compulsory for applicants and holders.

What does a verlof cost?

€138.20 for a new verlof, €68.20 for an extension and €30 for a change to it (Rwm art. 50a). KNSA reads these as charged per verlof, whatever the number of guns on it, with adding or removing a gun as a €30 change. The VOG is paid for separately.

What if illness kept me from 18 schietbeurten?

The requirement gives way if the shortfall comes from something you cannot reasonably be blamed for, such as long illness or a long stay abroad, and you can show that to the police’s satisfaction (Rwm art. 43 lid 4; Circulaire B 2.4.2). The Besluit wapens en munitie makes no such exception for a category A 6 or 7 firearm (Bwm art. 7).