Gun licence for sport shooting in New Zealand

Licence

You need a firearms licence to possess a standard firearm, such as a rifle or a shotgun. Shooting under the immediate supervision of a licence holder is a defence to that offence.Arms Act 2026, ss 14 and 16

Getting it

From the age of 16: a firearms safety course for a first licence, vetting as a fit and proper person, and an inspection of your secure storage by an arms officer.Arms Act 2026, ss 69–72; Arms Regulations 2026, r 15

Pistols

A pistol needs a pistol target shooting endorsement on your licence, open to members of an approved pistol club, and a permit to possess or import for each pistol.Arms Act 2026, ss 21, 187(2) and 209

Participation

An endorsement holder must take part in scheduled pistol shooting activities organised by a pistol club, or in international pistol events, on at least 10 days in each year ending 30 June. An endorsement made before 23 September 2026 may still carry the old condition of 12 days.Arms Regulations 2026, r 83(1)(b); Arms Act 2026, Sch 1 cl 13(2)

Term

A first licence runs for 5 years; a new licence applied for before the old one expires runs for 10. An endorsement lasts as long as the licence it is on.Arms Act 2026, ss 78 and 194

Semi-automatic pistols

A semi-automatic pistol is a restricted firearm unless it is a small semi-automatic pistol: at most 400 mm long, a barrel of at least 101 mm, no faster than 1,600 feet per second with ammunition named in Pistol New Zealand’s rules, and suitable for a pistol range. The pistol club endorsement covers pistols, not restricted firearms.Arms Act 2026, ss 5, 9 and 187

The Arms Act 2026 and the Arms Regulations 2026 replaced the Arms Act 1983 and the Arms Regulations 1992 on 23 September 2026 (s 2, ss 392–393; r 2). The Act establishes the Arms Regulator, an autonomous agency of the New Zealand Police (s 303), whose decisions are taken by its chief executive. It calls itself Firearms Safety and Education New Zealand and replaces Te Tari Pūreke, the Firearms Safety Authority. For target shooters, these are the changes that matter:

• The regulation now asks a pistol endorsement holder to take part in club pistol shooting on at least 10 days in each year ending 30 June; the 1992 rule said 12 (r 83(1)(b); Arms Regulations 1992, r 22(1)(b)). A change of club is now notified to the chief executive of the Arms Regulator instead of the Police. Whether endorsements made before 23 September 2026 keep the 12-day condition is open: see the table below.
• A large-capacity pistol magazine, one for a pistol holding more than 10 rounds, other than a restricted magazine such as a drum magazine, may be possessed only by the holder of a licence with a pistol endorsement (s 28). Endorsement holders need no separate endorsement for these magazines.
• Prohibited firearms are now called restricted firearms. The definition is the same as before, including the exception for small semi-automatic pistols (s 9; Arms Act 1983, s 2A).
• A gang member is disqualified from holding a firearms licence (s 70(d)), though someone who held a licence just before 23 September 2026 is not disqualified from it by a ground they already met on that date (Sch 1 cl 4).
• Regulations may now make low-level breaches, such as a breach of a licence condition, infringement offences with fees of up to $1,000 (ss 278–279 and 374(1)(22)–(24)); none had been made by 12 October 2026.
• A refusal, a condition or a revocation of a firearms licence can be reviewed by the new Firearms Licensing Review Committee, if you apply within 90 days, and its decision can be appealed to the District Court (ss 80, 321 and 352(1)(c)).
• From 23 February 2028, a licence holder whose licence runs out while they are overseas for an international shooting competition can ask, for a fee, for their application to be given priority (s 388).
• The licence term did not change: 5 years for a first licence and 10 for a new licence applied for in time, as under the Arms Act 1983, s 25(1).

You may apply if you are 16 or over, are not disqualified and have not had a licence revoked in the last 5 years (s 69(1)). You are disqualified by, among other things, a conviction for a listed offence within 10 years, a final protection order within 10 years, a firearms prohibition order, or being a gang member (s 70). The Arms Regulator may also find you not fit and proper, for example after offending, family violence, misuse of alcohol or drugs, breaking the conditions of a licence or endorsement, or an illness that may affect safe possession of firearms (s 71).

1. Apply to the Arms Regulator, online through MyFirearms or on the paper form, giving your health practitioner’s contact details (s 69(2)). Pay the fee in advance: $126.50 for a first licence or a new one applied for before the old one expires, $241.50 if your last licence has expired (Arms Regulations 2026, sch 2; r 194). The regulator says fees are not refunded, whatever the outcome.
2. Unless the chief executive directs otherwise, you must take a safety course and pass tests (r 15). The regulator asks you to pass the firearms safety course before your vetting interview if this is your first licence or your last one expired more than a year ago; otherwise it tests your safety knowledge at the interview.
3. Vetting: an in-person interview, interviews with your referees, one next-of-kin referee and at least one unrelated referee aged 20 or over who lives in New Zealand, and a criminal record check from each other country where you stayed more than 6 months in the last 10 years (r 13).
4. An arms officer inspects your storage. The licence is issued only when your storage has been inspected and found compliant (s 72(1)(b)).
5. The decision: the licence must be issued if you are not disqualified, are fit and proper and your storage complies, but not if a disqualified or unfit person is likely to get access to your firearms (s 72). The regulator advises allowing 4 to 5 months. Your health practitioner is told when a licence is issued (s 72(3)).

Once you hold a licence, the first activating circumstance, such as applying for a new licence or an endorsement, or buying ammunition from a licensed business, starts 30 days in which you must record in the Firearms Registry every firearm, pistol, restricted weapon, restricted magazine, major firearm part and pistol carbine conversion kit you possess (ordinary airguns are not among them); the chief executive may extend that to 60 days (rr 158 and 163). Each such item you buy or receive must also be reported as soon as practicable and within 30 days, and a loss or theft immediately (Arms Regulations 2026, r 168 and sch 4 Part 8). If no activating circumstance happens before 24 June 2028, you must list your arms items by 31 August 2028 (r 163(4)). Registering is free.

Storage and transport are conditions of the licence (s 75(1)(a)), and the rules are in the Arms Regulations 2026, rr 17–24 (r 16). In short:

• Standard firearms: a lockable cabinet or container of stout construction, a lockable steel and concrete strongroom, or a lockable display cabinet or rack that immobilises the firearms, fixed to your premises, approved by an arms officer after an inspection, and in line with the storage guidance the chief executive issues, which the regulation requires you to follow (r 18). The regulator’s October 2026 quick guide recommends a steel safe with a 3 mm steel door, secured to two surfaces of the building, and says you may nominate another storage location if it is approved.
• Pistols: a steel and concrete strongroom of an approved type, a room of stout and secure construction, or a locked steel safe, box or cabinet of an approved type bolted to the building, approved after an inspection (r 19). The regulator says you may not take possession of a pistol before this endorsement-level security is installed.
• Ammunition: kept separately, in a locked drawer, cupboard or box with a different key or combination from the firearms, or in a separately locked box inside the safe (rr 17 and 21). No firearm may be left where a young child has ready access to it (r 17(1)(a)).
• In a vehicle: firearms out of sight and unloaded, made inoperable where readily possible by removing the bolt or another vital part, or else fitted with a trigger lock or carried in a locked case or bag, with the ammunition out of sight and separate. They may be left in a locked vehicle for up to 60 minutes while you stay nearby (r 23).
• On public transport and in other public places: unloaded, made inoperable by removing the bolt or a vital part or with a trigger lock, and in a locked case or bag, which in a public place stays with you (r 24). A mobile home may serve as storage only while you live in it, and only once an arms officer has approved it (r 22).
• Inspections: for a licence, an arms officer gives at least 7 days’ notice (s 75(2)). With an endorsement, you must let an arms officer inspect the endorsed items and where they are kept at all reasonable times; that section sets no notice period (ss 75(3) and 190).

The regulator is rewriting its secure storage and transportation guide for the Arms Act 2026; until it is out, the regulator points to the Arms Act 2026 itself.

A pistol is a firearm designed or adapted to be held and fired with one hand, and includes any firearm shorter than 762 mm (s 5). To possess one you need a firearms licence with an endorsement permitting you to possess a pistol, made specific to each pistol by a permit to import or to possess it (s 21(1)). For a sport shooter, that is the endorsement for a member of a pistol shooting club (s 187(2)).

1. Find a pistol shooting club with a certificate of approval from the chief executive of the Arms Regulator. It must be an incorporated society and shoot on a certified pistol range (ss 213, 214 and 229). From the age of 16, before you join, the club may let you shoot at up to 3 of its activities in 6 months under the immediate supervision of an endorsed member (r 111(1)).
2. Join the club. As a member you may go on shooting under supervision for a further 12 months (r 111(2)). The regulator asks for evidence that you completed the club’s pistol safety training course and passed its examination on the safe use and possession of pistols and the obligations of an endorsement holder.
3. The club completes the Club and National Association Confirmation and Recommendation form, FRM29NP. The regulator’s page says a club affiliated with Pistol New Zealand sends it there, and Pistol New Zealand checks it and sends it on; other clubs send it straight to the regulator.
4. Apply for the endorsement, at the same time as your licence or later; the regulator gives 16 as the minimum age. You need a new referee aged 20 or over: a club member who took part in your induction and training and has seen you shoot. The fee is $204 for one or more endorsements applied for together, on top of the licence fee (Arms Regulations 2026, sch 2).
5. The regulator interviews you and your referee and inspects your endorsement-level security. The chief executive may make the endorsement if you are fit and proper and it is appropriate for you to possess pistols as a club member (s 189).
6. For each pistol, apply for a permit to possess (or to import) and say why you want that pistol. A permit to possess lasts at most one month (s 208(3)), and a pistol may be sold or supplied only to an endorsed holder with a permit for it (s 43). Then record the pistol in the Firearms Registry.

Once that further 12 months is over, a member without an endorsement may go on shooting under supervision only after passing an examination run by an arms officer or an approved person, and while waiting for the outcome of an endorsement application (r 111(3)).

The endorsement also lets you possess large-capacity pistol magazines (s 28), but not a drum magazine for a pistol, which is a restricted magazine (s 10(c)). The pistols may be used only for target pistol shooting on a certified pistol range (r 83(1)(a)). The regulator’s conditions page says you may carry them from home only to an approved pistol club or certified range, a police station, or a licensed business or gunsmith for repair, maintenance or sale, and the chief executive may add other conditions on the use or custody of a pistol (s 191(2)).

Carrying a pistol anywhere beyond the grounds of your home other than as the conditions on your licence allow is, without reasonable excuse, an offence, with up to 2 years in prison or a fine of up to $20,000 (s 258).

A standard firearms licence for rifles and shotguns has no participation requirement: no rule asks you to shoot a number of times or to belong to a club. What stands in its place is the vetting before the licence, the storage inspection, and the duties of a licence holder, such as telling the Arms Regulator if something that makes a person unfit applies to you (ss 71, 72 and 75(1)(f)).

An endorsement made before 23 September 2026 keeps any conditions it was subject to (Sch 1 cl 13(2)), and the old rule of 12 days a year was one of them. No text says that condition lapsed, though the regulator’s conditions page asks for 10 shoots and makes no distinction for older endorsements. Until the regulator says otherwise in writing, 12 days in each year ending 30 June meets both readings, for as long as that endorsement lasts: until the licence it is on expires and you are endorsed again on your new licence (Sch 1 cl 13(3); s 194(1)).

What counts is active participation in scheduled pistol shooting activities organised by a pistol shooting club, or in international pistol shooting events (r 83(1)(b)). The regulation counts days; the regulator’s page speaks of 10 shoots. The regulation says a pistol shooting club, not only your own, and your club’s records include the activities of other clubs that you took part in (r 112(1)). The regulator’s conditions page words it more narrowly, as your own club’s activities on its ranges, so ask your club before you count shoots elsewhere.

Your club keeps the record: each year it notes the dates of the club activities, other clubs’ activities and international events each member took part in, and includes them in its annual report to the chief executive. The year runs from 1 July to 30 June (r 112; s 221).

You must also tell the chief executive of the Arms Regulator within 28 days if you join another pistol club, a club declines your application, or you stop being a member of any pistol club, for example by not renewing your membership within 28 days after the membership year ends (r 83(1)(c)). The club must report the same changes (r 103).

The regulation names no exception for illness or time abroad. The regulator’s conditions page says that if you are unable to meet the participation requirement you must surrender your endorsement and dispose of your pistols, and that you do not need to surrender your firearms licence. The licence is not safe by that alone: failing to observe a condition of an endorsement is one of the grounds on which the Arms Regulator may find you not fit and proper to hold a licence (s 71(1)(h)(iv)), and a licence held by someone not fit and proper may be revoked (s 153(2)).

A firearms licence expires 5 years after it comes into force if you never held one before, if your last licence was revoked or surrendered, or if you let it expire before applying again; otherwise it expires after 10 years (s 78). Licences issued under the Arms Act 1983 keep their expiry dates (Sch 1 cl 3(3)).

There is no renewal as such: the regulator assesses each application for a new licence in full against the Act, and recommends applying 4 months before your licence expires. If you apply before it expires and no decision has been made by then, the old licence stays in force until you are told the outcome (s 79), and the new one runs for 10 years. The regulator tests your safety knowledge at the interview, or asks you to take the course again if your licence expired more than a year ago.

If you apply after the expiry date, you are no longer licensed to possess your firearms and ammunition and must deliver them on demand (s 141). The regulator says that until a new licence is issued you cannot buy firearms or ammunition and must at once pass yours to a person with a current licence and the right endorsement; the Act lets you keep them for up to 3 months only to sell or dispose of them (s 164). The new licence runs for 5 years and the fee is $241.50 (Arms Regulations 2026, sch 2).

An endorsement lasts as long as the licence it is on (s 194(1)), so you apply for it again with your new licence, on a separate application with its own fee. The regulator says that if it receives your endorsement application before the current one expires, you can go on shooting pistols until the new one is issued.

From 23 February 2028, a licence holder whose licence will expire while they are overseas for a reason such as an international shooting competition can ask for their application to be given priority, for a priority fee (s 388).

Neither the Arms Act 2026 nor the Arms Regulations 2026 sets a maximum number of firearms or pistols. Instead, each pistol needs its own permit to possess or import, issued when it is appropriate for you to possess that pistol (ss 208(2) and 209). The regulator asks why you want each item, and your reasons must fit the capacity your endorsement was granted in: a pistol held as a collector cannot be used for club shooting.

Every standard firearm and pistol you possess must be recorded in the Firearms Registry, and each one you buy or receive reported as soon as practicable and within 30 days (rr 158, 163 and 168; sch 4 Parts 7 and 8; the regulator’s registry pages).

A restricted firearm, the old prohibited firearm, is any semi-automatic firearm with listed exceptions, and some pump-action shotguns and centrefire rifles (s 9). Possessing one needs an endorsement for restricted firearms and a permit for the gun (s 32). That endorsement is open only to collectors, heirloom or memento holders, museum licence holders, approved employees or members of broadcasters and theatre or film companies, animal and biosecurity controllers, and licensed businesses, from the age of 18 (ss 186(2), 187 and 188). A pistol club member’s endorsement covers pistols, not restricted firearms.

The exception that makes target pistols possible is the small semi-automatic pistol (s 5, s 9(1)(a)(i)(C)). It is a semi-automatic pistol that:

• has an overall length of 400 mm or less, not counting a silencer, pistol carbine conversion kit or other muzzle attachment;
• has a barrel length of 101 mm or more;
• can fire specified ammunition only at a muzzle velocity of 1,600 feet per second or less, where specified ammunition is a type named in the rules of the pistol target shooting disciplines run by Pistol New Zealand; and
• is suitable for shooting on a pistol shooting range.

A semi-automatic pistol that fails any of these tests is a restricted firearm, unless it is held by an endorsed collector, heirloom holder, museum or film or theatre company with a permit (s 9(1)(a)(i)(D) and 9(3)). The Arms Act 1983 had the same definitions, under the name prohibited firearm (ss 2 and 2A, as replaced on 25 June 2020).

For rifles and shotguns, the exceptions that matter to target shooters are a semi-automatic .22 rimfire or smaller with a magazine of no more than 10 cartridges and no lower receiver that takes a centrefire upper, and a semi-automatic shotgun with a fixed tubular magazine holding no more than 5 (s 9(1)(a)(i)(A)–(B) and 9(2)). A centrefire semi-automatic rifle is a restricted firearm. Possessing a restricted firearm without authority can bring up to 7 years in prison (s 32(4)).

Magazines follow the same pattern. A magazine for a rifle that holds more than 10 cartridges, a shotgun magazine that holds more than 5, and any drum magazine for a pistol are restricted magazines, which need an endorsement and a permit; a pistol endorsement does not cover them, and possessing one without authority can bring up to 3 years in prison (ss 10 and 35).

• Rifles and shotguns that are not restricted firearms are standard firearms: the firearms licence covers them with no endorsement, no permit for each gun and no participation requirement (ss 14 and 208(2)). The regulator’s table of what a standard licence, which it calls an A-Category licence, covers includes bolt-action and lever-action rifles with magazines of 10 rounds or less and break-open shotguns.
• Air guns: see Air rifles below.
• Hunting: the standard firearms licence covers hunting with standard firearms; the Arms Act sets no separate hunting licence or test.
• Collectors: a bona fide collector may be endorsed for pistols, restricted weapons, restricted firearms and restricted magazines (s 187(4)), on condition that live ammunition is never used in the pistols or restricted weapons held that way (r 83(3)). There is no participation requirement.
• Visitors: a visitor licence costs $25. A visitor who wants to use a pistol for competitive shooting on a pistol range in New Zealand may be endorsed for pistols at no fee, and may use the pistol only for target pistol shooting on a certified range (s 187(3); r 83(2); Arms Regulations 2026, sch 2).

Licence-free

An air rifle or an air pistol is an airgun, and from 18 an airgun needs no firearms licence: the Arms Act 2026 sets an age instead (see Age). Neither the Act, its regulations nor the order on high-energy airguns sets an energy limit; what takes an air gun out of this rule is its type (see High-energy airguns). The Act’s licence rule for ammunition does not cover projectiles for airguns, so pellets need no licence either. An ordinary airgun needs no permit to import unless it is a restricted airgun (see Look-alikes). An ordinary airgun is not entered in the Firearms Registry: for the registry, the regulations count as arms items only standard firearms, restricted firearms, pistols, restricted weapons, restricted magazines, major firearm parts and pistol carbine conversion kits, and the regulator says you do not need to register airguns unless they are high-energy airguns.Arms Act 2026, ss 5, 19, 30(3)(b) and 56(1); Arms Regulations 2026, rr 158 and 162 and sch 4 Part 6; the regulator’s page What items must be registered

Age

You may possess an airgun from the age of 18, or at 16 or 17 if you hold a firearms licence or a visitor licence. It may be sold or supplied to you from 18, or at 16 or 17 if you hold a firearms licence.Arms Act 2026, ss 19(1) and 41(3)

Younger shooters

Under 16, or at 16 or 17 without a licence, you may not possess an airgun, but it is a defence that you had it for use under the immediate supervision of a person aged 18 or over or of a firearms licence holder, and were under that supervision the whole time you had it. Whoever sold or supplied it to you for use under such supervision has a defence too. The Act sets no minimum age and does not single out parents: the supervisor may be any person aged 18 or over. A high-energy airgun is a firearm, for which the defence is the immediate supervision of a firearms licence holder (see Under 18).Arms Act 2026, ss 16, 20 and 42(2)(b)

High-energy airguns

A pre-charged pneumatic air rifle is a high-energy airgun, unless it is an airsoft or paintball gun in the configuration it was made in, and so are two named Larc models; that clause of the order does not mention air pistols. The Act counts a high-energy airgun as a firearm, so you need a firearms licence from the Arms Regulator, or a visitor licence, to possess one. Most PCP rifles are standard firearms, as the regulator treats them, and this guide’s rules for standard firearms apply to them: storage, transport, the Firearms Registry and a permit to import. By the Act’s words, though, one shorter than 762 mm is a pistol, which needs a pistol endorsement and a permit, so ask the Arms Regulator before buying a PCP shorter than 762 mm. An airgun capable of fully automatic fire, other than an airsoft or paintball gun in the configuration it was made in, is a restricted weapon, which needs a firearms licence with an endorsement and a permit for that gun.Arms Act 2026, ss 5, 14, 21(1) and (3) and 56(1); Arms Regulations 2026, rr 16–24; Arms (Restricted Weapons and High-energy Airguns) Order 2026, cl 3–5 and Schedule items 4–5; the regulator’s page What items must be registered

Look-alikes

An airgun that looks like a pistol, a restricted firearm or a restricted weapon, with or without the attachments it is usually used with, is a restricted airgun, and so is an airsoft or paintball gun that looks like a fully automatic firearm. The regulator says it needs no licence to possess, and that many airsoft, paintball and BB guns look like this and are therefore restricted airguns for the purpose of importation; the Act’s definition is not limited to importing. Importing one needs a permit, and carrying or possessing one without a lawful, proper and sufficient purpose, which it is for you to prove, can bring up to 2 years in prison or a fine of up to $15,000.Arms Act 2026, ss 8, 56(1)(f) and 255; the regulator’s pages Airgun safety and Items that require a permit or consent to import

Mail order and online sales

A seller may sell an airgun by mail order or online only under a written order signed by the buyer and by an arms officer who has inspected the buyer’s firearms licence and is satisfied that the buyer is fit and proper; airsoft and paintball guns are excepted. The regulator’s form for this, FRM43A, is taken to a Police station.Arms Act 2026, s 55(1)–(2); the regulator’s page Mail order and internet sales forms

Storage

The storage rules in the Arms Regulations 2026 speak of firearms and do not mention ordinary airguns; the regulator calls keeping them securely stored good practice. A licence holder’s airguns still count: a firearms licence must not be issued if, in the chief executive’s opinion, a person who is disqualified or not fit and proper is reasonably likely to get access to any firearm, airgun or ammunition you have, and a licence may be suspended on similar grounds.Arms Act 2026, ss 72(2), 75(1)(a) and 146(2)(c); Arms Regulations 2026, rr 16–24; the regulator’s page Airgun safety

Carrying and transport

Carrying or possessing an airgun in a public place without a lawful purpose is an offence, and once it is shown that you had it there, it is for you to prove the purpose. A public place is any place that is open to or used by the public, free or paid, public transport included. Carrying or possessing an airgun anywhere without a lawful, proper and sufficient purpose is an offence too, and again the purpose is for you to prove. The rules for carrying firearms in a vehicle, on public transport and in other public places (see Your firearms licence, step by step) do not mention ordinary airguns.Arms Act 2026, ss 5, 254 and 257; Summary Offences Act 1981, s 2; Arms Regulations 2026, rr 23–24

Where you may shoot

The Act does not say where you may shoot an airgun; it says how you may not. Firing one, without reasonable excuse, in or near a dwelling house or a public place so as to endanger property or to endanger, annoy or frighten anyone is an offence, and so is firing or handling one in a way likely to injure or endanger anyone. A council may also make bylaws to protect the public from nuisance and to protect public health and safety, so check your council’s bylaws before you shoot outside a range. The regulator says airguns can be used on private property with the owner’s permission. A shooting club that is not a pistol club, an air rifle or air pistol club included, must be enrolled under the Act, and so must a range where pistols cannot be used that a club or the public uses for target shooting, unless it is set up for no more than 2 shooting events in a calendar year, in which case it must be notified instead.Arms Act 2026, ss 212, 222, 239–240, 263 and 265(3); Local Government Act 2002, s 145; the regulator’s page Airgun safety

Penalties

Possessing an airgun under age can bring a fine of up to $1,000, and selling or supplying one to someone the age rule does not allow, up to 2 years in prison or a fine of up to $20,000; possessing a high-energy airgun without a licence, up to 3 years (7 if it is a pistol). Carrying or possessing an airgun in a public place without a lawful purpose can bring up to 3 years or a fine of up to $15,000, and anywhere without a lawful, proper and sufficient purpose up to 5 years or $15,000. Firing one in or near a house or a public place as above can bring up to 3 years, and so can presenting at someone, without reasonable excuse, anything likely to make them believe it is a pistol, a standard firearm, a restricted weapon or an airgun. The Commissioner of Police may also, by written notice, require a person who has never held a firearms licence and whom the Commissioner considers not fit and proper to possess an airgun to hand it over to a constable or an arms officer. Causing injury or death by carelessly using an airgun can bring up to 7 years, and being in charge of one while too affected by drink or a drug to control it, up to 3 years or a fine of up to $15,000.Arms Act 2026, ss 5, 14(3), 19(3), 21(6), 41(6), 254, 257, 262(2), 263, 265(1), 274 and 345

The Arms Act 2026 replaced the Arms Act 1983 on 23 September 2026 and carried the air-gun rules over with the same ages. What the old Act called specially dangerous airguns, pre-charged pneumatic air rifles among them since 15 October 2010, are now called high-energy airguns, declared by a new order that took effect the same day (Arms Act 2026, ss 377 and 393(2)(d); Arms (Restricted Weapons and High-energy Airguns) Order 2026, cl 2; Arms Act 1983, ss 2 and 21; Arms (Restricted Weapons and Specially Dangerous Airguns) Order 1984, cl 3, revoked).

More on air rifles on the Shooter blog →

You may apply for a firearms licence from the age of 16 (s 69(1)(a)). The regulator asks a 16- or 17-year-old without a spouse or partner to give a parent or legal guardian as the next-of-kin referee. It gives 16 as the age for the pistol endorsement as well; an endorsement for restricted firearms needs 18 (s 186(2)).

Without a licence, a person may use a standard firearm under the immediate supervision of a licence holder (s 16); the section names no minimum age. The regulator reads immediate supervision as the licence holder being present, actively supervising, close enough to take control of the firearm and not using another firearm, and says it does not help a person under a firearms prohibition order, a protection order or bail conditions that forbid it.

In a pistol club, a member under 17 may shoot pistols at club activities on a certified range under the immediate supervision of an endorsed member (r 110(1)). From 17, a member without an endorsement may go on doing so only after passing an examination run by an arms officer or an approved person, and while an application for a licence and endorsement, or an endorsement, is pending (r 110(2)).

Air guns under 18, including shooting one under supervision: see Air rifles above.

If your licence application is declined, a condition is imposed or your licence is revoked, you can apply within 90 days for a review by the Firearms Licensing Review Committee (s 80). The original decision remains in force for 5 working days after you are told the committee’s decision (s 82(3)), and you can appeal that decision to the District Court (s 352(1)(c)). A refused or revoked endorsement can also be appealed to the District Court (s 352(1)(a)(vi) and (b)(v)). For a refusal, the regulator’s page says the appeal must be made within 20 working days unless the court gives special leave to extend that time; the Act itself sets no period.

The regulation names no exception for illness or time abroad. The regulator’s conditions page says that if you are unable to meet the participation requirement you must surrender your endorsement and dispose of your pistols, and that you do not need to surrender your firearms licence. The licence is not safe by that alone: failing to observe a condition of an endorsement is one of the grounds on which the Arms Regulator may find you not fit and proper to hold a licence (s 71(1)(h)(iv)), and a licence held by someone not fit and proper may be revoked (s 153(2)).

The chief executive may revoke a pistol endorsement by written notice if you would no longer be entitled to it, or if you have failed to observe any of its conditions, the days of participation among them (s 195(1)). You then lose the right to possess pistols, large-capacity pistol magazines and pistol carbine conversion kits, and must hand in your licence on demand so the endorsement can be cancelled, and the pistols to an arms officer or a Police employee on demand (s 195(3)).

A firearms licence is revoked at once if you become disqualified, and may be revoked if you are no longer fit and proper (s 153). You must surrender it immediately and hand over all arms items and ammunition on demand (s 159), and you cannot apply again for 5 years unless the revocation is reversed (s 69(1)(c)). While the chief executive considers a revocation, the licence may be suspended for up to 90 days (s 146).

After a firearms licence expires, or is surrendered or revoked, you have 3 months, or longer if the chief executive allows, to sell or dispose of your arms items and ammunition to people the chief executive approves (s 164). A pistol may go only to an endorsed holder with a permit for it (s 43), and any arms item may be handed in to a licensed business (s 342).

The Shooter app has no New Zealand defaults: it counts only against figures you set, and counts nothing until you set them. For each gun with a Next activity deadline, it counts the days on which you fired at least your Shots for an approved session with that gun, in the Activity window (months) before that date, against your Sessions per gun. Only the deadline is set per gun; the shot minimum, the number of sessions and the window are one setting each for all your guns.

For the pistol rule, give your pistol the coming 30 June as its deadline, set the window to 12 months and the sessions to 10 (or 12, if your endorsement is from before 23 September 2026 and you follow the cautious reading), and set a shot minimum; the regulation sets none, so 1 counts every day you shot. The window includes the 30 June a year earlier, one day more than the regulation’s year.

The regulation counts your days of club pistol shooting with any pistol, so with more than one pistol each gun’s count can be lower than yours. The club requirement is closer to that: it counts the days on which you marked a session as a club session, with any gun, against a number of occasions you set, over the last number of months you set; 12 months back from today is not the same as the year from 1 July. Either way the app counts what you log, and whether a day was a scheduled club activity is your club’s record (r 112).

Shooter is not affiliated with the Arms Regulator (Firearms Safety and Education New Zealand) or with any shooting association. Your participation is recorded by your club, and the endorsement is the Arms Regulator’s decision.

How many days must I shoot to keep a pistol endorsement in New Zealand?

At least 10 days in each year ending 30 June, taking part in scheduled pistol shooting activities organised by a pistol shooting club or in international pistol events (Arms Regulations 2026, r 83(1)(b)). The 1992 rule said 12, and an endorsement made before 23 September 2026 keeps the conditions it was subject to (Arms Act 2026, Sch 1 cl 13(2)); until the regulator says in writing that the 12 days lapsed, 12 days in each year ending 30 June, until that endorsement ends with your licence, meets both readings.

Does shooting at another club count?

The regulation counts activities organised by a pistol shooting club, not only your own, and your club’s records include other clubs’ activities you took part in (Arms Regulations 2026, rr 83 and 112). The regulator’s conditions page words it as your own club’s activities, so check with your club first. International pistol shooting events count too.

How long is a New Zealand firearms licence valid?

Five years for a first licence, or if your last one was revoked, surrendered or allowed to expire; ten years when you apply for a new one before the old one expires (Arms Act 2026, s 78). If you apply in time and the decision is late, the old licence stays in force until you hear (s 79).

Do I need a licence for an air rifle in New Zealand?

Not from the age of 18: an air rifle or an air pistol is an airgun, which an adult may possess without a licence (Arms Act 2026, s 19(1)(a)). At 16 or 17 you may possess one only with a firearms licence or a visitor licence; without one, or younger, it is a defence that you had it for use under, and were at all times under, the immediate supervision of a person aged 18 or over or a firearms licence holder (ss 19–20). The exception is a pre-charged pneumatic air rifle, a high-energy airgun that the Act counts as a firearm and that needs a firearms licence; the clause of the order that declares high-energy airguns does not mention air pistols (Arms (Restricted Weapons and High-energy Airguns) Order 2026, cl 5). A seller may sell you an air rifle by mail order or online only under a written order signed by an arms officer who has inspected your firearms licence (s 55).

Can I own a semi-automatic pistol for target shooting?

Yes, if it is a small semi-automatic pistol: at most 400 mm long, with a barrel of at least 101 mm, limited to 1,600 feet per second with ammunition named in Pistol New Zealand’s rules, and suitable for a pistol range (Arms Act 2026, s 5). Any other semi-automatic pistol is a restricted firearm, which the pistol club endorsement does not cover (ss 9 and 187(2)).

How old must I be?

Sixteen for a firearms licence (Arms Act 2026, s 69), and the regulator gives 16 for a pistol endorsement too. Younger shooters may use a standard firearm under the immediate supervision of a licence holder, and a club member under 17 may shoot pistols on a certified range under the immediate supervision of an endorsed member (s 16; Arms Regulations 2026, r 110).

What changed on 23 September 2026?

The Arms Act 2026 and the Arms Regulations 2026 replaced the 1983 Act and the 1992 Regulations, and existing licences, endorsements and permits carried over with their dates. For pistol shooters, the regulation now asks for 10 days a year instead of 12, though an endorsement from before that date may keep the 12-day condition (Sch 1 cl 13(2)), and large-capacity pistol magazines became limited to holders of a pistol endorsement (s 28).

What happens if I miss the days?

The regulation has no exception for illness or absence. The regulator says you must then surrender your endorsement and dispose of your pistols, and need not surrender your firearms licence. But the chief executive may revoke an endorsement whose conditions are not observed (Arms Act 2026, s 195), and breaking an endorsement condition is a ground for finding you not fit and proper to hold a licence (s 71(1)(h)(iv)).

How much does a firearms licence cost in New Zealand?

A firearms licence costs $126.50, or $241.50 if your last licence has expired. The pistol endorsement costs $204, for one or more endorsements applied for together, on top of the licence fee (Arms Regulations 2026, sch 2). Fees are paid in advance (r 194), and the regulator says they are not refunded.

How many pistols may I own?

No number is set in the Arms Act 2026 or its regulations. Each pistol needs its own permit to possess or import, issued when it is appropriate for you to have that pistol, and the regulator asks why you want it (ss 208 and 209).