Gun licence for sport shooting in Sweden

Membership

You must be an active member of a target-shooting club that shoots the kind of gun you apply for and is authorised under the weapons law or belongs to an authorised association, or be a regular Home Guard soldier.Vapenförordning (2026:409), 4 kap. 8 §

First handgun

At least six months’ membership and, over the last six months, taking part in the club’s shooting at least twice a month on average.FAP 551-3, 5 kap. 5 §

Already holding a handgun

When you apply for another handgun or to renew a licence: at least six months’ membership and, over the last six months, taking part in the club’s shooting at least once a month on average.FAP 551-3, 5 kap. 6 §

Skill

A handgun that is not effect-limited also needs proof of special shooting skill: one of the badges listed in FAP 551-3, or proof of equivalent requirements, from a test passed within the last two years.Vapenförordning (2026:409), 4 kap. 9 §; FAP 551-3, 5 kap. 2 § and Bilaga 2

Five-year evidence

A licence for a multi-shot handgun or a fully automatic weapon granted from 1 June 2026 has no end date, but every five years Polisen orders you to send in underlag (evidence) that you still need the gun.Vapenlag (2026:408), 4 kap. 10 §; vapenförordning (2026:409), 22 kap. 11 §

Number of guns

To hold more than 10 handguns, or more than 8 other target-shooting guns, you must show a mycket kvalificerat behov (a very strong need) for the extra guns.Vapenförordning (2026:409), 4 kap. 12 §

Vapenlag (2026:408) and vapenförordning (2026:409) replaced the 1996 law and ordinance on 1 June 2026. They rest on the government bill Prop. 2025/26:141, En ny vapenlag (A new weapons law). For target shooters, these are the changes that matter:

• A handgun for target shooting now needs särskilda skäl (special reasons) instead of synnerliga skäl (exceptional reasons). Synnerliga skäl still applies to handguns for protection and to fully automatic weapons (vapenlag 4 kap. 7–8 §).
• New licences for multi-shot handguns and fully automatic weapons are no longer limited to five years. Instead, Polisen asks for underlag of need every five years (vapenlag 4 kap. 10 §; vapenförordning 22 kap. 11 §).
• Five-year licences already granted keep their end date. To keep the gun after that date, you must apply for a licence again.
• The so-called four-week rule has been removed. An application to keep a gun must now reach Polisen early enough for a decision before the old licence runs out (Polisen, Nyheter i vapenlagstiftningen från 1 juni 2026).
• A licence granted on renewal now has no time limit (Polisen’s guidance, 2.7.1). Polisen writes to you three months before a time-limited licence runs out (vapenförordning 22 kap. 4 §).

1. Join a target-shooting club that shoots handguns and is authorised under the weapons law or belongs to an authorised association (vapenförordning 4 kap. 8 §).
2. Stay a member for at least six months. Over the last six months, take part in the club’s shooting, in training or competition, or represent the club in external competitions, at least twice a month on average (FAP 551-3, 5 kap. 5 §).
3. Pass the skill test your club arranges for one of the badges FAP 551-3 accepts (see the skill test below).
4. Ask the club’s board for a föreningsintyg (club certificate) on Polisen’s form PM 551.24. It confirms your activity and, for a handgun, your skill. The certificate is required by vapenförordning 4 kap. 11 § and the form by FAP 551-3, 5 kap. 7 §; Polisen asks for one certificate for each gun you apply for (Polisen, Vapen för målskytte).
5. Apply to Polisen and pay the fee: 990 kr for the first gun applied for and 360 kr for each further gun. The ordinance sets the fee classes and avgiftsförordningen (1992:191) the amounts (vapenförordning 21 kap. 1 §; avgiftsförordningen 10 §). The fee is due whether or not the licence is granted; the payment details come on a bill to your registered address or on Mina sidor, your page on Polisen’s website.
6. Wait for the decision. Polisen currently gives a median handling time of about 28 days for a complete target-shooting or hunting application that needs no further investigation. A licence to acquire a gun is valid for six months unless Polisen sets a longer time (vapenlag 3 kap. 4 §), so buy the gun within that time and store it as the law requires.

Storage rules apply from the day you hold the gun (vapenlag 12 kap.). In short:

• When a gun is not in use, it must be kept in a säkerhetsskåp (security cabinet) or an equally secure space. FAP 551-3 (17 kap. 4 §) asks for a cabinet that meets Swedish standard SS 3492 or equivalent requirements and is certified by an accredited body. Polisen’s own page names SS 3492 or SSF 3492, and the labels on the cabinet show which it meets.
• A cabinet that weighs less than 150 kg empty must be anchored to the building’s structure, or weighted up to 150 kg (FAP 551-3, 17 kap. 6 §).
• Ammunition and silencers must be kept under a secure lock, such as a lockable document cabinet. A locked ordinary wardrobe is not enough (vapenlag 12 kap. 2 §; Polisen’s guidance).
• Guns are kept in your permanent home, or in a building joined to it and reachable from it. You may also use one other home or premises you have access to, such as a holiday home, if it is equally secure and you notify Polisen. Polisen does not approve the place, and a holiday home that stands empty part of the year normally needs an alarm, cameras or someone living there to keep watch. Once you have notified Polisen, the guns may move between the two places without a new notification (vapenlag 12 kap. 3 §; Polisen’s guidance, 9.3.2).
• Leaving your guns with someone else needs a permit, which is time-limited and costs 360 kr (vapenlag 12 kap. 4 §; vapenförordning 21 kap. 1 §). It can be granted when you cannot look after them yourself, when that is more appropriate, or for other special reasons; you no longer need a family tie or any special connection to the place (Polisen, Nyheter i vapenlagstiftningen från 1 juni 2026).
• Polisen may set conditions on how a gun is stored when there is special reason, and you must let Polisen in to check your storage. Refusing without good reason is a ground for revoking the licence (vapenlag 12 kap. 5 and 9 §; 13 kap. 1 § 2).

The rules set no number of guns above which storage must be stronger. The bill behind the law says that the number of guns, their kind and how dangerous they are decide the level of security, and Polisen applies that case by case through conditions.

A handgun that is not effect-limited needs särskild skjutskicklighet (special shooting skill), under vapenförordning 4 kap. 9 §. FAP 551-3, Bilaga 2 (Appendix 2), lists what counts as proof. For a handgun other than an air, CO2 or spring gun, any one of these:

• Pistolskyttemärket in gold from Svenska Pistolskytteförbundet (SPSF)
• The silver badge in international sport pistol, centre-fire pistol or free pistol from Svenska Skyttesportförbundet (SvSF)
• The silver badge of IPSC Sverige (International Practical Shooting Confederation Sverige)
• The pistol-shooting badge in gold of Svenska Svartkruts Skytte Federationen (SSSF)
• Proof that you meet equivalent requirements

A semi-automatic air, CO2 or spring pistol that is not effect-limited needs the same, or SvSF’s silver air-pistol badge (påbyggnadsmärke, the advanced badge). For a submachine gun or another fully automatic weapon, you must have met the requirements for automatvapenskyttemärket (the automatic-weapons badge) in gold for three years.

A badge test for a handgun, other than a hunting gun or an effect-limited air, CO2, spring or harpoon gun, is valid for two years. If your certificate of the passed test is older, you must pass a new one (FAP 551-3, 5 kap. 2 §).

Grönt kort (the green card), a course and test in the rules and safe handling, is not required for a licence (FAP 551-3, 5 kap. 1 §, general advice).

The scores each badge asks for are on its target page, linked above. This guide states only what the regulation accepts.

The aktivitetskrav (activity requirement) is how Polisen judges that you need a handgun for target shooting. The binding figures are in FAP 551-3, 5 kap. 5–6 §; the rest is allmänt råd (general advice).

General advice is not binding the way a regulation is, but it is what Polisen applies when it decides a case, so in practice it sets the bar.

What counts is taking part in the club’s shooting, in training or competition, or representing the club in external competitions (FAP 551-3, 5 kap. 5–6 §). The figures are averages: twice a month over six months comes to 12 occasions, once a month to 6.

Active membership is one of the conditions for the licence itself, not only for the application (vapenförordning 4 kap. 8 §), and a licence whose conditions no longer exist must be revoked (vapenlag 13 kap. 1 § 4). The bill behind the law gives a holder who no longer meets the active-membership requirement as an example of a licence that can be revoked (Prop. 2025/26:141, p. 118). No rule sets a figure for activity between applications.

No rule sets how many shots make a session. The often-quoted figure of 15 shots comes from an SPSF guideline of 2016, not from the regulation. SPSF itself notes that FAP 551-3 does not define a training session in numbers, and its archive marks the 2016 view as not wholly matching Polisen’s in 2024.

As general advice, the club or the member should keep a logbook that shows who it concerns, the date, the place, the activity, the gun or guns used, and who confirms it, such as the range officer’s signature (FAP 551-3, 5 kap. 7 §). Also as general advice, Polisen should as a rule accept what the club certificate says, and ask you for more when special circumstances suggest it is wrong (FAP 551-3, 5 kap.).

When you renew a licence, the activity requirement can be set aside for special reasons, such as a break for illness, pregnancy or service abroad (FAP 551-3, 5 kap. 6 §).

For renewing an old five-year licence, the general advice asks that you trained or competed with that gun at least four times a year over the last two years, and that illness, pregnancy or service abroad are taken into account (FAP 551-3, 5 kap.). How those years are counted, by calendar year or back from the application, is not defined in the rules.

Licences for multi-shot handguns and fully automatic weapons granted from 1 July 2000 to 31 May 2026, of any calibre including .22, were limited to at most five years unless special reasons spoke against it (Polisen’s guidance, 2.7.1). They still run out on the date in the decision: the time limit was not removed from them. To keep the gun, apply for a new licence in good time. Polisen writes to you three months before the end date (vapenförordning 22 kap. 4 §).

With the four-week rule gone, the application must reach Polisen early enough for a decision before the old licence ends. Polisen has a simplified renewal application for this (Polisen, Vapen för målskytte). The application is assessed afresh, and the licence you get has no time limit (Polisen’s guidance, 2.7.1). If you do not meet every condition, Polisen may still renew a time-limited licence when you can be expected to meet them all within the foreseeable future (vapenförordning 4 kap. 19 §).

If you renew several licences together, Polisen charges one fee per applicant, however many guns the application covers (vapenförordning 21 kap. 3 §).

A licence for a multi-shot handgun or a fully automatic weapon granted from 1 June 2026 has no end date. Instead, every five years Polisen orders you to send in underlag (evidence) that you still need the gun, in one order for all such guns you hold (vapenlag 4 kap. 10 §; vapenförordning 22 kap. 11 §). The review is free: it is an order from Polisen, not an application, and the fee list in vapenförordning 21 kap. has no such case. It does not apply to licences granted before 1 June 2026 (vapenlag, övergångsbestämmelser p. 5).

What the underlag must contain is not yet regulated: the government, or an authority it chooses, may issue rules on it (vapenlag 20 kap. 12 §), and none have been issued yet. The bill behind the law says the rules should be no stricter than the EU directive, and that the content of a club certificate should as a rule be accepted as evidence.

Failing to send in the underlag in time without good reason is a ground for revoking the licence (vapenlag 13 kap. 1 § 3).

To hold more than 10 handguns, or more than 8 other target-shooting guns, you must show a very strong need for the extra guns, under vapenförordning 4 kap. 12 §. Polisen weighs your need for the guns you already hold, whether they could meet the new need, and whether you compete at national level or higher.

Below that limit, you must still show a need for each additional handgun. As general advice, you should be an active member under FAP 551-3, 5 kap. 6 §, and have trained or competed at least twice in the last six months with each handgun you already hold (FAP 551-3, 5 kap., general advice). Polisen also weighs why you need the new gun.

If you already hold a handgun of essentially the same design and function, you should also explain why you need a second one. A spare gun for competing at a high level is the regulation’s own example (FAP 551-3, 5 kap., general advice).

• Rifles and shotguns for target shooting: as general advice, six months’ active membership with regular participation in the club’s shooting (FAP 551-3, 5 kap.). The skill badge is for handguns and fully automatic weapons, and licences for rifles and shotguns that are not fully automatic have never been time-limited.
• Hunting: a holder of jägarexamen (the hunting exam) is considered to need guns for hunting, up to ten, unless special reasons speak against it, so there is no activity requirement. That does not cover handguns for hunting (vapenförordning 4 kap. 4, 6 and 15 §).
• Air guns: see Air rifles below.
• Collectors: a gun held for a collection must fall within an approved collection area, and may not be used for shooting without a special permit. The activity requirement in FAP 551-3 is for target shooting (vapenlag 4 kap. 4–5 §; FAP 551-3, 5 kap.).

Licence-free

For anyone aged 18 or over, an air, CO2 or spring gun meant for target shooting needs no licence if it is effektbegränsat (effect-limited): a projectile fired from it must have less than 10 joules of energy 4 metres from the muzzle, or less than 3 joules if the gun is fully automatic. The rule covers air pistols as well as air rifles. The weapons law does not cover pellets or CO2 cartridges at all.Vapenlag (2026:408), 1 kap. 8 § and 2 kap. 2 § 1; vapenförordning (2026:409), 1 kap. 7 §

Age

From the age of 18, you may buy and hold an effect-limited air rifle without a licence. A gun may be sold or given only to someone who has a licence or the right to hold it.Vapenlag (2026:408), 2 kap. 2 § 1 and 3 kap. 5 §

Younger shooters

Under 18, you may borrow an effect-limited air rifle to hold and use under the lender’s supervision, and you may borrow a gun for practice or competition held under the supervision of an authorised target-shooting club or one that belongs to an authorised association. The law sets no minimum age for either. From 15, you may also borrow, under the lender’s supervision, a gun that is neither a handgun nor fully automatic, such as a more powerful air rifle. The lender must be entitled to hold the gun, and a private loan is for single occasions of at most two weeks; a club may lend for its supervised shooting more often.Vapenlag (2026:408), 9 kap. 3, 5 and 7 §

Licence under 18

Having one of your own before 18 needs a licence, granted only as the exception described in the Under 18 section below. You must be an active member of a club that shoots such guns and is authorised or belongs to an authorised association, and its board certifies your activity, skill and personal suitability; as general advice, six months’ membership is not needed. Polisen must weigh whether you could borrow a gun instead. Its guidance sets a lower bar for the exception when the gun is effect-limited, says a licence should be granted to a shooter under 15 only in very special cases, and limits it to your 18th birthday, when the licence-free rule takes over.Vapenförordning (2026:409), 4 kap. 1, 8 and 11 §; FAP 551-3, 5 kap., general advice; Polisen’s guidance, 2.6.4.1

Above the limit

An air gun that is not effect-limited needs a licence from Polisen. For target shooting, you must be an active member of a club that shoots that kind of gun and is authorised or belongs to an authorised association, or be a Home Guard soldier, and, as general advice, have been a member for six months, as for other rifles. No skill badge is needed for a rifle unless it is fully automatic. An air pistol that is not effect-limited is a handgun, so its licence follows the handgun rules: the activity requirement and proof of special shooting skill.Vapenlag (2026:408), 2 kap. 1 §; vapenförordning (2026:409), 4 kap. 8–10 §; FAP 551-3, 5 kap., general advice

Storage

An effect-limited air rifle, licensed or not, needs no security cabinet: it may be stored in another betryggande (adequate) way, which Polisen’s guidance reads as keeping it out of reach of children, for example, rather than mainly as protection against theft. Like any gun, it must be kept so that no unauthorised person can get at it, in your permanent home or a building joined to it, or, after telling Polisen, in one other home or premises you have access to where it is as secure. One that is not effect-limited goes in a security cabinet or an equally secure space. You must let Polisen in to check how you store it.Vapenlag (2026:408), 12 kap. 1–3 and 9 §; Polisen’s guidance, 9.1–9.2

Carrying and transport

You may carry an air rifle in a public place, in a vehicle in a public place, or on the grounds of a compulsory or upper-secondary school only when its kind, the purpose you hold it for and the other circumstances make that justified. In transport, it must be unloaded and, where suitable, taken apart and packed, with secure measures to keep it from anyone unauthorised. These rules cover licence-free air rifles too: the law counts them as skjutvapen (its word for any gun, air guns included).Vapenlag (2026:408), 1 kap. 3 §; 12 kap. 6–7 §

Where you may shoot

Under 18, using an air or spring gun outdoors needs Polisen’s permit inside a detaljplan area (an area covered by a detailed development plan); outside one, it needs that permit or the supervision of someone aged 20 or over. For older shooters, ordningslagen (the Public Order Act) names air and spring guns only in that rule; its permit inside a detaljplan area otherwise covers shooting with eldvapen (guns fired with powder). Any shooting range outside the armed forces needs Polisen’s permit, whatever the gun. A municipality may add lokala ordningsföreskrifter (local public-order rules) for public places and places it treats as public, such as sports grounds and beaches, so check your municipality’s rules before you shoot outdoors.Ordningslag (1993:1617), 1 kap. 2 § and 3 kap. 6 and 8 §; förordning (1993:1632), 1 §

A change came on 1 June 2026: a gun fired by a firing pin and built for cartridges that hold their own propellant, such as a Brocock-type revolver with compressed-air cartridges, is no longer effect-limited, whatever its energy, and needs a licence. Anyone who already held one could keep it without a licence until the end of September 2026. That time has run out, and holding one without a licence is now a weapons offence. To keep it you need a licence, which for a revolver follows the handgun rules; until one is granted, holding it is still an offence. Otherwise transfer it to someone entitled to hold it, or hand it to Polisen for scrapping (vapenförordning 1 kap. 8 §, 4 kap. 9 § and övergångsbestämmelser p. 7; vapenlag 3 kap. 5 §, 11 kap. 5 § and 18 kap. 1 §; Polisen’s guidance, 2.1.1.1.1).

More on air rifles on the Shooter blog →

The age limit for a licence is 18, and 20 for a fully automatic weapon (vapenförordning 4 kap. 1 §). For target shooting or hunting, Polisen may make an exception for a younger shooter if there are special reasons.

A shooter under 18 also needs the consent of every guardian, and the club board must certify skill and personal suitability as well as activity (vapenförordning 4 kap. 2 § and 11 § second paragraph; Polisen’s guidance, 2.6.4.1).

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

If you fall short when you apply, Polisen can refuse the application.

Active membership is one of the conditions for the licence itself, not only for the application (vapenförordning 4 kap. 8 §), and a licence whose conditions no longer exist must be revoked (vapenlag 13 kap. 1 § 4). The bill behind the law gives a holder who no longer meets the active-membership requirement as an example of a licence that can be revoked (Prop. 2025/26:141, p. 118). No rule sets a figure for activity between applications.

After a revocation, you have three months to transfer the gun to someone entitled to hold it or to hand it in for scrapping. Otherwise the state buys it in. Polisen may extend the time by up to six months at a time (vapenlag 14 kap. 1–2 §).

A five-year licence that runs out is different: an expired licence is no right to keep the gun, and the law gives no buy-in for it (vapenlag 14 kap. 1 §). Polisen’s guidance says such a gun must be transferred before the licence runs out, and treats it as an illegal gun if no new application came in on time (Polisen’s guidance, 25.3.6). That is why an application to renew must reach Polisen in good time.

The Shooter app counts the days that qualify under the activity requirement for each gun, and warns you before a six-month period falls short. It exports a PDF logbook that your club can base its certificate on.

Shooter is not affiliated with Polisen or with any shooting association. The certificate is your club’s decision, and the licence is Polisen’s.

Does competition count towards the activity requirement?

Yes. Training and competition in your club both count, and so does representing the club in external competitions (FAP 551-3, 5 kap. 5–6 §).

Does the requirement apply to .22 pistols?

Yes. The activity requirement is about handguns, whatever the calibre. Multi-shot handguns of every calibre, .22 included, were the ones given five-year licences.

Does shooting abroad count?

The rules do not say where. FAP 551-3 counts the club’s own shooting and representing the club in external competitions, and names no country. Ask your club or Polisen before you rely on shooting abroad.

Do I have to renew my five-year licence?

Yes, if you want to keep the gun. A five-year licence granted before 1 June 2026 still ends on its date. Apply for a new licence in good time before then; there is no four-week rule any more. The new licence has no time limit.

Must I keep a logbook?

The regulation does not require one, but its general advice says the club or the member should keep one. FAP 551-3, 5 kap. 7 §, lists what it should show: who, date, place, activity, the gun or guns used, and who confirms it.

How many shots is a training session?

No rule says. The figure of 15 shots is an SPSF guideline from 2016, not part of FAP 551-3.

What if I was ill or abroad?

When you renew, the activity requirement can be set aside for special reasons, such as a break for illness, pregnancy or service abroad (FAP 551-3, 5 kap. 6 §).

How many guns may I own?

Up to 10 handguns and 8 other target-shooting guns; beyond that, you must show a very strong need for the extra guns (vapenförordning 4 kap. 12 §). Below that limit, you must still show a need for each additional handgun: as general advice, at least two sessions in six months with each handgun you already hold (FAP 551-3, 5 kap., general advice).

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

Not from the age of 18, if it is effect-limited and meant for target shooting: a projectile must have less than 10 joules of energy 4 metres from the muzzle (vapenlag 2 kap. 2 §; vapenförordning 1 kap. 7 §). A more powerful air rifle needs a licence from Polisen. Under 18, you need a licence to hold an effect-limited air rifle, but at any age you may borrow one to shoot under the lender’s supervision or at a club’s supervised practice or competition (vapenlag 9 kap. 7 §); outdoors, ordningslagen’s rules for those under 18 still apply (see Where you may shoot).

Do I need a licence for an air pistol?

The rules are those for air rifles in Air rifles, with two differences for one that is not effect-limited: it is a handgun, so its licence follows the handgun rules, the activity requirement and proof of special shooting skill included, and someone aged 15 to 17 may not borrow it under the lender’s supervision as they may a more powerful air rifle (vapenförordning 4 kap. 9 §; vapenlag 9 kap. 7 §).

Does the five-year review cost anything?

No. It is an order from Polisen to send in underlag, not an application, and vapenförordning 21 kap. lists no fee for it. The justice minister said the same in answer to written question 2025/26:886.