Gun licence for sport shooting in the United Kingdom

The first six rules are Great Britain’s; Northern Ireland has its own law, in the last rule and its own section below.

Certificate

Rifles, pistols that are not prohibited, and their ammunition need a firearm certificate from the police. It is granted if the chief officer is satisfied that you are fit to be entrusted with a firearm and not prohibited from having one, have a good reason for each gun, and are no danger to public safety or to the peace.Firearms Act 1968, s. 1 and s. 27(1)

Approved club

If your only reason for a rifle or muzzle-loading pistol is target shooting, the certificate is held on condition that you use it only for target shooting and are a member of an approved club named on it.Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997, s. 44

Probation

An approved club requires at least three months’ probation, with a one-to-one course in safe handling, before full membership, and the police do not normally grant a certificate to someone who is only a probationary member.Home Office, Approval of rifle and muzzle-loading pistol clubs

Handguns

In Great Britain, a firearm with a barrel under 30 cm or an overall length under 60 cm is prohibited without the written authority of the Home Secretary or the Scottish Ministers. Low-powered air weapons, muzzle-loaders and signalling apparatus are excepted.Firearms Act 1968, s. 5(1)(aba)

Term

A certificate lasts five years from its grant or last renewal, and a renewal is tested as a new grant.Firearms Act 1968, s. 27(3) and s. 28A(1)

Use

No law sets a count, but the Home Office guide expects a target shooter to use their guns regularly, say three or more times a year, and the police consider at renewal whether the good reason continues for each of them.Home Office Guide on Firearms Licensing Law, paras 12.53 and 17.42

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has its own law, with no prohibition of small firearms: a pistol for target shooting can be held on a firearm certificate from the Chief Constable.Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2004, arts. 3, 5 and 45

Recent changes in Great Britain that a target shooter meets:

• Since 5 August 2025, an application for a shotgun certificate, like one for a firearm certificate, needs two referees; the rule applies to applications received after 5 September 2025. The new form brought in then also asks about neuro-developmental conditions and time spent abroad. The rule was re-made from 23 March 2026 to correct a drafting defect (Firearms (Amendment) Rules 2025, SI 2025/914; SI 2026/304).
• From 4 June 2026, the fees rose: £204 to grant and £135 to renew a firearm certificate, £200 and £130 for a shotgun certificate, and £48 for a variation that adds a gun (Firearms Act 1968, s. 32(1), as amended by SI 2026/514).
• From 29 June 2026, sound moderators and flash suppressors are no longer firearms. You no longer need a variation to buy one, but having one for a section 1 firearm is an offence unless you hold a firearm or shotgun certificate or an exemption applies (Firearms Act 1968, s. 2A, inserted by the Crime and Policing Act 2026; Guide 12.77–12.80).
• From 29 September 2026, the application form (Form 201) asks for the members of your household and for any second home where the guns will be kept. Certificates granted or renewed from that day carry two new conditions: you must tell the police without undue delay if you are diagnosed with or treated for a relevant medical condition, or one you declared worsens, and if you consult a doctor outside your GP practice about one, giving the doctor’s details and the treatment. The old form is accepted if the police receive it by 29 October 2026 (Firearms (Amendment) Rules 2026, SI 2026/1050).

Pending: the Home Office has promised a public consultation on strengthening the licensing of shotguns. On 15 January 2026 the government said it would publish it shortly (written answer UIN 104116); we found none published on GOV.UK by 12 October 2026.

1. Join a target-shooting club approved by the Home Office, or in Scotland by the Scottish Ministers, for the kind of gun you want: full-bore rifle, small-bore rifle or muzzle-loading pistol. A full member must sponsor you, you sign a declaration that you are not prohibited from possessing firearms, and the club tells the police about your application (Home Office, Approval of rifle and muzzle-loading pistol clubs).
2. Serve the probation: at least three months, attending and shooting regularly, with a one-to-one course in safe handling from a full member or a coach with a qualification the governing bodies recognise. Until you have completed it, you are supervised whenever you have a firearm. The club may set a longer probation, and the police do not normally grant a certificate to someone who is only a probationary member.
3. Apply to the chief officer of police for the area where you live, on Form 201, with one photograph and the names of two referees who live in Great Britain, have known you for at least two years, are of good character, and are not family, a police officer or employee, or a firearms dealer. Name each gun you want by calibre and type, and declare every conviction, spent ones included (Guide 10.3–10.5; statutory guidance 2.21).
4. Ask your GP, or another doctor registered with the General Medical Council, for the medical information the form asks for. The police must not grant a certificate without it, and any fee the doctor asks for is a matter between you and the doctor (statutory guidance 2.26, 2.34 and 2.37).
5. Pay the fee of £204; none is payable if the application is refused (Firearms Act 1968, s. 32(1)(a); Guide 19.6).
6. Expect a home visit. Before a first certificate the police always visit, interview you and, as a rule, your partner and the other members of your household separately, and inspect where you will keep the guns (statutory guidance 2.15–2.17).
7. If the certificate is granted, it lists each gun you may acquire, the ammunition you may buy and hold, and its conditions: normally that the gun is used only for target shooting, while you are a member of the named club, on ranges that are safely built and kept (Firearms Act 1968, s. 27(2); Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997, s. 44; Guide, Appendix 2). The seller enters the gun on the back of your certificate (Guide 10.4).

The law sets no shooting test for a firearm certificate. The safe-handling course during probation is a condition of the club’s approval, not an exam set by the police.

Storage is a condition of every certificate: the guns and ammunition must at all times be stored securely so as to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, access by an unauthorised person (Firearms Rules 1998, rule 3(4); Guide 10.8). The law does not say how, except for a rifle with more than 13,600 joules at the muzzle, such as a .50 BMG: on a certificate granted or renewed since 27 July 2023 it must be stored to at least one of the Level 3 measures of the Home Office Firearms Security Handbook 2020, or equally secure ones (Firearms Rules 1998, rule 3(4)(iv)(aa), inserted by SI 2023/77; Guide 18.39). For other guns, the Home Office guide treats a gun cabinet as the normal standard, or a clamp fixed to the building for a single rifle or shotgun at low risk, and advises keeping ammunition and bolts apart from the guns where that is safe and reasonable (Guide 18.5 and 18.26–18.27). The police do not grant a certificate while they have doubts about your security (statutory guidance 2.17).

Great Britain has no activity requirement in law: no Act or rule sets how often a target shooter must shoot. What stands in its place is good reason, which the police test at grant and at every renewal, and for the lack of which they can revoke a certificate, in whole or for one gun (Firearms Act 1968, s. 27(3), s. 30A(4) and s. 30B).

The figure is guidance, not law. The Home Office guide says that failing to shoot in a year should lead the police to make further enquiries, not to an automatic partial revocation, and gives illness, working away and practice for a particular competition as examples of reasons. It applies to guns held for target shooting, not to collections or deer stalking (Guide 12.53 and 17.42).

Your club keeps the record. An approved club must keep a register of every member’s attendance with the guns used on each visit; for a gun on your own certificate it records the calibre, type, serial number and date, and the club keeps the register for at least six years. The club must tell the police about a member who has not shot with it for 12 months, and within a month about one who leaves, so that the police can check whether that member still uses the guns regularly at another club or range (Home Office, Approval of rifle and muzzle-loading pistol clubs, criteria and notes 6–7; Guide 17.42).

Target shooting need not be competition. It means shooting at targets on ranges where you are allowed to shoot, normally in the disciplines of one of the national shooting organisations, though not necessarily under their competition rules (Guide 12.52).

In Great Britain, a firearm certificate lasts five years from the day it was granted or last renewed, not from the day the old one ran out (Firearms Act 1968, s. 28A(1); Guide 10.24). A renewal is tested as a new grant, with two referees and medical information again, and costs £135 (s. 27(3) and s. 32(1)(b); statutory guidance 2.24 and 2.69).

Apply at least eight weeks before the expiry date. If the police have not decided by the expiry date, the certificate continues automatically for up to eight weeks or until they decide, whichever comes first (s. 28B). Send a signed and dated photocopy and keep the old certificate, which you need to buy ammunition; relying on an expired certificate is unlawful (statutory guidance 6.2, 6.4 and 6.11).

Conditions: the chief officer may attach conditions to a firearm certificate and vary them at any time by written notice, except the prescribed ones (s. 27(2) and s. 29(1)). There is no appeal against a condition imposed at grant, but there is against a refusal to vary one (Guide 10.11).

Variations: a gun that is not already authorised on your certificate needs a variation, even one identical to a gun you sell. Apply on Form 201V. A variation that adds to the number of guns costs £48; a one-for-one exchange, and a variation made together with a renewal, are free (s. 29(2) and s. 32(1)(c); Guide 10.34–10.37). The police may make further enquiries when the use changes, for example a full-bore rifle when your club has only small-bore facilities (Guide 10.36).

If you also hold a shotgun certificate, it can be made to expire on the same day as your firearm certificate. The fee is reduced only when this is done at the grant or renewal of the firearm certificate (Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988, s. 11; Guide 10.28).

Since 1 July 1997, section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968 prohibits any firearm with a barrel under 30 cm or an overall length under 60 cm, other than an air weapon that is not specially dangerous (see Air rifles), a muzzle-loading gun or a firearm designed as signalling apparatus. Small-calibre pistols were at first excepted too; the Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997 removed that exception, wholly in force from 1 March 1998 (Firearms Act 1968, s. 5(1)(aba); Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997, s. 1).

The law speaks of small firearms, not handguns, but in practice this is the handgun ban (Guide 2.42). Possessing one needs the written authority of the Home Secretary, or of the Scottish Ministers in Scotland, which as a matter of policy is normally given only for a commercial need (Firearms Act 1968, s. 5(3); Guide 3.12). Possessing a prohibited small firearm without that authority carries a minimum custodial sentence of five years if you were 18 or over when the offence was committed (21 or over in Scotland), and three years if you were 16 or over but younger, unless the court finds exceptional circumstances (Sentencing Act 2020, s. 311 and Sch. 20, in England and Wales; Firearms Act 1968, s. 51A, in Scotland). The fee rules do price a section 5 authority for a person training for or competing in a sporting competition, which the Home Office lists as Olympic shooter, at £206 (Firearms (Fees) Regulations 2019, regs. 2 and 9; Guide 19.16).

Long-barrelled and long-range pistols are section 1 firearms on your own certificate, but they fall outside the three categories of club approval: a member cannot use one under the club exemption, and one cannot be borrowed at a range by another member. You need access to a range suitable for them (Guide 12.49 and 17.3).

Twelve sites are designated for keeping and firing historic handguns, the National Shooting Centre at Bisley first among them (Guide 9.36). Black powder for muzzle-loaders needs an explosives certificate (Guide 12.51).

A Northern Ireland firearm certificate is valid in Great Britain, but a handgun on it needs the permission of the Home Secretary or the Scottish Ministers to be brought here (Guide 6.21).

Clubs are approved for six years by the Home Secretary in England and Wales and by the Scottish Ministers in Scotland, for full-bore rifles (pistol-calibre gallery rifles included), small-bore rifles or muzzle-loading pistols, depending on the ranges the club can use. Approval costs the club £444, and £372 to renew (Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988, s. 15(5); Firearms (Fees) Regulations 2019, reg. 11; Guide 17.12 and 19.16).

A member of an approved club may, without a certificate of their own, possess a rifle or muzzle-loading pistol and its ammunition while engaged as a member in target shooting, whether or not it is a club gun. The exemption does not let a member buy guns or ammunition, does not cover long-barrelled pistols or section 1 shotguns, and covers only the kinds of gun the club is approved for (Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988, s. 15(1) and (11); Guide 17.3–17.4).

To keep its approval, a club must among other things:

• have at least 10 members, each sponsored by a full member, and run no day or temporary membership;
• give each probationer at least three months’ probation, and never have more probationers than full members;
• have the safe-handling course given one to one by a full member or a coach with a recognised qualification, among them the Range Conducting Officer, Club Instructor and coaching qualifications of the National Small-bore Rifle Association (NSRA);
• hold no more than 12 guest days a year, with each guest supervised one to one and the police told at least 48 hours ahead;
• tell the police about every application for membership, every member who leaves, and every member who has not shot with the club for 12 months.

These are the Home Office criteria for approval (Home Office, Approval of rifle and muzzle-loading pistol clubs). Probation can be waived at the club’s discretion for a full member of another club approved for the same kind of gun, for a firearm certificate holder, or for someone trained to handle such guns in the police or the armed services; you cannot insist on it.

Other ways to shoot without a certificate in Great Britain:

• At a miniature rifle range or shooting gallery where only air weapons and .22 rimfire rifles are used, you may shoot the rifles and ammunition the operator provides. Since 1 May 2025 the operator must hold a firearm certificate (Firearms Act 1968, s. 11(3A)–(4A); Guide 6.4–6.5), and under the Home Office criteria shooters are supervised at all times (Guide 6.10).
• At a time and place the police have approved for shooting at artificial targets, such as a clay shoot, you may use a shotgun (s. 11(6)).
• On private premises you may borrow a rifle, from the age of 17, or a shotgun, for shooting at artificial targets or for hunting, from a certificate holder aged 18 or over who has the right to let others shoot there, or written authority from that person, while the lender or another such holder is with you and you keep to the conditions of the lender’s certificate (s. 11A; Guide 6.23).
• On a club guest day, supervised one to one (Home Office club approval criteria).

In Great Britain there is no general limit on the number of guns, the number per calibre or the time within which you must buy them: the police apply none, provided you have a good reason and secure storage for each gun (Guide 10.35 and 12.6).

Ammunition is authorised in quantities on the certificate. As a guide, 1,000 rounds is not unreasonable for most regular target shooters, and a shooter in a county or national squad may want up to 6,000, mainly in .22 rimfire; bulk buying is not a good reason (Guide 12.54).

A shotgun certificate covers an unlimited number of shotguns, without approval for each gun (Guide 11.2).

These are Great Britain’s rules; Northern Ireland’s are in its own section.

• Shotguns: a shotgun certificate, refused for want of good reason only if the police are satisfied you have none, and sporting or competition use counts as one; the onus is on the police. It carries only the prescribed conditions, lasts five years and costs £200, or £130 to renew (Firearms Act 1968, s. 2, s. 28(1)–(2) and s. 32(1)(d)–(e); Guide 1.9 and 11.11).
• A smooth-bore gun with a barrel under 24 inches, or a magazine that holds more than two cartridges, is not a shotgun in law: it needs a firearm certificate, and a short self-loading or pump-action one is prohibited. For practical shotgun, the Home Office model condition names disciplines approved by the BWSS, the NRA, the NTSA or the UKPSA (s. 1(3)(a) and s. 5(1)(ac); Guide, Appendix 2).
• Air guns: see Air rifles below.
• Hunting: a rifle for deer or vermin goes on a firearm certificate for land you have permission to shoot over, and a new holder is usually limited to land the police consider suitable (Guide 10.16 and 12.9).
• Collectors: genuine collecting is a good reason, but collectors are normally given no ammunition and a condition not to use the guns, and the regular-use expectation does not apply to them (Guide 12.58 and 12.60).

Licence-free

In England and Wales an air weapon needs no certificate unless the law declares it specially dangerous, as it does an air rifle that can give a pellet more than 12 ft-lb (16.27 J) at the muzzle, or an air pistol more than 6 ft-lb (8.13 J). The same lines separate Scotland’s air weapon certificate from the firearm certificate. In Great Britain an air gun that cannot give a pellet more than 1 J is not a firearm at all, and pellets need no certificate.Firearms Act 1968, s. 1(3)(b), s. 1(4)(b) and s. 57(1B); Firearms (Dangerous Air Weapons) Rules 1969 and the Scottish Rules of 1969, rule 2(1)(a), as amended in 1993; Guide 2.45–2.46

Age

In Great Britain no one under 18 may buy or hire an air weapon or its pellets, and no one may sell, let on hire or give them one.Firearms Act 1968, s. 22(1), s. 24(1) and s. 24(4)(a); Guide 7.11 and 7.13

Younger shooters

In England and Wales someone under 18 may have an air weapon with them only while supervised by someone aged 21 or over; as a member of a club approved by the Home Office, in connection with target shooting; at a shooting gallery where only air weapons or .22 rimfire rifles are used; or, from 14, on private premises with the occupier’s consent. No one may hand one over to them otherwise, and a supervisor who lets them fire beyond the premises commits an offence, unless every occupier whose land the pellet went into or across had consented.Firearms Act 1968, s. 22(4), s. 23 and s. 24(4)(b); Guide 7.12 and 7.17

Prohibited persons

Licence-free does not mean anyone may have one. In Great Britain, a custodial sentence of three months to under three years bars you from having an air weapon or its pellets for five years from release, and a suspended one of three months or more for five years from the second day after sentencing; three years or more bars you for life, unless a court lifts the ban.Firearms Act 1968, s. 21(1), (2), (2C) and (6); Guide 2.56

Above the limit

In Great Britain an air rifle over 12 ft-lb that is not a prohibited weapon (below) needs a firearm certificate.Firearms Act 1968, s. 1; Guide 2.46

Prohibited weapons

In Great Britain these are prohibited weapons: an air pistol over 6 ft-lb, or another air weapon over 12 ft-lb, with a barrel under 30 cm or under 60 cm overall; an air weapon disguised as another object; and any air gun that uses a self-contained gas cartridge system. The Home Office guide treats every short air weapon over 6 ft-lb as prohibited.Firearms Act 1968, s. 1(3)(b), s. 5(1)(aba), s. 5(1)(af) and s. 5(1A)(a); Guide 2.46 and 3.3

Storage

Anyone in Great Britain who has an air weapon must take reasonable precautions to stop anyone under 18 from having it, unless the young person may lawfully have it. In England and Wales that includes, since 31 July 2023, storing it whenever it is not in use or being cleaned, repaired, tested or in transit: securely enough that, so far as is reasonably practicable, no one under 18 can get at it, out of their sight, and apart from ammunition for it. A gun cabinet is not required. In Scotland you must also take reasonable precautions for its safe custody, and report a loss or theft to the police as soon as reasonably practicable.Firearms Act 1968, s. 24ZA; Firearms (Air Weapons) (England and Wales) Rules 2023, rule 2; Guide 7.15 and 18.7; Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015, s. 30

Carrying and transport

In Great Britain, having an air weapon in a public place, loaded or not, is an offence unless you have lawful authority or a reasonable excuse, which is for you to prove. The Home Office says that carrying it to and from a shooting club, or taking a new one home from a dealer, might be a reasonable excuse, and advises covering it in transit, in a gun slip for example. Having one on land or in a building as a trespasser, without a reasonable excuse, is also an offence.Firearms Act 1968, s. 19 and s. 20; Home Office, Air weapons: a brief guide to safety; Guide 21.15 and 21.19

Where you may shoot

In Great Britain it is an offence to fire a pellet beyond the premises you are on, unless every occupier whose land it went into or across had consented. In England and Wales it is also an offence, without lawful authority or excuse, to fire within 50 feet (15 m) of the centre of a highway with a carriageway if, as a result, a road user is injured, interrupted or endangered.Firearms Act 1968, s. 21A; Guide 7.16; Highways Act 1980, s. 161(2)

Scotland: since 31 December 2016 you need an air weapon certificate from Police Scotland to use, possess, buy or acquire an air weapon that can give a pellet more than 1 J and is not specially dangerous, unless an exemption applies. You can apply from 14. The police may grant it only if satisfied that you are fit to be entrusted with an air weapon, are not prohibited from having one, have a good reason and are no danger to public safety or the peace. A certificate lasts five years and costs £72, or £48 to renew (Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015, ss. 1–3, 5 and 8; Police Scotland, Air weapons).

Good reason in Scotland: the Scottish Government’s guidance says target shooting at a club, or on private land where it can be done safely, may be one. On private land, whether a farm, woodland or a residential garden, the guidance makes it the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that measures are in place to protect people and animals from harm, and asks for them to be described in the application; shooting where the public have unrestricted access, such as communal gardens, is not acceptable (Scottish Government, Air weapon licensing in Scotland: guide, Appendix 4).

Under 18 in Scotland, a parent or guardian must consent to the application, the certificate limits use to the purposes it names, such as target shooting on private land, events and competitions or an approved air weapon club, and the holder may not buy, hire, accept as a gift or own an air weapon. The certificate lapses at 18, and its fee is lower the older the applicant, from £50 at 14 to £12.50 at 17. A supervisor who lets someone under 18 fire beyond private premises commits an offence (Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015, s. 7 and s. 8(1)(a); Firearms Act 1968, s. 21A(1A); Police Scotland, Air weapons).

Without a certificate in Scotland, you may shoot as a member of an approved air weapon club, at the club, another approved club, an event or a competition, supervised by a club member aged 21 or over if you are under 14; borrow an air weapon from the occupier of private land and use it there, supervised by the occupier, or their employee or agent, who holds a certificate and is 21 or over if you are under 14; shoot at a commercial miniature rifle range or shooting gallery where you reasonably believe the person running it holds a certificate; or take part in an event that has a police event permit (Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015, s. 17 and Sch. 1 paras 1, 10, 11 and 12; Guide 7.21).

Visiting Scotland: someone who does not live there needs an air weapon certificate or, from 14, a visitor permit from Police Scotland to bring an air weapon over 1 J that is not specially dangerous, unless one of the exemptions above applies. A permit lasts up to 12 months and costs £20 for one person; under 18, a parent or guardian must consent to the application (Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015, s. 13, s. 14(2) and Sch. 1 para 9; Police Scotland, Air weapons).

Northern Ireland: an air gun, air pistols included, needs no certificate only if it cannot give a pellet more than 1 J. Anything more powerful needs a firearm certificate from the Chief Constable, like any other firearm, though its pellets need none, and an air gun that uses a self-contained gas cartridge system is prohibited (Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2004, arts. 2(2), 3, 45(1)(aa) and Sch. 1 para 9; Guide 25.2; PSNI, Firearms and Explosives Branch).

No certificate is granted in Northern Ireland under 18, except at 16 or 17 for acquiring and possessing an air gun, but not buying one: for sport or pest control, under the supervision of someone aged 21 or over who has held a certificate for that type of gun for three years, with such a person responsible for storing it; or, with a parent’s or guardian’s written permission, and a parent or guardian responsible for storing it, for pest control or protecting livestock on agricultural land that the young person occupies, or works and lives on (Order, arts. 5(3) and 7).

Without a certificate in Northern Ireland, you may use an air gun of up to 8.13 J for an air pistol or 16.27 J otherwise at a miniature rifle range or shooting gallery whose operator holds a firearm certificate for it. At an authorised club, the club exemption set out in the Northern Ireland section covers air guns too (Order, Sch. 1 paras 7 and 8).

In Northern Ireland, having an air gun in a public place, loaded or not, is an offence without lawful authority or a reasonable excuse, and so is trespassing with one, or firing any firearm on a public road, within 18 metres of its centre, or in a church, churchyard or burial ground. PSNI says a firearm moved by vehicle must be hidden from direct view and kept in a locked box or secured to an anchorage point. A resident of Great Britain who brings an air gun over 1 J that needs no firearm certificate there must first get a certificate of approval from the Chief Constable, which costs £11 (Order, arts. 18, 61 and 62 and Sch. 6 para 11; PSNI, Firearms and Explosives Branch).

More on air rifles on the Shooter blog →

In Great Britain no one under 18 may buy or hire a firearm or ammunition (Firearms Act 1968, s. 22(1); Guide 7.2).

A firearm certificate can be granted from 14, for possessing guns and acquiring them by loan or gift, but not for buying them. Under 14, a child may have a section 1 firearm only as a member of an approved club, at a miniature rifle range or carrying it for an adult; for competitive target shooting, a parent’s certificate can be granted or varied with the child as the good reason (s. 22(2); Guide 7.2 and 7.31–7.32).

For a holder under 18, a parent, a guardian or an authorised adult must take responsibility for secure storage (Firearms Rules 1998, rule 3(4)(iv)(c); Guide 7.39).

A shotgun certificate has no minimum age, but under 15 you may have an assembled shotgun with you only under the supervision of someone aged 21 or over, or while it is in a securely fastened gun cover so that it cannot be fired (s. 22(3); Guide 7.26).

Air guns: see Air rifles.

A refusal to grant, renew or vary a certificate can be appealed to the Crown Court in England and Wales, or to the sheriff in Scotland. In England and Wales notice of appeal is due within 21 days of receiving the decision; in Scotland the appeal is a summary application to the sheriff, to be made within 21 days of receiving it. The court decides on the merits, may consider new evidence, and must have regard to the statutory guidance (Firearms Act 1968, s. 28A(6), s. 29(2), s. 44 and Sch. 5, Part II para 2 and Part III paras 1–2; Guide 20.6–20.7).

The police may revoke a firearm certificate if they believe you are unfit to be entrusted with a firearm or a danger to public safety or the peace, if you are prohibited, or if you no longer have a good reason; they may revoke it for one gun alone when the good reason for that gun has gone. A shotgun certificate may be revoked if you are prohibited or a danger (s. 30A–30C).

After a revocation you must surrender the certificate within 21 days, or within 21 days of an appeal failing. Where the revocation is for unfitness, danger, prohibition or lack of good reason, the police may instead require you to surrender the certificate and the guns at once (s. 30D; Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988, s. 12(1)).

You keep title to the guns. Surrendered guns are returned if your appeal succeeds; if it fails, the court may order how they are disposed of; without an appeal, they are disposed of as you and the police agree, or as the police decide, which you can appeal (Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988, s. 12(3)–(4); Guide 10.45–10.46). The police tell your club about a refusal or a revocation (Guide 17.27).

If you do not apply to renew, the police check before the expiry date that you have arranged to dispose of the guns, and having them after it without a certificate is an offence (statutory guidance 6.3 and 6.11; Firearms Act 1968, s. 1).

Not shooting for a year should lead the police to make enquiries, not to an automatic partial revocation (Guide 12.53); if the enquiries show you no longer have a good reason for a gun, the police can revoke the certificate for that gun (s. 30B).

The Firearms Act 1968 does not extend to Northern Ireland, which has its own law, the Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2004. The Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) grants firearm certificates, and one certificate covers all firearms, shotguns included (Guide 25.1–25.2; Order, art. 5).

Target pistols: the Order’s list of prohibited weapons has no category for small firearms, and a handgun needs a firearm certificate like any other firearm. The Chief Constable may grant one if satisfied that you can have the gun without danger to public safety or to the peace, and must not grant it unless satisfied that you are a fit person to be entrusted with a firearm and have a good reason for each gun and its ammunition, and never to a prohibited person (Order, arts. 3, 5(1)–(2), 5(4) and 45).

Clubs: the Chief Constable authorises firearms clubs for five years, for £71, and an authorisation can cover full-bore rifles, small-bore rifles and handguns, depending on the ranges. A member may use firearms without a certificate while engaged as a member in drill or target shooting, and your certificate names the club you belong to (Order, art. 8(1), art. 49, Sch. 1 para 7 and Sch. 6; Guidance on Northern Ireland Firearms Controls, Articles 49–51, para 12).

Membership first: the 2005 Guidance on Northern Ireland Firearms Controls, which PSNI links as its guide to the law, says that someone whose only reason for a rifle or pistol is target shooting must have been a member of an authorised club for at least a year before an application is considered, after which the Chief Constable requires a letter of recommendation from a club official; its club criteria set a probation of at least 12 months (Guidance on Northern Ireland Firearms Controls, Appendix 3, para 40, and Articles 49–51, para 7(q)). No newer guidance was found. PSNI’s page says one of your two referees may be a club official who has known you for a year; the 2005 guidance says one must be (PSNI, Firearms and Explosives Branch; Guidance on Northern Ireland Firearms Controls, Article 4, para 4).

A first certificate, or one for a gun of a significantly different type, may carry a condition that for a set period you have the gun loaded only under the supervision of someone aged 21 or over who has held a certificate for that kind of gun for three years (Order, art. 6(4)–(5)).

Use: as in Great Britain, the 2005 guidance expects a target shooter to use their guns fairly regularly, say three or more times a year, and says a year without shooting should lead to enquiries rather than automatic revocation; an authorised club reports a certificate holder who has not shot with it for 12 months (Guidance on Northern Ireland Firearms Controls, Appendix 3, para 43, and Articles 49–51).

Term and fee: a certificate lasts five years from its grant, and you then apply for a new one in good time. A grant costs £98 and a variation £30. The Department of Justice proposed on 30 March 2026 to raise all fees by 153% plus inflation, but withdrew the consultation on 27 May 2026 and said a new one would follow at a later date; the fees in the Order were unchanged on 12 October 2026 (Order, art. 8(2) and Sch. 6; Department of Justice, 30 March and 27 May 2026).

Age: no certificate is granted under 18, except at 16 or 17 for a shotgun or a .22 rimfire rifle for pest control or livestock, for a shotgun for sport or pest control under supervision, and for air guns, air pistols included, as set out under Air rifles. No other pistol is among them (Order, arts. 2(2), 5(3) and 7).

Revocation: the Chief Constable may revoke a certificate if you are not fit or have no good reason, and must if you are a danger or prohibited. You then have 21 days to surrender the certificate and the guns; unlike in Great Britain, an appeal does not put the surrender off, only a notice to dispose of the guns. You can appeal a refusal, a revocation or a condition, by written notice served within one month of being told of the decision, to the Department of Justice, or to the Secretary of State where national security information is involved; the decision says which (Order, arts. 9, 10 and 74(3); Firearms (Appeals and Applications) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005, Schedule, para 2).

Storage: PSNI requires a gun cabinet to BS 7558 (1992), secured to the fabric of the building (PSNI, Firearms and Explosives Branch).

The Shooter app has no British defaults: counting per gun is off until you set it up, and it counts against figures you choose. Three settings, each one for all your guns, decide what counts: the shots a gun must fire on one day for that day to count (Shots for an approved session), the number of such days (Sessions per gun), and the activity window in months. The only setting for each gun is its next activity deadline. To follow the Home Office guide’s three or more times a year, set the shots, 3 sessions and a 12-month window, and give each gun your certificate’s expiry date as its deadline. The app then counts, for each gun, the days in the twelve months before that date on which you reached the shots you set with it, and can warn you before the date if the count falls short. It looks at the year before the date, not at each of the five years; to check every year, give the gun a date one year ahead and move it on each year.

For the club, set the club requirement’s occasions to the number of club days you want and its activity window to 12 months: the app counts the days in that window on which you marked a session as a club session. It exports your sessions as a PDF or CSV report. The record the police rely on is your club’s attendance register.

Shooter is not affiliated with the police or with any shooting association. Good reason is the police’s judgement, and the attendance record is your club’s.

Can I own a pistol for target shooting in the UK?

Not in Great Britain: since 1997 a firearm with a barrel under 30 cm or an overall length under 60 cm is prohibited without the authority of the Home Secretary or the Scottish Ministers (Firearms Act 1968, s. 5(1)(aba)). Long-barrelled pistols, muzzle-loading pistols and low-powered air pistols are not caught. In Northern Ireland a target pistol can be held on a firearm certificate.

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

In Great Britain, an approved club’s probation lasts at least three months, clubs may set longer, and the police do not normally grant a certificate to someone who is only a probationary member. In Northern Ireland, the 2005 guidance that PSNI links asks for at least a year’s membership of an authorised club before an application is considered.

How often do I have to shoot to keep my firearm certificate?

No law sets a number. The Home Office guide expects a target shooter to use their guns regularly, say three or more times a year, and the police consider at each renewal whether the good reason continues. Your club tells the police if you have not shot with it for 12 months.

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

In England and Wales, not for an air rifle up to 12 ft-lb (16.27 J) or an air pistol up to 6 ft-lb (8.13 J), though you must be 18 to buy one; a more powerful air rifle needs a firearm certificate, or is prohibited if it is short. In Scotland an air rifle or air pistol over 1 J, up to the same limits, needs an air weapon certificate from Police Scotland, available from 14, unless an exemption applies, such as shooting as a member of an approved air weapon club. In Northern Ireland an air gun over 1 J needs a firearm certificate from the PSNI.

How long does a firearm certificate last?

In Great Britain, five years from its grant or last renewal (Firearms Act 1968, s. 28A(1)). Apply to renew at least eight weeks before it expires: if the police have not decided by the expiry date, it continues for up to eight weeks while they do (s. 28B). In Northern Ireland a certificate lasts five years from its grant, and you apply for a new one in good time; there is no automatic extension (Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2004, art. 8(2); Firearms Act 1968, s. 28B(5)).

How much does a firearm certificate cost?

Since 4 June 2026, £204 to grant and £135 to renew, and £48 for a variation that adds a gun; a shotgun certificate costs £200, or £130 to renew (Firearms Act 1968, s. 32(1)). No fee is due if the application is refused, and your doctor may charge for the medical information. In Northern Ireland a grant costs £98.

Can I try target shooting without a certificate?

Yes. In Great Britain, a member of an approved club may shoot the kinds of gun the club is approved for while engaged in its target shooting, clubs hold up to 12 guest days a year, and anyone may shoot the .22 rifles provided at a miniature rifle range (Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988, s. 15; Firearms Act 1968, s. 11).

Is there a limit on how many guns I can own?

Not in Great Britain. The police apply no general limit to the number of guns, the number per calibre or the time to buy them, as long as you have a good reason and secure storage for each (Home Office guide, 10.35). A shotgun certificate covers any number of shotguns.

How old do I have to be?

In Great Britain you can hold a firearm certificate from 14, but you cannot buy or hire a gun or ammunition until 18 (Firearms Act 1968, s. 22(1); Home Office guide, 7.2). In Northern Ireland the age is 18, with limited exceptions from 16, which include air pistols but no other pistols.