Steps to Acquire a NSW Firearms Licence

Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
Pre Requisites........................................................................................................................................2
Safety Course.....................................................................................................................................2
What can prevent you from obtaining a licence................................................................................3
Completing Your Application.................................................................................................................3
Obtaining the required documents...................................................................................................3
Genuine Reasons...............................................................................................................................4
What type of licence should I apply for?...........................................................................................6
Safe Storage Requirements...................................................................................................................8
Purchasing Your Firearms......................................................................................................................9
Permit to Acquire............................................................................................................................10
Selling a firearm...............................................................................................................................11
Disposing of a non- functional firearm or a firearm unable to be sold............................................11
Questions?...........................................................................................................................................12
Introduction
Firstly a big thankyou from all shooters and firearms enthusiasts for deciding to obtain your licence!

Shooting is one of the safest sports in Australia, is at times challenging and rewarding, has a great
atmosphere, has a good social element and is steeped in history.

Hunting plays an extremely important part in maintaining the ecological balance within Australia and
the safety of our native wildlife depends on people like you to help contain and eliminate introduced
pests, feral vermin and participate in necessary maintenance of the population of certain animals to
both ensure an adequate food supply and ensuring that infant plants / trees are not destroyed long
before they can become a fully developed tree which could be a habitat or a food source for our
valuable native species.

Without people like you applying for and receiving their licence these important elements fall out of
balance and can lead to catastrophic consequences such as mass deforestation and the further
endangerment – and possible extinction – of some of our most vulnerable native wild life.

The first step in acquiring your licence is to decide what you want to achieve with it, are you looking
to:

- Hunt on a friends property

- Hunt on your own property
- Compete in events relating to firearms such as trap shooting
- Hunt in recreational sense
- Undertake vermin control
- Start a business that’s primary means of revenue is pest control
- Possess firearms for control of animals on your own rural property at which you produce

Pre Requisites
Safety Course
Before applying you must undertake an approved Firearms Safety Training Course, without this your
application cannot be considered or processed, also remember that once you have completed the
course – which is a relatively simple theory test of which you are given notes to read prior to
attempting combined with some practical elements that are demonstrated to you by an accredited
instructor – you only have a certain timeframe to use that to apply for a licence so please SAVE THE
DATE – you cannot do the safety course, let the certificate sit for 5 years and then expect it to
remain valid.

What can prevent you from obtaining a licence

Firstly you must check if you are eligible to obtain a licence in NSW, on your application form there
are a series of questions asking “Yes” or “No”, to summarise the following are minor issues that will
prevent you from obtaining a licence and are easily rectified:

- If you lack a “genuine reason” (see below on what are acceptable reasons)
- You have not completed an approved training course
However there are some issues that will mean you cannot hold a NSW firearms licence of any
description if:

- You have committed a “prescribed offence”, these include but are not limited to:
o Sexual offences
o Violent offences
o Offences related to prohibited drugs
o Robbery
o Terrorism-related offences
o Offences relating to organised crime and criminal groups
o Firearms or weapons offences
o Fraud, dishonesty and stealing offences
- You have been issued with an AVO or interim AVO
- You are not considered to be a “fit and proper” person

With regard to prescribed offences and AVO related issues it is possible to apply after 10 years has
elapsed since either the offence was committed or the cessation date of an AVO, however just
because 10 years has passed there are no guarantees of success in application.

With regard to the “fit and proper” person grounds of refusal this is done on the assumption that
you may be a danger to public safety on the basis that you may have had:

- Criminal associations at one point or in an ongoing capacity

- Mental health problems
- A history of domestic violence or similar
- Criminal intelligence existing at some point, or still on file and admissible, that presents the
impression that you should not be issued a licence

If you fall into these categories then this guide does not contain advice or recommendations on how
to overcome those requirements nor does it suggest a recommended course of action for appealing

Completing Your Application

Obtaining the required documents
To start the process you will firstly need to request the forms to fill out to apply for a licence.

Regrettably these cannot be downloaded from the internet or copied from another as they arrive
with many parts pre populated.

You will need to go to:

http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/services/firearms/request_for_firearms_license_application_form

And fill in the required fields and submit the request, it may take a while before the forms arrive in
the post.
Genuine Reasons
One section you will see is titled “Genuine Reasons”, it appears as pictured below:

As stated on the website you can have more than one valid reason, but each reason will require
evidence, for example if you are applying for Recreational Hunting / Vermin Control you will need
either:

- A letter of approval from the holder of a large (the bigger the better) piece of land stating
that you have permission you hunt on that land and a brief description of the particular
pests / vermin you would be expected to encounter
- The section of the application relating to this filled out by the land owner as pictured below
In either case the size of the land must be mentioned along with the exacting address, post code and
any other prescribed details, this can also be added as a genuine reason later to an existing licence
by way of an additional form found at:
http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/131194/RHVC_Authority_1.1_March_2
012.pdf

A full list of requirements relating to the “Genuine Reasons” can be found at:

http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/services/firearms/licences/licence_and_genuine_reasons

A summary table is pictured below:

What type of licence should I apply for?
This will depend largely on your circumstances and ability to meet the genuine reason criteria.

The available licence categories are:

- Category A
- Category B
- Category C
- Category D
- Category H
You can apply for multiple Categories on the one application form provided you have the genuine
reasons applicable to each category.

Category A allows a licence holder access to:

- Air rifles
- Rimfire rifles (other than self-loading)
- Shotguns (other than pump or self-loading)
- Shotgun / rimfire combinations

Category B allows a licence holder access to:

- Muzzle-loading firearms (but not pistols)

- Centre fire rifles (other than self-loading)
- Shotgun / centre fire rifle combinations

Category C allows a licence holder access to:

- Self-loading rimfire rifles (magazine capacity of 10 rounds maximum)

- Self-loading shotguns (magazine capacity of 5 rounds maximum)
- Pump action shotguns (magazine capacity of 5 rounds maximum)
There are limits on the amount of self-loading firearms one can own under this category

Category D allows a licence holder access to:

- Self-loading centre-fire rifles

- Self-loading rimfire rifles (magazine capacity of 10 rounds maximum)
- Self-Loading shotguns (magazine capacity of 5 rounds maximum)
- Pump action shotguns (magazine capacity of 5 rounds maximum)
- Any firearm available under Category C

Category H

- Pistols

There are some size limitations on pistols and differing waiting periods, for the early part of having
your licence your choice of pistol is somewhat restricted – discuss this with your local gun shop for
exacting advice and what is available to you so you physically see what you will be able to buy.

This document does not intend to outline the process to obtain a “Dealers Licence”.
Regardless of what Category licence you decide to apply for please keep in mind that you are legally
only entitled to use the firearms listed for their “genuine reason” – for an example of this refer to
the table above and we can see that Category C licence class weapons have no provisions for:

- Recreational Hunting / Vermin Control

- Vertebrate Pest Control
- Rural Occupation
- Business or employment
- Animal Welfare

This implies (and is true) that the licence class is for primary producers only in essence, meaning that
even if you could somehow obtain a Category C licence by deception you can’t legally take the
firearms off the property they are licenced for to hunt elsewhere – there is obviously nothing
physically stopping you, but I wouldn’t like to get caught.

The most common type of licences in NSW, and by far the easiest to obtain a genuine reason for, are
the Category A and Category B licence.

In comparison the Category C and D licences are somewhat harder to obtain.

Category C essentially requires rural land ownership or employment on rural land in a capacity
requiring the use of a Cat C firearm.

Category D is basically for professional shooters who derive the entirety of their income or a
significant portion of it from shooting – we will not be discussing Category C or D licences in depth at
any point because they are highly restrictive, uncommon for the most part, require an upgraded
level of safe storage and in most cases unusable for anything but their intended purpose – yes it is
PHYSICALLY possible to go hunting with friends and take a semi-automatic AR15 but that particular
firearm being under Category D means it cannot LEGALLY be used for this.

Although it is the eventual goal of Firearm Owners United for more sensible gun laws to prevail and
allow greater access to self-loading rifles and similar for hunting this is currently not the case – at
some point in the future we would love to be revising this document and talking about how it is now
all a lot more uniform.

In comparison to the Category D restrictions, your Category A / Category B licenced shotgun / rifle
can be used for:

- Target shooting
- Hunting with friends
- Primary Production duties
- Vertebrate pest control
- Animal welfare
- Rural occupation
Safe Storage Requirements
So your licence is in process or you have it – in any case you will need a lockable safe in which to
keep them.

Unlike QLD, NSW is very prescriptive on safe’s, you can buy them at Bunnings but they must either
be bolted to the floor at four points or to avoid this requirement weigh over 150kg when empty.

Being realistic – don’t skimp on this one, some firearms cost a lot of money and some are
collectable, least of all you don’t want them falling into criminal hands in the event of a break in.

The better a safe you buy, the more at ease you will be – it is acceptable to have one that either
opens by key or by keypad with advantages and disadvantages to each.

The advantage of a key pad operated safe is that you cannot lose the key per se given that you input
a code to open it, however there is a backup key supplied with these in case the battery goes dead.

The advantage of a key operated safe is that it will not open without the key – no amount of
guesswork will open it without the key, however a lock can be broken with the right tools.

I have found a good compromise is to have a key operated gun safe and a smaller electronic keypad
safe in which the keys are kept.

For Category A and B the storage requirements are the same:

- Firearms stored inside when not in use

- Ammunition removed from firearms
- Ammunition stored in a locked receptacle such as an ammo box or separate compartment of
the safe
- If possible firing mechanisms removed or locked out (For example the bolt removed or a
pass through lock that goes through the action is in place so as to prevent the firearm from
chambering a round)
- 4 dynabolts holding it to the ground or a solid wall
- No dynabolts are required if it’s over 150kg when empty
- It must not be left unlocked for “ease of access”
- Magazines are to be stored unloaded

For all information on Cat a and B storage requirements see:

http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/131178/Safe_Storage_Level_One_FACT
_Sheet_-_March_2015_V1.6.pdf

Categories C, D and H require a more stringent level of storage, information relating to them is
available here:

http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/131179/Safe_Storage_Level_Two_FACT
_Sheet_-_March_2015_V1.7.pdf
Purchasing Your Firearms
Prior to purchasing a firearm in NSW a licence holder must complete and pay for a “Permit to
Acquire” (or PTA) for short.

Discussions are currently underway to take this process online as it is in other states, but for now
NSW utilise a paper based method of approval that can be tracked online using your licence number.

Permit to Acquire

Picture above is part of a NSW PTA, take careful note of the instructions as sometimes even the most
minor mistake can be grounds for rejection.

Take special care to:

- Spell your name correctly AND IN FULL , DO NOT ABBERVIATE, WRITE WHAT IS ON YOUR
LICENCE
- Use black pen ONLY
- Use capital letters only
Next place a “X” in the relevant box – remember one box only, you need a PTA for each firearm
purchase.

Only place a X in a box of a firearm relevant to your licence – these things are $30 a shot, if they
reject it you may still pay a fee.

The box marked with an X must be consistent with the firearm so for example an Adler lever action
shotgun will come under “Category A – A3 Shotgun (other than pump action or self loading)”.

There are no calibre limits for long arms in NSW, so as strange as it sounds you will spend most of
your time ticking “B2 –Centre-Fire Rifle (other than self loading)” as this applicable from a .22 single
shot, to a .308 pump action, to a 300 Win Mag lever action from Browning, to a .338 Lap Mag from
Sako and all the way up to a 50 BMG bolt action from Barrett.

Nowhere on the form does it ask you specify calibre – so don’t, that will come through on your
registration.

This then leaves us with the all-important part – paying for it!
It is pre-populated for $30 and self-explanatory – just make sure you put the right numbers and
dates in.
Selling a firearm
Not unlike purchasing a firearm, the sale of them is also heavily regulated and requires a transacting
dealer.

On the registration paper for a firearm there is a disposal section on the rear not unlike a set of car
registration papers in NSW.

If you wish to sell a firearm this must be filled out and transacted appropriately by either a firearms
dealer or police officer.

Many websites offer a firearms classifieds of sorts – remember that Facebook has expressly banned
the sale of firearms – accessories are fine but no firearms per se.

Disposing of a non- functional firearm or a firearm unable to be sold

This may be necessary due to breakage or one becoming non serviceable or no longer economic to
repair or refurbish.

Despite the fact it is probably the best way to destroy it – gas axing it is not allowed.

Take it to a police station, tell them what you want to do and there should be a small amount of
paperwork to fill out.

As for unregistered firearms:

“If you come into possession of an unregistered firearm:

You must immediately surrender the firearm to police. It is an offence for a person to supply, acquire,
possess or use a firearm that is not registered

That’s from the NSW Police website – note how there are no guarantees that you will not be
prosecuted? – So think long and hard about volunteering to do this for anyone, after all what is
stopping them from doing it?

There is generally nothing wrong with handing in grandads old shotgun because he has passed away,
it’s from 1920, its old steel and shouldn’t be loaded with modern shells and nan doesn’t want it
around the house anymore because she never did in the first place – they are understanding of that
kind of issue.

They will / may be somewhat less receptive and a lot more suspicious about handing in
“grandads” “old” 2015 model Wilson Combat Super Sniper in .223 with a 30 round magazine,
missing serial number and a fully functioning gas system…………..

Questions?
If you have any questions about any part of the process please do not hesitate to contact the
Firearm Owners United team on Facebook.