News and Events

Gun Safe Portal Enhancements – Customer Enquiries

We have a significant update to the Gun Safe Portal with Phase 2 of Customer Interactions – NEW 'Customer Enquiries' transactions.

This enhancement will allow Customers and Dealers to seamlessly submit enquiries and requests to the Firearms Registry directly through their Gun Safe and Firearms Dealers Portal account.

Key Features of the 'Customer Enquiries' Transaction:

The 'Customer Enquiries' transaction consolidates various processes that customers previously handled through different channels into one single platform.

With over 25 different customer request types available, the dynamic functionality of this transaction is designed to capture information specific to the Customer’s enquiry or request. Some of the additional transactions include:

  • Cancel a Licence or Permit
  • Change an Existing Licence
  • Change of Name
  • Gun Safe Technical Support
  • Notify the Firearms Registry when Moving Interstate
  • Provide Information Regarding a Licence Suspension
  • Request a Replacement Photographic Advice
  • Request an Internal Review
  • Review Special Licence Conditions
  • Submit a B709 Application to Import a Firearm or Weapon
  • Submit a General Licence Enquiry

Existing communication measures, such as email or phone will remain available for those who prefer these options. However, there are numerous benefits for customers who have existing Gun Safe accounts, including faster processing times, SMS notifications for real time updates if a mobile number was included in your enquiry or one is held by the Firearms Registry, and real time access and monitoring of your enquiries and requests.

In addition to offering numerous benefits, the portal provides enhanced overall security, providing users a safe, secure platform for communications.

To assist you in navigating these updates seamlessly, easy to follow Quick Reference Guides and instructional videos have been made available. These guides and video provide step by step instructions on how to submit a new enquiry and view submitted enquiries.

Gun Safe Portal Enhancements

Gun Safe will undergo major improvements in 2024, designed to create a better user experience.

The first of the changes have now been implemented, which enables customers with a Gun Safe account and those who have not used Gun Safe before to send emails which then automatically generates a case in Gun Safe. Customers can still email the Registry; however, a new option to reply and track emails directly within the Gun Safe portal is available.

In addition, users can now receive SMS notifications to receive real time updates if they have registered their mobile number with the Firearms Registry.

The improvements will not only provide greater convenience but will see overall security enhanced, offering users a safe, secure platform for communications.

The Firearms Registry is committed to making Gun Safe processes faster and more efficient with further changes set to be implemented through 2024.

To assist you in navigating these updates seamlessly, please see these easy-to-follow Quick Reference Guides outlining how to view and respond to emails from within the Gun Safe Portal:

Firearms Licence Qualification Course Review

On 16 November 2023, the Firearms Registry hosted the inaugural consultative group meeting to review the Firearms Licence Qualification Course (FLQC). Each attendee had the opportunity to express their reasons for participating. Despite their diverse backgrounds, the general view expressed by the group was that the existing FLQC could be improved and that any changes must effectively balance both safety and regulatory considerations without becoming excessively burdensome. The consultative group raised several questions and issues, which will be explored over the course of the review.

Enhanced Gun Safe Functionality - Digital Permits to Acquire firearms, Registration Certificates and Renewal Notices

Release dates:

  • Digital Permits to Acquire a Firearm - 5 July 2023
  • Digital Registration Certificates - 12 July 2023
  • Digital Renewal Notices - Early June 2023

Permits to Acquire a Firearm (PTAs) and Registration Certificates will be issued digitally to customers with a Gun Safe account. The Firearms Registry will send customers an email notifying that their PTA or Registration Certificate has been issued and is available via the Gun Safe Customer Portal under the 'My Documents' tile.

Customers who do not have a Gun Safe account will receive their issued PTA or Registration Certificate through the mail.

Customers will need to present their issued PTA to a dealer when completing the acquisition of a firearm. If the dealer is submitting transactions through the Gun Safe system, the customer can present their issued PTA by displaying it on a mobile device via their Gun Safe account. If the dealer is not submitting their transactions through Gun Safe, the dealer will need to be provided a printed version of the issued PTA and Registration Certificate.

The firearms dealer completes the necessary transaction and/or paperwork to transfer ownership of the firearm and provides this to the Firearms Registry. The Firearms Registry will issue a registration certificate (either digitally or through the mail) to the new owner as proof of registration.

Renewal notices for firearm licences (individual, business, dealers, clubs and government agencies), firearm permits, prohibited weapon permits, employee authorities and range approvals will be issued through the Gun Safe Customer Portal. Customers with a Gun Safe account will receive an email advising of the need to renew their authority with a link to the appropriate renewal process.

If you do not have a Gun Safe account, you will continue to receive your renewal notice through the mail.

Enhanced Gun Safe Functionality - Updates to Personal and Business Details including safe storage locations

On Wednesday 22nd March 2023, the Firearms Registry implemented an enhancement to the safe storage transaction to allow customers to also update their phone number, residential and postal address in the one transaction. The service is available for Firearms Registry customers via the NSW Police Force Community Portal.

This enhanced functionality applies to individuals, clubs, businesses and government agencies.

Firearms Legislation Amendment Bill 2022 Assented

The Firearms Legislation Amendment Bill 2022 was assented to and is now in law. The Act allows specially licensed shooters to have renewed access to Category D firearms, allowing landholders to better control vertebrate pest animals.

The Act addresses a 2020 court decision, which determined that a previously lawful category D firearm was prohibited because it was "of a kind that is designed or adapted for military purposes". To address the situation, NSW Police Force responded by creating temporary exemptions for affected licence holders by amending the regulation. The Act provides a more permanent solution.

The Act:

  • amends Schedule 1, items 5 and 6 by removing the words “of a kind” from the definition of self-loading centre-fire rifles and self-loading shotguns that are designed or adapted for military purposes are prohibited firearms
  • amends section 8 to clarify that a firearm (other than a pistol) fitted with a stock that is designed to be readily detachable, or to operate on a swivel, folding or telescopic basis is a firearm to which a category D licence may apply
  • provides greater flexibility for the licence term for primary producers involved in an eradication campaign – they will be able to access 12 month, 2 year or 5 year terms and amends the Firearms Regulation 2017, clause 8 to provide for the terms of category D licences
  • makes sure that if a person legally acquires a self-loading centrefire rifle or a self-loading shotgun which later becomes adapted for military purposes, they will be able to continue to own it. The exemption applies only while the rifle or shotgun remains in the possession of the person who legally acquired it before rifles or shotguns of that type were adapted for military purposes and does not allow the rifle or shotgun to be on-sold
  • amends the Firearms Regulation 2017, clause 35 to update references to Departments that may carry out vertebrate pest animal control as a result of machinery of government changes

Category D firearm licences continue to be very tightly controlled and can be issued for specific firearms, including some self-loading centre fire rifles – and only in instances where the Commissioner is satisfied there is a genuine reason of vertebrate pest animal control for the firearm, and that there is a special need for the person to possess a Category D firearm. Self-loading centre fire rifles which have been designed or are currently adapted for military purposes remain strictly prohibited in NSW.

Firearms Registry Performance and Data Report

The NSW Firearms Registry is pleased to present a report on our performance and data. This comprehensive report is updated each month and presents our major transactions and data, including amnesty figures, permits to acquire, and firearm dealer transactions. The report also provides licensing and firearm registration data of interest to the public.

The report shows the average processing times for permits to acquire, which is the Firearms Registry's largest volume application.

Recent additions to Gun Safe allow customers to track their licence and renewal applications. This new service means we will be able to present licence and renewal application processing times, which is coming shortly. More services, including communication direct to customers through their Gun Safe portal, make it easier for customers to do business with the Firearms Registry.

Gun Safe Applications – communication when further information is required

Commencing Sunday 19th December 2021, the Firearms Registry will now send a SMS/text message or email to you if you applied via Gun Safe and more information about your application is needed.

The SMS text message and email are sent from ‘do not reply’ mailboxes, therefore, customers will be unable to reply to the SMS text message or the email. The email will provide instructions on how to supply the required information by logging into the NSW Firearms Registry Customer Portal.

This enhanced functionality applies to the following Gun Safe transactions:

  • New licence applications
  • Licence renewal applications
  • Permit to Acquire (PTA) applications

Firearms Regulation Amendment

On 12 November 2021, the Firearms Amendment (Exemptions and Compliance Requirements) Regulation 2021 amended the Firearms Regulation 2017.

Exemption - military self-loading centre-fire rifles

Category D licence holders who had military style self-loading centre fire rifles registered to them at the commencement of the exemption can renew their licence and retain such firearms for up to 12 months after the renewal. This exemption relates to category D military style firearms that were deemed prohibited due to the recent legal outcome of Bankowski v Commissioner. This extension will provide NSW Police with some additional time to identify a solution to this matter.

Security guards meeting their annual accreditation requirements

Under the new amendment, security guards who are unable, for a legitimate reason, to do their annual accreditation can be provided an extension of up to 24 months. Previously, security guards who legitimately could not undertake their annual accreditation must have had their licence revoked.

This amendment gives the Commissioner the power to extend compliance periods so that an armed security guard, classes of security guards or all security guards can meet their obligation.

Exemption concerning participation requirements during public emergency

This exemption gives the Commissioner discretion to grant an exemption to firearm licence holders from participation requirements, including compliance periods, if satisfied that compliance with the requirements would not be feasible or practical due to a public emergency.

A copy of the exemption order will be published on the website of the NSW Police Force and may specify conditions requiring compliance with alternate requirements or limit the criteria or specified period of the requirements.

This exemption can be afforded to classes of persons. For example: a club (say, if a club or range cannot be used due to fire following a state of emergency), or an individual person (say, if under quarantine/self-isolation due to a pandemic).

A public emergency includes a public health risk, including a pandemic or other public health risk and an emergency such as when a state of emergency is declared (e.g. fire or flood).

Firearms - Deceased Estates

The Firearms Registry is introducing a new, simple way for people to be able to acquire firearms that they have inherited.

Further information is available on the Firearms – Deceased Estate webpage.

National Firearms Amnesty

New South Wales will be participating in an ongoing National Firearms Amnesty (amnesty) which commenced on 1July 2021.

The aim of the amnesty is to reduce the number of unregistered firearms in Australia.

The amnesty will provide an opportunity for those individuals, who for whatever reason, are in possession of an unregistered firearm or firearm related article to surrender, register or supply the items, without fear of prosecution. Prohibited weapons can also be surrendered without fear of prosecution.

A dedicated amnesty webpage has been created and contains additional information/resources, including a list of participating firearm dealers and frequently asked questions relating to the amnesty.

Firearms and Weapons Prohibition Regulation Amendments

On 25 June 2021, the Firearms Amendment Regulation 2021 amends the Firearms Regulation 2017 and the Weapons Prohibition Amendment Regulation 2021 amends the Weapons Prohibition Regulation 2017.

Federal Family Violence Orders

Under the new amendments, federal family violence orders under the Family Law Act 1975 are now included in the specified list of apprehended violence orders and interim apprehended violence order of other jurisdictions. These orders are not yet in place nationally in the Family Law and Federal Circuit Courts so will not be considered in licensing decisions until they have been implemented, which is expected in mid-2022. Also amended is the citation to other federal orders, being Personal Protection Injunctions, so that only injunctions relating specifically to matters of personal violence or relevance to licensing decisions must be considered.

Storage of firearms – inhabited dwellings

The new amendments also clarify the 2017 change which required a firearms owner to store firearms in their principal places of residence. This change was brought in to reduce the risk of firearms being stolen from unattended dwellings like holiday homes or hobby farmhouses where firearms are stored. Firearm owners wanted clearer instructions on what a principal place of residence means so the concept of inhabited dwelling was introduced and defined.

A licence or permit holder may now only store a firearm in an inhabited dwelling or in a dwelling where the licence or permit holder, or someone on their behalf, can easily observe the premises where the firearm is stored. Under this new provision, an inhabited dwelling is a person’s principal place of residence, where the licence or permit holder may or may not also live, or where a person lives while the firearm is stored there. Licensed firearms dealers are still able to store firearms at a commercial premise they use to carry out their firearm dealing activities.

If a person stores their firearms in a place other than an inhabited dwelling, they can do so provided the following safe storage requirements are met or exceeded:

All firearms must be—

  • stored in a safe of an approved type, and
  • fitted with a trigger or barrel lock that prevents the firearm from being discharged, and
  • secured individually on, or in, a locked device within the safe.

The safe must be fitted with an alarm of an approved type that is monitored off-site.

The premises on which the firearm is stored must have an intruder alarm and duress facilities that are monitored off-site and are of an approved type.

These changes accommodate for firearm owners storing their firearms at hobby farms or holiday dwellings but also address the greater risk of targeted theft by increasing safe storage requirements. Meeting these enhanced safe storage requirements is now affordable and simple due to advances in CCTV and mobile technology.

Exemption for Category D licence holders  

The regulation creates an exemption for a small pool of category D licence holders who are now inadvertently in breach of the Act due to an interpretation made in Bankowski v Commissioner of Police [2020] NSWCATAD 17. The exemption enables affected licence holders to retain affected firearms until the customer disposes of the firearm. The exemption applies for the length of a person’s licence term or until the licence is suspended or revoked or the registration is cancelled.

Sighting in

NSW Police were advised that pistols were being used on rural land under the guise of sighting in. This was never the intention of the sighting in provision, which allows a person to use their firearm in certain circumstances to aim and adjust various components for accuracy. An amendment is included to ensure that pistols are not used in an unauthorised manner.

Arms fairs and RSL display permits

Additionally, under the new amendments a person who is the subject of a firearms prohibition order will be prohibited from attending arms fairs. Arms fairs are any public event where firearms are temporarily displayed for sale or exhibition.

An RSL display permit will now also authorise anything that an ammunition collection permit authorises and will be subject to the same conditions as an ammunition collection permit.

Interstate exemptions

The provision that exempts interstate firearms licence holders from also holding a NSW firearms licence if they are posted to NSW for their employment has been repealed. Interstate licence holders who have already qualified for this exemption will continue to be exempt unless they cease to hold an interstate licence or until they are no longer posted to NSW for their employment. This provision has been repealed as it created problems in the interstate management of firearms.

The amendments clarify the exemption for members of the Australian Defence Force, NSW Police Force and other specified public servants who hold a firearms licence and are posted interstate for their employment. The exemption allows them to maintain their licence while out of the state, but the amendments state that they are not permitted to take or store their firearm/s outside of NSW. It also clarifies that they are required to abide by the firearms laws of whichever state they are posted.

Bump stocks

The Weapons Regulation has also been amended and it is now illegal to possess a bump stock without a permit. A bump stock is used in the place of a standard stock on semiautomatic rifles. The action of a bump stock allows the semiautomatic rifle to fire all rounds in the magazine with one squeeze of the trigger. This function has seen bump stocks feature in mass shooting events in the United States.

Mechanical changes

Finally, various mechanical changes are made to update names of various entities and to simplify certain references. For example, references to the Firearms Registry have been replaced by references to the Commissioner but this does not affect the role or responsibility of the Firearms Registry, being the delegate of the Police Commissioner.

Connecting for a safer community

The NSW Firearms Registry is enhancing processes for new firearm licence applications, renewal of firearm licences and permits to acquire (PTA) for applicants and pistol clubs.

A number of online services are now available for Firearms Registry customers via the NSW Police Force Community Portal.

The changes see real-time efficiencies for the NSW Firearms Registry, as well as:

  • Real-time checks against the NSW Police Force licensing system
  • Explanations throughout the application to guide the customer to accurately answer questions
  • Back end logic to support customers in making the right selection for the appropriate genuine reason for their licence
  • A seamless user experience when completing applications, including applicant notifications reducing the need to contact the Firearms Registry
  • Decrease manual processing for clubs by introducing a digital approval for certifying applicants with Category H PTA applications
  • Reducing error opportunities by introducing back end validations when completing applications
  • Quicker turnaround times for compliant applications

The new changes were released on 25 February 2021 and are part of a phased delivery of digital services for the NSW firearms community.

Download the Gun Safe and the Club Confirmation poster for more information.

Completion of P650 Declaration –

Unlicensed person shooting on an Approved Range to undertake an approved Firearms Safety Training Course

A new process has been implemented to allow the Firearms Registry to provide applicants the ability to submit an application for a Firearms Permit if they have answered yes to the Question (a) under Section B of the P650 Declaration form - “Have you in NSW or elsewhere been refused or prohibited from holding a firearms licence or permit or had a firearms licence or permit suspended, cancelled or revoked?”

If approved for issue, the permit will authorise a person, in the above circumstance only, to undertake an approved firearms safety course on an approved Range within NSW.

For additional information please go to the frequently asked questions section at www.police.nsw.gov.au/online_services/firearms/clubs/firearms_safety_training_instructor/frequently_asked_questions_on_the_p650_process.

Details on how to fill out the application, including the relevant forms can be found on the website at https://www.police.nsw.gov.au/online_services/firearms/permits/firearms_permits/undertake_a_firearms_safety_training_course.

Interstate Clubs

The Firearms Regulation 2017 (NSW) allows for the NSW Firearms Registry to approve interstate clubs as principal clubs for NSW licence holders. The relevant clause was drafted with the intent to permit NSW firearms licence holders to undertake shooting activities at clubs operating near or on the borders rather than travelling long distances to a NSW club.

The NSW Police Force has no concerns about NSW licence holders joining interstate clubs as associate members or participating in activities at interstate clubs; however, if a licence holder declares an interstate club as their principal club it falls outside of our regulatory jurisdiction for auditing and compliance requirements.

Nothing stops an individual licence holder from belonging to an interstate club in addition to their principal club for ease of access to a range or competition.

The NSW Firearms Registry is currently rolling out a digital platform to manage reporting requirements of clubs and the inclusion of interstate clubs with reporting requirements presents a number of added and significant challenges.

The Firearms Registry has been in consultation with interstate clubs about these issues and has only cancelled approvals of clubs that have agreed they no longer see the need for NSW approval.

If for some reason an interstate club were to disagree with a NSW Firearms Registry decision to cancel their approval, there are appeal mechanisms that can be employed by the club via internal review and external review to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Firearms Museum Legislation Amendment

Remington Safety Warning and Recall Notice

Commencement of SMS Notifications

Transfer of Paintball Regulation

Zombie Knives Legislative Amendment

Firearms and Weapons Legislation Amendment Act 2017

New Regulations - Summary of Key Changes Applicable to Firearms Dealers

New Regulations - Exemption - Laser Target Shooting Devices (Imitation Firearms) - Biathlons and Pentathlons

New Regulations - Summary of Key Changes Applicable to Licence/Permit Holders

Deloitte Review of NSW Police Force Firearms Registry

Commencement of new Firearms and Weapons Regulations

Transitional Arrangements - Lever Action Shotgun Re-Categorisation

Release of the National Firearms Agreement

Information re Importing Silencers

Encryption of Firearms Registry Emails

Changes to the Importation of Firearms & Weapons

Procedural changes recently introduced by the Department of Home Affairs have streamlined the B709 process for some NSW residents and firearms dealers. Further information is available at -

Licence Holder News & Events