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Getting a firearms licence in Queensland

Buying a firearm in Queensland starts well before you walk into a gun shop. The licence comes first, and then a separate permit for every single firearm you buy. It is a slower process than most people expect, and knowing the order things happen in saves a lot of frustration.

Below is the process from start to finish. This is a general guide only. The Queensland Police Service Weapons Licensing group is the authority on all of it, and we have linked their pages at each step so you can check the detail yourself.

Before you start

To hold a Queensland weapons licence you need to live in Queensland, be an Australian citizen (limited exceptions apply for some sporting and occupational applicants), and satisfy the fit and proper person test. Recent convictions for violence, drug or weapons offences will disqualify you, as will being a respondent to a domestic violence order.

Queensland Police set out the full eligibility criteria on Who can apply for a weapons licence.

Step 1. Complete an approved safety course

You need to finish an approved weapons safety course for the category of weapon you are applying for. In Queensland that is 11029NAT Course in Firearms and Weapons Safety, delivered by a registered training organisation and endorsed for the categories you want.

Timing matters here. The course must be completed in the 12 months immediately before you lodge your application. Leave it too long and you will have to sit it again. Keep your Statement of Attainment, you will need to supply it.

Step 2. Establish your genuine reason

Queensland requires a genuine reason to hold a firearms licence. The common ones are:

  • Sports or target shooting. Current financial membership of an approved Queensland shooting club.
  • Recreational shooting on rural land. Evidence of the property, being a rates notice if you own it, a lease agreement if you lease it, or an employment contract if you manage it.
  • Primary production. Property evidence plus proof you are genuinely engaged in the business, such as a recent income tax assessment notice or an accountant's declaration.
  • Occupational, rural employee. Three consecutive recent payslips plus property evidence.

Each genuine reason has its own supporting document requirements, and some need a Form 1 Annexure lodged with the application. Queensland Police list exactly what is needed for each on Firearms licence supporting documents.

Step 3. Sort your storage and gather your documents

Secure storage is part of the application, not something to organise later. For Category A and B firearms, storage means a locked container built of solid steel or solid timber, fitted with a sturdy combination lock, keyed lock or keyed padlock. If the container weighs less than 150kg it must be securely fixed to the frame or floor of a permanent building. Firearms are stored unloaded with the bolt removed, or the action broken if there is no removable bolt.

One change worth planning for: from 12 March 2027, timber containers will no longer be compliant. Category A, B, C, E and M weapons will need to be stored in a solid steel safe. If you are buying storage now, buy steel.

Requirements vary by category, so check Safe storage of weapons and ammunition for what applies to you.

Alongside storage, you will need your identity documents, your Statement of Attainment from the safety course, and the supporting documents for your genuine reason.

Step 4. Lodge your application

You can apply two ways. Online through the Queensland Police application portal, or by lodging a hard copy form at a participating Australia Post outlet.

Worth knowing: Queensland Police report that around two thirds of applications arrive incomplete, and that is the single biggest cause of delay. It is worth working through Are you ready to apply? before you lodge anything.

Step 5. Complete your identity check

If you apply online, you will be told within about 24 hours to attend a participating Australia Post outlet to prove your identity and have your photo taken. There is no charge for this.

You have 28 days to do it. Miss that window and your application becomes void, and you start again.

Bring three original documents: one commencement document such as a birth certificate, citizenship certificate or passport, one primary document such as a driver licence, and one secondary document such as a Medicare card. At least one must carry a photo and at least one must show your current residential address, and the details need to match across all of them. Full detail is on the Proof of identity page.

Step 6. Wait for a decision

Weapons Licensing then runs background and suitability checks and assesses your application.

This part takes a while. Queensland Police currently advise allowing 20 to 25 weeks from the date of application before following up. Plan around that rather than hoping for better.

Step 7. Apply for a Permit to Acquire

A licence lets you possess firearms of the categories it covers. It does not let you buy one. Before you acquire any firearm you need a Permit to Acquire, and you need a separate PTA for every individual firearm.

Two things to plan around:

  • There is a mandatory 28 day cooling off period from the date you lodge the PTA, where no firearms are currently registered to your licence. This is why nobody walks out of a gun shop with a firearm on the day they choose it.
  • An approved PTA is valid for six months from the date of issue, and the expiry date is printed on it. You need to acquire the firearm before it lapses. An expired permit cannot be reused and you will need to apply again.

PTAs can be lodged online with payment, or on a paper Form 28 at your local police station with photographic identification and your licence details. Approval comes through by email, and Queensland Police ask you to allow around 15 working days for the physical permit to arrive. Once approved you receive a Form 27. When you buy from a licensed dealer, the dealer completes the notice of disposal on the bottom of that form and sends it to Weapons Licensing, which is what moves the firearm onto your licence.

The full process is set out on Process for acquiring a weapon and the Applying for a Permit to Acquire fact sheet.

What this means for timing

Realistically, from booking your safety course to taking a firearm home, you are looking at the better part of a year. The course and paperwork are a few weeks. The licence decision is the long pole at 20 to 25 weeks. Then the Permit to Acquire adds at least another 28 days on top.

None of it is difficult. It just rewards getting each step right the first time.

Official sources

Everything above comes from Queensland Police Service Weapons Licensing. If anything here is unclear, or your situation is unusual, go to the source:

Weapons Licensing can be reached on (07) 3015 7777, open 9am to 3pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. General police enquiries are on 131 444.

This page is a general guide and is not legal advice. Weapons law and licensing requirements change. Always confirm current requirements with Queensland Police Service Weapons Licensing before acting.