Before you apply

Check what the endorsement allows you to do, who can apply, and what you need to provide in your application.

Firearms Registry requirements

If you’re applying for or reapplying for a firearms licence or endorsement, you must register all items in your possession within 30 days of submission, including those you have a permit for.

What is a bona fide collector?

A bona fide collector has a genuine interest in a particular field, for example World War II.

Their collection could include items that are not firearms or arms items, such as uniforms, books or other related items. They are likely to have collections that are not firearms-related at all.

A bona fide collector will usually belong to a club or society that relates to their area of interest.
They will usually be able to demonstrate their genuine interest by describing their collection focus and area of interest, which may include:
- technical development of firearms and munitions
- military history
- social and political history
- aesthetics of decoration and craftsmanship.
Additions to the collection must develop and enhance the collection’s themes and be consistent with the direction described in the endorsement application.
Having many guns or an interest in guns does not make someone a collector.
A group of unrelated firearms is not a collection.

When you need an endorsement as a bona fide collector

You must apply for an endorsement if you want to add any of the following items to your collection:

pistols
restricted weapons
restricted firearms
restricted magazines.

For definitions of these items in the Arms Act 2026, visit:

If you want to collect restricted ammunition, see Possessing restricted ammunition

Who is eligible to apply

If the endorsement is for restricted firearms or restricted magazines, you must:

be aged 18 or over
have a New Zealand firearms licence, or be applying for one.

If the endorsement is for pistols or restricted weapons, you must:

have a New Zealand firearms licence, or be applying for one.

How long the endorsement lasts

An endorsement lasts until:

your firearms licence expires or is surrendered or revoked
your endorsement is surrendered or revoked.

NOTE: When you reapply for your firearms licence, you must also reapply for your endorsement.

How much it costs

Application fees:

apply for an endorsement – $204
apply for other endorsements at the same time, you only pay $204 in total.

This endorsement fee is in addition to a firearms licence application fee.

Endorsement application fee reminder (two options - pay once)

There are two options to pay your endorsement application fee, but you should only pay once:

online through MyFirearms, OR
at a NZ Post shop.

The easiest way to pay is through MyFirearms as part of an online endorsement application (Please note a 1.9% surcharge applies to card payments).

If you are not applying through MyFirearms, pay your application fee at a NZ Post shop.

Fees include GST, cover the cost of processing your application, and are not refundable, regardless of the outcome of your application.

Information you need to provide in your application

When you apply for an endorsement, you need to provide the following information.

Endorsement sought

You need to say which of the item-type you wish to include in your collection – pistols, restricted weapons, restricted firearms or restricted magazines.

If you are granted the endorsement, it will specify which types you can collect.

Reasons for possessing firearms

You need to describe your:

experience of firearms
non-firearms collecting interests
firearms collection if you have one, and
reasons for wanting to start or continue collecting endorsed firearms or other items.

Collecting activities

Collecting activities may include:

involvement in clubs
researching history and historical items
displaying arms items.

Before you change or expand your collecting activities or collection theme, you must have written authorisation from Firearms Safety and Education NZ.

Your suitability

You need to describe:

why you are a suitable person to have access to pistols, restricted weapons, restricted firearms or restricted magazines
your collection interests and related activities
your obligations.

For information about your obligations, read more in Bona fide collector endorsement: Conditions

Security arrangements

You must:

provide the address where you store the items
describe your security arrangements.

Your security arrangements will be inspected.

If you do not have secure storage yet, you will not be allowed to take possession of the items until you have installed endorsement level security.

Referee details

Your endorsement referee must:

be aged 20 years or over
know and understand your collecting activities
know and understand your genuine interest in the field you collect in.

Your referee does not have to have a firearms licence.

Your endorsement referee must not be:

your relative, spouse, or partner, or a former spouse or partner from the past five years
your employee
employed by Firearms Safety and Education New Zealand
employed by New Zealand Police
living at the same address as you
already in your licence application.

You may be asked to provide another referee as well.

If you are in a collecting club

If you are in a collecting club, use a club member as a referee – as long as they know you well.

If you use someone who is not a club member, your club committee must provide:

a character reference
confirmation of duration of membership.

A photo - if you are applying only for an endorsement

If you are only applying for an endorsement, and not a licence, you must provide a photo.

You must supply a recent, good quality digital photograph that is a good likeness of yourself. A scanned copy of a photograph will not be accepted.

The photograph must meet the minimum requirements. Passport photos from commercial outlets will typically meet these requirements.

This means the photograph must:

have been taken within the last 12 months
be a full front view of your face – chin to forehead and both sides of your face
show head and shoulders, with the head filling most of the photograph
be of you without a hat or head covering (except where your religion requires you to wear a hat or head covering)
have a plain, light-coloured background
be in colour and in focus
be in portrait format (with a 4:3 aspect ratio)
be in JPG or JPEG format
be between 25KB and 10MB
be between 900 and 4500 pixels wide and 1200 and 6000 pixels high.

We will not accept photographs that do not meet these standards.

You may have to answer the same questions in your firearms licence application and your endorsement application – even if you are applying for them at the same time.

Applying for permits

Once you have the required endorsement, you are eligible to apply for a permit to possess or import pistols, pistol carbine conversion kits (PCCKs), restricted weapons or restricted arms items or their parts.