Before you apply

You must get consent from Firearm Safety and Education New Zealand if you want to do business at a gun show.

Application for consent to conduct a gun show from a different place of business

Your business licence may allow you to hire out firearms, pistols, restricted magazines, and restricted weapons for use by a:

• broadcaster
• theatre company or society
• cinematic or television film production company
• video recording production company.

To hire out pistols, restricted weapons, restricted firearms or restricted magazines, you must have an endorsement on your business licence.

To hire out other classes of firearms you need to have a business licence, but not an endorsement. 

Note: You can only hire arms items to productions that have a theatrical armourer on site.

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.

If you have a New Zealand firearms licence or business licence, you must provide a scan or clear photo of the following:

• Your licence card (current or expired within 12 months)
• Proof of address dated within the last 3 months

If you do not have a New Zealand firearms licence, you must provide a scan or photo of one of the following:

• New Zealand passport
• Overseas passport
• New Zealand driver licence
• Police identity card
• New Zealand Defence Force photo identification
• Kiwi Access card (18+ Card)
• Identity document issued by New Zealand government

AND one of the following:

• Birth certificate
• Citizenship certificate
• Permanent resident document
• Identity document issued by secondary or tertiary institution
• Educational records or certificates
• Professional or trade association membership certificate

AND proof of address dated within the last 3 months.

You must provide information about your business, including its name, business number, how long it’s been operating and your role in the business.

You must select from the following list which business activities you wish to carry out:

• selling (hiring or wholesale)
• hiring
• lending
• otherwise supplying
• auctioning
• repairing and modifying
• manufacturing for sale, hire, lending or other supply
• manufacturing restricted parts for permitted supply.

If you wish to manufacture pistols, restricted weapons, pistol carbine conversion kits or air pistol carbine conversion kits, you must also complete an application form and submit it with your application.

Application by licensed business for approval to manufacture

The manufacture of restricted magazines and restricted parts and using restricted items for the purpose of testing may only be made by a person who, before 12 April 2019, was in the business of permitted supply and who continues, for the purposes of permitted supply, to use restricted items to test and demonstrate restricted parts and restricted magazines.

Application for business licence | Arms Act 2026, Part 3, Section 83(3) | New Zealand Legislation website

You must provide details about your:

• prior experience using firearms
• relevant business experience
• technical skills, knowledge and safety plans that ensure you can safely undertake your business.

You must also describe your business arrangements – such as your purchase and supply arrangements with suppliers – and be able to explain your obligations as a business under the Arms Act and Arms Regulations.

To understand if you and others will be safe if you have access to firearms, we ask questions in your application about your personal history.

Criminal offending

You must provide information about any criminal offending you have been involved with. 

Note: The Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act 2004 requires you to state whether you have a criminal record when making an application under the Arms Act 2026. 

Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act 2004, section 19 – Exceptions to general effect of clean slate scheme | New Zealand Legislation

Health

If you have a relevant health condition, you’ll be asked to provide details. You must supply a certificate from your health practitioner that is related to the condition. You will be asked to provide the contact details of your current health provider in your application.

Please make sure the contact information you supply is accurate, as the health provider will be sent an email once your licence is issued, as per our obligations under the Arms Act 2026. If you supply an incorrect email address, this may delay the licencing process.

Issue of firearms licence | Arms Act 2026, Part 3, Section 72 | New Zealand Legislation website

Depending how you answer each of these questions, we may ask for more information. 

You must provide the names and contact details for:

• one next-of-kin referee, aged 16 or over
• at least two unrelated business referees, aged 25 or over.

Your next-of-kin referee:

• vouches for your character, not necessarily your firearms experience
• does not have to be a firearms licence holder or have seen you handle a firearm.

Your business referees must:

• be living in New Zealand
• know you well – this may include someone you’ve known and been in regular face-to-face contact with for a significant period of your life (at least 3 years, preferably more)
• have first-hand knowledge of your experience in firearms business-related activities
• be available for an in-person, face-to-face interview.

Ideally, your referee has a firearms licence, but this is not essential.

Your business referees must not:

• be related to you (for example, not your parents, stepparents, cousin, aunt or in-laws)
• live at the same address as you (for example, not your flatmate, lodger or boarder)
• be your current spouse or partner, a former spouse or partner within the past 5 years, or an otherwise related person
• be employed by New Zealand Police.

We will interview your referees to help us decide if you are a fit and proper person to hold a business licence.

We may ask for additional referees.

You must explain how you are meeting security requirements for stock on display and in storage.

This should be for:

• the location where you conduct your business, and
• any storage location where you store any other firearms and ammunition the business may possess.

Body corporate senior managers must complete this section for the place of business from which they ordinarily conduct business.

Secure storage and transportation guide for firearms and ammunition (PDF, 4 MB)

If you’re a museum director or curator

You must provide details of your business transaction and stock record-keeping systems as they apply to your business activities.

You must also describe the access Police are allowed to your records, and how you will ensure they are kept secure.

You must have an endorsement on your business licence if your work involves any of the following types of arms items: 

• pistols and pistol parts 
• pistol carbine conversion kits (PCCKs) 
• restricted weapons and parts
• restricted firearms and parts 
• restricted magazines
• large capacity pistol magazines.

Extra information you need to provide

You must describe: 

• which endorsement you require (pistols and restricted weapons or restricted firearm, restricted magazine) 
• why you need to work with that type of item 
• your experience working with that type of item 
• the technical skills and knowledge you possess to safely undertake this work 
• your obligations to supervise, secure and account for all items 
• your obligations when supervising items shown to, and handled by a prospective customer or museum visitor  
• your personal attributes that make you a suitable person to have or have access to these items (potentially in large quantities). 

You will also need to describe: 

• the obligations you are required to fulfil as a business licence holder with an endorsement 
• how you will ensure you (and your employees) always meet these obligations.