Firearm licences: what you may own, and how many

Competency comes first

You cannot apply for a firearm licence without a competency certificate. Competency is a separate application from the licence, it requires prescribed training and a practical test at an accredited provider, and it is applied for on form SAPS 517 at the Designated Firearms Officer of the police station where you ordinarily reside. SAPS’s own pages disagree on the fees: one lists the competency certificate at R70 and a licence at R140, another lists both at R88, a third both at R70. Budget for the higher figures and let the designated firearms officer confirm the amount when you pay; it is paid at the police station against a SAPS 523(a) remittance advice.

Section 10(2) originally lapsed a competency certificate five years after issue. The Firearms Control Amendment Act 28 of 2006 replaced that, and a competency certificate now remains valid for the same period as the licence it relates to, so the two expire together and are renewed together. The one exception is section 10(3): competency for a muzzle loading firearm lapses ten years after issue. Renewal is applied for on form SAPS 517(g).

SAPS applies an age rule at licence stage: its published position is that a firearm licence applicant must be 21 or older and a South African citizen or the holder of a permanent residence permit. An applicant under 21 must submit compelling reasons, such as being gainfully employed or a dedicated sports person, with a sworn affidavit from a parent or guardian.

One licence per firearm

Section 11 requires a separate licence for each firearm, though the Registrar may put several licences on a single document. So "my licence" in conversation usually means several licences printed together.

Section 23 adds that no licence may be issued unless the firearm bears the manufacturer's serial number or another identifying mark. Since the 2003 amendment the mark must be stamped on the barrel and the frame, or the barrel and the receiver. Tampering with that mark to change the firearm's identity is an offence in itself.

The licence sections and their limits

This is the table that answers the question. The counting rules in the third column are the part people get wrong.

The section 15 counting rules, from section 15(3), are where the arithmetic lives:

• No more than four licences under section 15 in total
• If you already hold a section 13 self-defence licence, you may hold only three under section 15
• No more than one of your section 15 licences may be for a handgun
• Any additional licence issued under section 12 reduces the number you may hold

Section 12 covers those additional licences: the Registrar may issue one to a person living on the same premises as the licence holder, for a firearm licensed under sections 13 to 16. The holder must meet all the usual requirements, and if they move out the additional licence lapses and must be returned.

So how many firearms can one person own?

Three honest answers, depending on who is asking.

An ordinary person who wants protection and occasional hunting: four. One handgun or shotgun for self-defence under section 13, plus three more under section 15, of which at most one may be a handgun.

Someone who does not want a self-defence firearm: still four. The full section 15 allowance of four, again with at most one handgun among them.

A dedicated hunter or dedicated sports person: no fixed limit. Section 16 sets no numerical cap. The price of entry is that the application must be accompanied by a sworn statement from the chairperson of an accredited hunting association or sports-shooting organisation confirming you are a registered member. This is precisely why serious shooters and hunters join an accredited association, and it is the honest answer to "how do I own more than four".

Professional hunters have their own route. Section 16A, inserted by the 2006 amendment, licenses a handgun, rifle or shotgun that is not fully automatic to a professional hunter, on a sworn statement from the chairperson of an accredited professional hunting association. It carries no numerical limit either, lasts ten years, and the firearm may be used for the holder's private purposes as well as professionally.

A section 14 restricted self-defence licence sits on top of those counts, but it is a hard sell: the Registrar may only issue one if you show that an ordinary section 13 firearm will not provide sufficient protection, and you must motivate the need in writing.

Ammunition, primers and parts

Ammunition. Section 91(1) limits a licence holder to 200 cartridges for each firearm they hold a licence for. Three things fall outside that limit: dedicated hunters, dedicated sports persons and professional hunters, anyone the Registrar has authorised in writing on good cause to hold more, and ammunition bought and discharged at an accredited shooting range. Written authorisation to exceed 200 rounds is applied for on form SAPS 540.

Reloading. If you load your own, section 93(2) caps you at 2 400 primers per licensed firearm, with the same exemption for dedicated hunters, dedicated sports persons and professional hunters. Authorisation to exceed it is applied for on form SAPS 536.

Parts. Section 94, as amended in 2006, defines a "firearm part" as a slide, bolt or breech-block, or a device designed to be attached to the barrel in order to muffle or moderate the report of the firearm. Suppressors are therefore firearm parts and carry the same restriction. You may only possess one if you hold a licence for a firearm capable of bearing it, or you hold a dealer's, manufacturer's or gunsmith's licence, an import, export or in-transit permit, or a transporter's permit. A spare slide bought for a pistol you do not own is an offence, not a spare.

Renewal, and the deadlines that void a licence

Section 24(1) requires a renewal application at least 90 days before the licence expires. Lodge it in time and section 24(4) keeps the licence valid until the application is decided, however long the Registrar takes. Miss the 90 days and you have no such protection.

Renewal is not automatic: section 24(3) says no renewal may be granted unless you show you have continued to comply with the requirements for that licence.

Two more 30 day clocks catch people. Section 25 requires you to notify the Registrar in writing of any change of physical or postal address within 30 days. Section 26 requires the same within 30 days of any change to information you submitted with the original application. Both are easy to forget and both are compliance failures at renewal time.

Lending, supervising and travelling

Section 22 allows a licence holder who is at least 21 years old to let another person use the firearm, but only while under the holder's immediate supervision, where it is safe and for a lawful purpose. That is what makes a range visit with a friend lawful. It does not allow you to lend a firearm to somebody who takes it away with them.

Section 21 lets the Registrar issue a temporary authorisation to possess a firearm to any person, expressly including a non-citizen, for a period and on conditions the Registrar sets. This is the route for a visiting hunter rather than a licence.

Bringing firearms into or out of the country needs an import, export or in-transit permit under sections 73 and 74, and carrying firearms or ammunition through South Africa without an in-transit permit is prohibited outright. Transporting firearms or ammunition for reward also requires a firearm transporter's permit under section 86. The business firearms guide covers the permit routes in more detail.

What you need at each stage

There are two applications, in order, and people routinely try to skip to the second. You cannot hold a firearm licence without a competency certificate first.

• Training at a SAPS-accredited provider, covering the law and the safe handling of the specific type of firearm. Your training certificates are what the competency application rests on.
• Your identity document, and proof of residential address.
• Fingerprints, taken as part of the application, for a criminal record check.
• A safe that meets the required standard, properly fixed, which is inspected before a licence is granted.
• A motivation for the licence you are applying for, tied to the reason: self-defence, occasional sport, dedicated sport, hunting or business. The reason decides which licence category applies and how many firearms you may hold.
• Applications are lodged in person with the designated firearms officer at your local police station. Both the competency and the licence application go through them.

The renewal deadline that ends licences. A renewal application must be lodged well before the licence expires, the rule is 90 days ahead, and it is not treated as a guideline. A licence allowed to lapse cannot simply be renewed late: the firearm becomes unlawfully possessed, and you are into a surrender or a fresh application rather than a renewal. Diarise it years out, not months.

Frequently asked questions