Firearms Licensing process

Interested in getting your firearms license? It's pretty straight forward but it does involve a process that can take some time.

You start out by getting a PD303 'Application for a Firearms License' form from over on the SAPOL website. This gets filled out and taken to a police station for lodgment and payment of the first year of your license.

On the form, you select what you want to use your firearms for and what types of firearms you want to be able to have - For us, this is Class A firearms (Air, Rimfire and shotguns) and purpose of use 1 (Club use).

If you want to do more than just shoot with us or similar clubs, you can select other options. There is no additional cost for the license to do so, however it may mean you need to be a member of another club where you would utilize that firearm - Such as a Pistol club or full-bore rifle club.

If you want to shoot outside of a club, i.e for hunting, you can select that option too but it will require you to undertake a TAFESA course which is at an additional cost.

Don't worry, you can change your mind later, but the requirements remain the same.

Once you have lodged the paperwork, it's a bit of a waiting game but providing you have satisfied the other requirements for being a licensed firearm owner, you should eventually get a 'Training Letter' in the mail from SAPOL - This is basically a letter authorizing the club to begin firearms training with you.

This will also authorizes you to attend the TAFESA course if you selected other purposes of use. Book straight away, there is generally a waiting list.

You will need to be a member of our club before training can commence, since you can't hold a club license without being a member of a club.

The club use training covers basic firearm safety, storage and legal requirements of you as a firearm owner. Being a member of the club already, a lot of the training will be familiar to you. You will be given training material ahead of time, and you will need to attain a minimum score on a set of questions to pass. The test is generally done one-on-one and will take an hour or so.

From there, our club official will submit the paperwork to the firearms branch for issuance of your firearms license.

*Important - To use your firearm at a club, it is a requirement that you have the club use endorsement on your license. A hunting license is not 'backwards compatible' for club use.