Crime
Gun laws in Australia, and how Queensland applies them
Published · Updated
How Australia got here
Australian firearms law changed dramatically after the mass shooting at Port Arthur in 1996.
Before that, the rules varied considerably between states and obtaining a weapon, particularly one with higher capacity or a faster rate of fire, was substantially easier than it is now.
The National Firearms Agreement that followed produced a broadly uniform scheme across the country and a large reduction in private firearm ownership. Queensland implements its share of that agreement through the Weapons Act 1990 (Qld) and the regulations under it.
The weapons licence
The first document you need is a weapons licence. The general age requirement is 18, although a minor’s licence is available from age 11 and allows supervised use rather than ownership.
To be granted a licence you must:
- have secure storage that meets the requirements for the category of weapon;
- complete an approved safety training course;
- provide a genuine reason for holding the licence; and
- satisfy the fit and proper person test.
The genuine reason test
Accepted genuine reasons include sports or target shooting at an approved range, recreational hunting, primary production or a rural occupation such as a park ranger, occupational requirements, animal welfare and pest control, and firearm collecting. You have to prove the reason, usually through club membership, landholder permission or employment evidence.
Self defence is not an accepted genuine reason. That single point is the sharpest difference between Australian and American firearms law and it is not open to argument here.
Note that a weapons licence is not only about firearms. You also need one for a crossbow, a paintball gun and certain knives. Whatever the weapon, the licence comes before the weapon.
There are multiple licence categories, and the accepted genuine reason differs between them. You are not going to obtain a machine gun licence to keep kangaroos off a paddock.
The permit to acquire
Holding a licence does not let you go and buy a firearm. You also need a permit to acquire for each weapon.
The distinction is worth understanding. A weapons licence establishes that you are a fit and proper person with the training, the reason and the storage. A permit to acquire authorises one specific weapon.
You hold one current licence. You need a separate permit for each firearm you obtain. That is how each weapon is individually tracked and how the scheme prevents a single licence being used to accumulate an arsenal.
There is a waiting period built into the process, ordinarily 28 days, during which checks are carried out. Applications are made through Queensland Police Weapons Licensing.
What it costs
Fees are set by regulation and are reviewed periodically, so treat any figure you read online as indicative and confirm the current amount with Weapons Licensing before budgeting.
There are generally three components:
- the licence application fee;
- an additional fee where the application covers a handgun, shotgun or centrefire rifle; and
- a fee for each permit to acquire.
Add the cost of the safety training course, which runs over several days, and the cost of compliant storage. The storage is frequently the largest single item and is not optional.
Who cannot hold a licence
Not every criminal charge is disqualifying, but a wide range of history will end an application.
Being named as a respondent to a domestic violence order affects weapons licensing directly. So does any history involving violence or threatened violence, including violence against yourself.
Other categories that will generally prevent a licence:
- any prior weapons offence;
- convictions for fraud, stealing or other dishonesty offences;
- sexual offences;
- robbery;
- drug offences;
- association with organised crime or a criminal organisation; and
- terrorism related activity or associations.
The underlying test is whether you are a fit and proper person to hold a licence, which is broader than a list of convictions and takes in the public interest.
The weapon categories
A range of weapons remains lawful in Australia. Obtaining a licence for some categories is another matter entirely.
| Category | Covers |
|---|---|
| A | Air rifles, rimfire rifles and shotguns, excluding semi-automatic, pump action and lever action shotguns |
| B | Muzzle loading firearms made after 1901, bolt action and pump action centrefire rifles, lever action shotguns with a magazine capacity of five rounds or fewer |
| C | Semi-automatic rimfire rifles with a magazine of ten rounds or fewer, and pump action or self-loading shotguns with a magazine of five rounds or fewer. Restricted to primary producers, professional shooters, clay target shooters, collectors, instructors and safety officers |
| D | Higher capacity self-loading rifles and shotguns. Restricted to government officials and, in narrow circumstances, primary producers |
| H | Handguns, including air pistols |
| R and M | Restricted weapons including machine guns, fully automatic rifles, grenade and rocket launchers and anti-tank weapons. Not realistically available |
Primary producers for these purposes are people working in agriculture, forestry, fishing and related industries.
You cannot carry it around
Having a licence, a permit and a firearm does not entitle you to carry it wherever you like.
It is an offence in Queensland to carry a firearm, and a number of other weapons, in a public place, subject to the obvious exceptions for law enforcement and other authorised purposes.
Your licence authorises possession for the specific approved purpose you nominated. None of the accepted purposes is walking around with a gun. Transport between an approved location and your storage is regulated separately, and the weapon must be unloaded and secured.
If you have been charged with a weapons offence, our page on Weapons Act offences sets out how those charges work.
The shape of the scheme
Reduced to its essentials, Australian firearms law asks three questions. Do you have a legitimate reason to possess this weapon, are you a person who should be permitted to, and can you store and handle it safely?
Everything else in the Weapons Act is machinery for answering those three questions and for tracking each individual weapon afterwards.
Last reviewed 3 August 2026 by the TWC Lawyers team. Queensland penalty units and court fees are indexed on 1 July each year. Check current figures before you rely on them, or ask us.