Buying a Firearm Online in Australia: How the Dealer Transfer Works
Yes, you can buy a firearm online from a licensed Australian dealer, but it is never posted to you. The dealer sends it to another licensed dealer near you. You collect it in person, showing your licence, photo ID and Permit to Acquire, and that dealer records the transfer with the firearms registry.
Magnum Sports — NSW Firearms Dealer Licence No. 413159984. Last reviewed: 22 September 2026.
What "buying online" actually means
Online is the ordering channel, not the delivery method. You choose the firearm, you pay, and the paperwork and the physical handover still happen across a dealer's counter exactly as they would if you'd walked in.
In NSW this is set by the Firearms Act 1996 (NSW). A firearm cannot be sent by post to an address in New South Wales. Firearms and barrels can be moved between licensed dealers, including across state borders, and that is how online firearm orders reach their buyers. The gun arrives at a shop with a dealer's licence on the wall, and you go and get it.
So when you browse a dealer's firearms range and click through to buy, what you're really doing is starting a dealer-to-dealer transfer with you as the end point.
The order of events
- You hold a current licence in the category the firearm falls into. Nothing happens without it.
- Your storage is inspected and passed. Since 1 July 2026, a Permit to Acquire is not granted in NSW unless the Commissioner is satisfied you meet the safe storage requirements for that category. Police inspect the storage at your nominated address and give you a COPS event number.
- You apply for a Permit to Acquire (PTA) through the NSW Police Community Portal, quoting that COPS event number. Your first PTA for a particular type of firearm carries a mandatory 28-day waiting period.
- You order the firearm and nominate the dealer you want to collect from.
- The selling dealer transfers it to your nominated dealer and both sides record the movement.
- You collect in person with your licence, photo ID and PTA. The receiving dealer identifies the firearm, completes the transaction and lodges it with the Firearms Registry.
- The Registry issues your registration certificate, either digitally through your Gun Safe account or by post.
Nominating your receiving dealer, and what it costs
Before you check out, pick the licensed dealer you'll collect from and give the selling dealer their business name, address and dealer licence number. Ring that dealer first. Two things you want confirmed: that they accept inbound transfers from other dealers, and what they charge for it.
A receiving dealer's transfer fee is their own charge, not the seller's. It covers receiving the firearm into their register, verifying your licence and PTA, completing the transaction and storing the gun until you collect. It's separate from whatever the selling dealer charges to freight it. Ask both, up front, and get the number before you pay for the firearm. Some receiving dealers also charge storage if a firearm sits uncollected for weeks, which is a real risk if your PTA isn't sorted.
If the selling dealer is also close enough to collect from directly, that's simpler and cheaper. There's no rule requiring a second dealer — it's only needed when the seller isn't somewhere you can drive to.
PTA first, or order first?
Both happen. Getting the PTA first is the safer sequence, and here's why the alternative goes wrong.
A PTA stays in force until you acquire the firearm, or 90 days, whichever comes first. If you order a firearm that turns out to be on backorder, or an overseas shipment slips, your permit can expire while the gun is in transit. You then reapply and pay again, and the firearm sits in the receiving dealer's safe until the new one is granted.
Running it the other way — order first, PTA during transit — only works if the transit time is longer than your approval time, and you cannot count on that. The 28-day wait on a first PTA for a type of firearm is fixed. The storage inspection has to be booked and passed before you apply, and that's the step most often underestimated. And since 24 December 2025 there are caps on how many firearms you can hold: four on a general hunting and vermin control licence, ten where the genuine reason is target shooting, pest control, primary production, business or employment, occupational (rural) or animal welfare. A PTA will not be issued if granting it would put you over your limit — worth checking before you spend money, not after.
Practical advice: if it's your first firearm in that category, get the storage inspection done, apply for the PTA, and order once the permit is in hand. If you already hold a registered firearm of that type, your subsequent PTA generally has no waiting period, and ordering in parallel is reasonable. Either way, tell the selling dealer exactly where your PTA stands when you order.
Collection day
You must attend in person. Nobody can collect a firearm on your behalf. Bring your firearms licence, photo identification and your PTA.
The receiving dealer will check that your licence category matches the firearm's category, check the PTA is current and for the right category, confirm your identity, and physically identify the firearm — make, type, calibre, action and serial number — before entering it in their register and submitting the transaction to the Firearms Registry. Dealers must lodge registrable transactions with the Commissioner within seven days.
This is also your inspection opportunity. Handle the firearm before you sign. Check the serial number against the paperwork, look down the bore, work the action, check the fit and finish. If something is wrong, raise it at the counter, not in the car park.
The Registry then issues the registration certificate in your name. Until that lands, the transaction record at the dealer is your evidence of the transfer.
If your PTA is refused after you have paid
This is the risk nobody mentions in the checkout flow. If the Registry refuses your permit, the firearm cannot be released to you. It stays with the dealer.
What happens to your money depends on the selling dealer's terms, so read them before you pay and ask in writing if they're unclear. A refusal is a regulatory outcome, not a fault in the goods, so this is a matter of the dealer's own policy rather than a consumer guarantee. In practice most dealers will hold the firearm while you sort the issue out, or refund or credit the purchase, usually less freight and any transfer fee the receiving dealer has already earned. Assume freight and the receiving dealer's fee are not coming back.
The way to avoid the whole problem is the same as above: have the permit before you have the invoice.
Ammunition, primers and propellant: store collection only
These are never shipped. Australia Post prohibits ammunition outright, along with blasting and percussion caps and explosive and flammable propellants. You can order ammunition and reloading components online, but you collect them from the store.
There's a second rule that catches people. A dealer may only supply ammunition to someone who holds a licence or permit for a firearm that takes that type of ammunition. At the counter in NSW you'll be asked for identification in the name of the person acquiring it and your current firearms licence or permit. For pistol ammunition you will also need the registration certificate for the handgun that takes it, or an issued Permit to Acquire.
So a Category A licence doesn't let you buy .308 because a mate asked you to grab some. The calibre has to match something you're licensed for. Bring the paperwork.
Optics, parts and accessories ship normally
The restrictions above apply to firearms, barrels and ammunition. Everything else is ordinary retail. Riflescopes, thermal and night optics, mounts and rings, bipods, slings, cases, cleaning gear, reloading presses and dies all ship to your door with no licence check and no permit.
The exceptions worth knowing: a barrel is treated like a firearm and moves dealer to dealer, and a receiver or frame is the registered part of the firearm, so it follows the firearm rules too. Bolts, stocks, triggers and magazines are generally fine to post, though magazine capacity rules differ between states — check before ordering into another jurisdiction.
Common questions
Can a firearm be posted to my house in Australia?
No. In NSW the Firearms Act 1996 prohibits sending a firearm by post to an address in the state, and dealers across the country work the same way in practice. The firearm moves between licensed dealers, and you collect it in person with your licence, photo ID and Permit to Acquire.
Do I need a Permit to Acquire before I order online?
You need a valid PTA before the firearm can be released to you. Applying first is safer: a PTA lapses 90 days after it is granted, your first PTA for a particular type of firearm carries a 28-day waiting period, and since 1 July 2026 in NSW it isn't granted until police have inspected and passed your storage.
Can I buy a firearm from an interstate dealer?
Yes. A licensed dealer may transfer a firearm to a licensed dealer in another state, and this is routine. You still need a permit issued by your own state's registry, and you still collect from a licensed dealer in your state, who records the transfer there.
What does the receiving dealer charge?
The receiving dealer sets their own transfer fee for taking the firearm into their register, checking your licence and permit, completing the transaction and holding the firearm until collection. It is separate from freight charged by the selling dealer. Confirm both figures with the two dealers before you pay.
Can someone else pick the firearm up for me?
No. You must collect in person. The dealer has to verify your identity, your licence category and your Permit to Acquire against the firearm before the transaction can be completed and lodged with the firearms registry.
Why can't ammunition be delivered?
Ammunition, primers and propellant are prohibited items in the post under Australia Post's rules, so they are collection from store only. A dealer may also only supply ammunition to a person licensed for a firearm that takes that type of ammunition, which means the calibre must match something on your licence.
Disclaimer
This information is general information, not legal advice, collated from various online sources by an LLM assistant. In all cases refer to the NSW Firearms Registry for any legal or ownership matters. E&OE.