All about the regulations on recreational and defensive shooting weapons

  

Are you about to acquire a recreational shooting weapon (pistol, revolver or air rifle) or a self-defence weapon, and are you wondering about the legislation? Here you will find the answers to your questions.

You are eager to get started in recreational shooting or sport shooting, take a few minutes to educate yourself on the important rules to know.

Pellet weapons (recreational and sports shooting weapons) are most often in category D or C.

Defense projectile weapons are divided into two categories according to their power (expressed in joules).

  

Category D weapons

  

Category D includes compressed air or CO2 weapons (recreational and defensive shooting) whose power does not exceed 20 joules. They are on free sale (without the need for declaration) to those over 18 years old.

Blank weapons (or alarm weapons) are also category D weapons, just like bladed weapons (knives, truncheons , brass knuckles, electroshock etc).

  

Category C weapons

  

Category C includes air guns (mainly for sport shooting and hunting) as well as CO2 defence weapons whose power exceeds 20 joules. Unlike category D, category C is subject to a declaration to the prefecture (this declaration is made by the seller), you will be asked for proof of identity, proof of residence less than 3 months old, a shooting licence or a hunting permit and also a medical certificate less than 15 days old. We will also check the file of people who are not allowed to own weapons. Any person registered in this file will be refused the purchase of any category C weapon.

Precisions:

- The medical certificate must be less than 15 days old and must be sent to us in the original by post in a sealed envelope. It must attest to your physical and mental health. You can request it from your doctor.

- The shooting licence or hunting permit must be valid, as must the identity document. These can be sent to us by email.

- The sale is forbidden outside France.

  

Carrying and transporting weapons

  

Unlike other countries, in France it is strictly forbidden for anyone to have a firearm in any public place. There is no license to carry a weapon to circumvent this rule.

A self-defense weapon or a recreational or sports shooting weapon may only be transported to a shooting range, a hunting estate or an enclosed private place, and under essential conditions security (carrying case locked, weapon unloaded). Only the police are able to assess whether you are within your rights, so we advise you to respect these rules.

Wearing goggles is also mandatory.

Find our handgun cases by clicking here and our protective glasses here.