Handgun participation requirements

The following content can be found on the Licensing and Regulation Division (LRD) website. Please refer to the LRD website for further information.

In the state of Victoria, all licensed handgun owners who carry a licence for the purpose of Target Pistol Shooting, and who own their own handguns, must comply with the mandatory number of attendances each year. The number of matches/shoots you are required to participate in each year is determined by the number of classes of firearms that you own.

Simply put, a “Match” is an approved competition held at your club (which we provide several, weekly), or events such as Opens (inter club competitions), State Titles, Nationals etc. A “Shoot” is a practice shoot, and is used to prepare for matches, and to improve skills.

Classes of firearms

Class 1: Air handgun

Class 2: Rimfire handgun

Class 3: Centrefire handgun with a calibre of .38 inch or less, or a Black Powder handgun.

Class 4: Centrefire handgun with a calibre of more than .38 inch, but not more than .45 inch.

Exceptions

The participation requirements do not apply to the following:

Junior handgun licence holders;

Holders of a license to possess or carry a handgun on behalf of a junior for target shooting purposes;

Holders of a General Category Handgun licence with a genuine reason other than handgun target shooting;

Handgun target shooters who do not own any handguns under the licence.

Handgun participation table

Number of handgun classes owned	Minimum number of shooting events that must be participated in
0	0
1	10
2	10
3	12
4	16

Within the above requirements, handgun owners must ensure that the following requirements are met:

6 of these events must be matches;

6 of these events must be as a competitor;

4 events for each class of handguns owned (matches or shoots);

and Participation must take place on no less than 10 separate days.

Participation requirements explained

Example 1

Tony is a handgun target shooter and owns 3 Rimfire handguns. No other handguns are owned by Tony. As Tony is deemed to have only 1 class of handgun, he is required to participate in 10 events on no less than 10 separate days. Tony must ensure that at least 6 of these events are matches (of any class). Tony must also ensure that 4 events (whether matches or shoots) are Rimfire handgun related.

Example 2

Kate is a keen handgun target shooter and owns 3 Centrefire handguns, 3 Air handguns and 5 Rimfire handguns. Kate is deemed to have 3 classes of handguns, therefore she is required to participate in a total of 12 events overall on no less than 10 separate days. These 12 events must comprise of at least 6 matches (of any class). As part of these 12 events, Kate must also ensure that she participates in a minimum of 4 events for each class of handgun that she owns (comprising of either matches, shoots, or a combination of both). These are just some possible combinations that Kate may elect to adopt to meet her participation requirements (there are numerous others):

Combination 1

2 matches for class1;

2 shoots for class 1;

2 matches for class 2;

2 shoots for class 2;

2 matches for class 3; and

2 shoots for class 3

Combination 2

1 match for class 1;

3 shoots for class 1;

2 matches for class 2;

2 shoots for class 2;

3 matches for class 3; and

1 shoot for class 3.

Participation requirements will be explained in greater detail at your safety course.