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Flying with your firearm in South Africa

You may fly with a firearm you are licensed for, but never in your hand luggage and never without telling the airline first. The firearm travels in the hold and is handed over and collected at a firearm desk.

Before you book

• Your licence must be valid for the firearm you take, and the licence card and your ID go with you. A licence in renewal (handed in on time) stays valid, so carry the SAPS receipt with it. See renewal pending.
• Tell the airline when you book, or call its reservations line. Airlines ask for notice ahead of the flight, often a few days, and some only accept firearms on certain fares or routes.
• Ask about the fee, and whether it is charged per firearm and per leg of the trip, including stopovers.

Packing

• The firearm goes unloaded, in a lockable hard case.
• Never in hand luggage, and never loose in your suitcase.
• Ammunition is packed separately from the firearm, in its own secure, lockable container. Ask the airline how much it allows and how it wants it handed in.
• Holsters, magazines and spare parts: ask the airline, and pack magazines empty.

At the airport

1. Arrive early. Allow extra time, two hours before departure is common, because the firearm is handled separately.
2. Declare the firearm at check-in. Check-in tags it and sends you to the firearm desk.
3. At the firearm desk you show your licence and ID, make the firearm safe yourself in front of the official, and hand it over with the ammunition. Keep the receipt you are given.
4. The firearm travels in the hold, out of your hands for the whole flight.

When you land

Collect the firearm at the firearm desk at the arrival airport (not on the baggage belt), with your receipt, licence and ID. Check it before you leave the desk.

Connecting flights

If you change planes, ask the airline whether the firearm is checked through to the end or must be collected and checked in again. Ammunition handling can differ on the second airline.

Flying out of South Africa

Taking a firearm abroad needs a SAPS 520 temporary export permit from SAPS before you travel, and usually an import permit from the country you visit. Apply weeks ahead: both sides take time. Visitors bringing a firearm into South Africa need a temporary import permit, issued on arrival or in advance.

This is general information about South African firearm law and SAPS procedure, not legal advice, and we are not SAPS. Where your situation is unusual, a past conviction, a pending case, a firearm inherited from a deceased estate, speak to a firearms attorney.

Frequently asked questions