Thread: 15 to sit firearms test

Hi Team , question..family friends are looking to get there firearms licence , iv been taking the young fella out hunting he’s currently 15 & done his share of shooting having grown up on a farm , his older sister is about to apply for a licence so I thought it practical that he mayswell apply as well seen as how it takes months to receive FAL , I think he turns 16 in 6-7 months , can he apply & sit the rest aged 15 ?
Cheers.

Unfortunately they will reject his application right away if he's under age.

Got mine when I turned 16. It actually arrived in the mail before I even sat the test. I went down to the local cop shop and the duty officer said to hold onto the licence till after I passed the test. Ah, the early 1990's were a good time.

I sat the test when I was 15, had the interviews. Then the license turned up a week after my 16th. 20years ago though


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I did a weekend course with MSC at Burnham Camp when I was 14 or 15 and had a cert for that to take to the Police. Got my licence right after my birthday.
Check if there are any courses going

My son got both his FAL and learners driver's license on his 16th birthday - 5 years ago.

He had begun competitive target shooting at 14 years old under supervision.

He completed the all the FAL prerequisites before his birthday and the date of issue is his 16th birthday.

Not sure if they'll allow a 15 year old to do this now.

As Kimber stated, the answer is no. As we found out ourselves, under the current methodology the application cannot be inputted into the computer until the applicant turns 16. I'm guessing the computer won't allow a date under the age of 16. Worse, you cannot book the MSC course until you have you FAL "reference number" - which eventually becomes your FAL number.

Given NZ Post are generally shit at doing that one job they exist for - getting post from A to B quickly - we got the photos, documents and application fee sorted out 2 weeks before my daughter's 16th birthday and sent the application in one full week before her birthday, figuring it would take at least one week to take the three hour journey by road to Dunedin. I was right. We received a confirmation letter from the Police about 2 weeks later acknowledging receipt and containing the above number you need in order to book the MSC course.

When my son did his FAL a couple of years back he sat the MSC course 6 months before his birthday, sent in the application 2 months ahead of his birthday, rang the Police on his birthday to get the application moving and had his interviews within 3 weeks of turning 16. He was keen. Them days are long gone.

Of course filling out a 36 page application form makes the system SOOOOOOO much safer than filling out a 5 page application form because we all know bureaucracy thrives on lots of paperwork. We also all know that 36 pages makes diddly-squat difference if the police fail to carry out their job in accordance with established procedures.

Thanks for the reply’s , I’ll pass that onto the young fella , I thought it would be tidy for the both of them to get there FAL at the same time but from what iv read it seems there’s nothing tidy about getting a licence now anyway so not surprised. Cheers.

Help them through the process and be upbeat about the end result @Boaraxa

Its the end result that matters after all. As newcomers they don't have anything to compare with so if you don't tell them "this is bullshit" then they'll just wade through the process and be overjoyed when the little blue card turns up in the mail. It's better to increase the number of people with a license by two young adults than discourage them at the start.

I'm sure you're all over it though. Great to see keen young blood getting into it.

When my son handed his application in they said it would be months before it would even be processed. I asked if he would be able to do the Mountain Safety course etc straight away to speed up the process.
Nope. They wouldn't allow that to happen.

mate today after waiting since April has it all done n dusted and should arrive in two weeks...he as happy as a dog with two dicks....sorted a .22lr out for him to purchase....now he waits till FAL arrives and be good to go....