Category B firearm authorization: the full route, from file to renewal

A Category B authorization runs five years1, covers up to fifteen firearms2 — six for a first-time holder3 — and is renewed no later than three months before its term1. Filing is online on the SIA for an adult, still on paper for a minor.

What the Category B authorization covers

Category B groups the firearms subject to authorization: merely holding one without that document is a criminal offense. The service-public factsheet F2250 is blunt — "buying, selling or holding one or more Category B firearms without authorisation is punishable by 5 years' imprisonment and a fine of up to €75,000"1. The authorization is therefore what makes both acquisition and holding lawful.

Since the SIA opened, it is no longer issued firearm by firearm. It is a single global authorization, granted for five years1514, covering a firearm quota set by your profile. The same document covers every firearm in the quota, within its period of validity.

Filing the application follows two watertight routes that need separating from the outset: an adult files everything online on the SIA, a minor stays on a paper file. We take the route in order — the file, the application, the processing, then the life of the authorization, from quota to renewal. Category B is only one of the four: we described them in our guide to the firearm categories A, B, C and D.

The Category B file, document by document

The file turns on one central document: the federation's favorable opinion. Article R.312-5 of the code de la sécurité intérieure conditions the authorization on a "favorable opinion concerning the acquisition and holding of firearms […] issued by a sports federation"5. That opinion is not automatic: it rests on a current licence and on regular shooting practice, checked by the association's president.

In practice, an initial application gathers:

• The prior opinion signed by the association's president, which accompanies the initial application15 and grounds the federation's favorable opinion5.
• A current FFTir licence, itself backed by an up-to-date medical certificate.
• The controlled sessions that condition that opinion: the club runs the check and keeps the register, the shooter having no document of their own to produce15.
• Compliant storage: a safe, a strong cabinet or a strongroom6.
• For a minor: the attestation of a person with parental authority and cerfa form 12644111.

Each of these carries its own deadline: the licence, the medical certificate, the regularity of sessions. It is this stack of offset clocks that makes the file tedious to keep, far more than the procedure itself.

The three controlled sessions, without a logbook

The favorable opinion requires proof of regular practice. The exact rule, often badly copied, sits in the arrêté of 28 April 2020 (NOR: INTA1933589A): the federation restates the "maintenance of the obligation of three shoots at least two months apart during the twelve months preceding the application in order to obtain a favorable opinion"15. We set out that mechanism in our guide to the three controlled sessions rule.

On renewal, the logic inverts into a condition of attendance: "the absence of shooting practice for twelve consecutive months or more […] bars […] the Federation's favorable opinion"15. And it is indeed that prior opinion which goes up with the file: "only the prior opinion signed by the association's president shall accompany initial applications"15.

A word on the shooting logbook, still read among the file's documents: it is no longer one. Article R.312-43 of the code de la sécurité intérieure, which imposed it, has been repealed since 1 July 20202, and the federation announced as early as May 2020 that "the shooting logbook and its verification by the Administration will be purely and simply abolished"15. What remains is the register of controlled sessions kept by the association15: the shooter has no logbook to hold or to produce. Many clubs keep one by internal choice — that is a local practice, not a document of the file.

Filing the application on the SIA

For an adult, the application is now entirely online. The switch has a precise date: "on 27 February 2024, the Ministry of the Interior's central firearms and explosives service officially launched the module devoted to sport shooters"12. Since then a shooter can "make an authorisation application online"12, in their personal space.

That account is single and personal: "private holders may have only one personal account in the SIA"13. It gives "direct access to one's digital gun rack"13, listing the firearms held. All holders were required to have created their account before 31 December 202412.

For anyone uncomfortable with the online route, support exists: prefectures have set up "digital reception points", and clubs assist their licence holders13. Filing nonetheless remains the applicant's act, with their federal opinion and supporting documents.

The minor's route stays on cerfa 12644

This is the point digitisation did not carry, and the one rarely read correctly: a minor does not go through the SIA. Factsheet F2250 says so clearly — for them, "the application is made by post […] cerfa form no. 12644 completed and signed"1. The form's official title, in version *04, is "Application for authorisation to acquire and hold firearms and ammunition, and for renewal of a holding authorisation"11, addressed to the prefecture.

A minor's quota is specific. Article R.312-40 authorizes "persons aged at least twelve, not taking part in international competitions […] to hold single-shot rimfire handguns of 1° of Category B, within the limit of three"2. Three firearms, of a very precise type, and a file accompanied by the attestation of a person with parental authority. The same 2° attaches a rarely cited use constraint: "save in the context of international competitions, these firearms may only be used in the shooting ranges of approved associations"2. The firearm is in the minor's name, but it does not leave their club's range.

One exception reverses the rule: a minor selected for international competition no longer falls under that ceiling of three, but under the fifteen-firearm regime2. At eighteen, however, seniority does not convert into a full quota: the young holder moves into the first-time holder regime, six firearms for five years3.

Processing delays and implied refusal at 3 months

Once the application is filed, the administration has a deadline, and its silence has a precise meaning. Factsheet F2250 is clear: "in the absence of a reply within 3 months, your application is refused"1. Silence means refusal, never acceptance — the opposite of the instinct one has facing an administration.

The rule has a precise and recent regulatory basis. Article R312-10-1 of the code de la sécurité intérieure, created by decree no. 2024-615 of 27 June 2024 and in force since 29 June 2024, provides: "Silence kept for three months by the competent authority amounts to a decision rejecting the authorisation application"8. Factsheet F2250 merely translates it into plain language.

That article sits in the "Decision" paragraph of the "Firearms subject to authorisation" sub-section, the very one carrying articles R.312-12, R.312-13 and R.312-145: it therefore governs an application filed by a private individual, and not only professional authorizations.

As for the real processing time, no official source publishes an average: factsheet F2250 gives only the three-month guillotine1, and prefecture pages do not address the question14. The ranges circulating in the specialist press16 cite no basis and are not verifiable: we do not repeat them. A dealer's guide does confirm the three-month period and the silence-means-refusal rule17. Three months is a processing ceiling, not a forecast.

Refusal: grounds and remedies

This is the blind spot of almost every page on the subject: what to do about a refusal. The grounds that can be raised are known. A specialist firm lists them — criminal record, entry in the FINIADA file, "insufficiently substantiated legitimate purpose", psychiatric history, "storage conditions deemed insufficient", or public safety18. The main ones, without claiming to be exhaustive:

• An entry in the criminal record (bulletin no. 2).
• An entry in the FINIADA file.
• A legitimate purpose insufficiently substantiated.
• A psychiatric history.
• Storage conditions deemed insufficient.
• A ground of public order or safety.

Facing a refusal, three routes open, and ordinary law sets their deadlines. The informal remedy, before the prefect who took the decision, and the hierarchical remedy, before the Minister of the Interior, are brought within two months10. The judicial remedy, before the administrative court, is also brought within two months1018.

One mechanism protects the applicant: "sending the remedy interrupts the deadline"10. Petitioning the prefect or the minister first therefore does not forfeit access to the court — a fresh two-month period runs from the answer to, or rejection of, the administrative remedy. In exchange, none of these remedies suspends the decision18.

The second silence, the one you do not expect

The route holds a second silence trap, and it closes faster than the first. With the informal remedy filed, many shooters wait for the prefect's answer — sometimes for months. But that answer may never come without anything being suspended. Article L.231-4 of the code des relations entre le public et l'administration sets aside the silence-means-acceptance rule where the request "has the character of a claim or an administrative remedy": in that case, "silence kept by the administration for two months amounts to a decision of rejection"19.

The countdown is therefore this. Two months after sending the informal remedy with no answer, the rejection is established. It is from that date that the fresh two-month period to petition the administrative court runs10. A shooter waiting patiently for a letter beyond that term does not gain time: they spend the court's.

Two different durations for two silences: three months on the initial application, because the code de la sécurité intérieure expressly provides it8; two months on the remedy, because that is the ordinary law of administrative remedies19. Confusing them costs a month of court deadline.

Five years of validity, renewal at three months

Duration is the point on which every official source converges. F2250: "the authorisation to acquire and hold a Category B firearm is granted for 5 years"1. The code de la sécurité intérieure grounds it in article R.312-135, and prefecture pages repeat it14. Since the SIA, it is a single duration for the whole quota.

Renewal obeys a strict deadline: "you must make your renewal application no later than 3 months before the end date of the authorisation's validity"1, which article R.312-14 puts in legal terms — "no later than three months before the expiry date"5.

Renewing is not a tacit formality: the file has to be rebuilt, with a fresh favorable opinion from the federation — so maintained practice, with no break of twelve consecutive months or more15. A shooter who has stopped practicing may find renewal blocked even though the authorization was still running.

Beware of confusing the route's two "three months". The one for silence-means-refusal runs after filing and sanctions the administration's failure to reply; the one for renewal is a lead time, to be respected before expiry. Two distinct clocks, one same duration.

Fifteen firearms in the quota, six for a first-time holder

The number of firearms covered depends on the profile, and that is where errors abound. For an adult shooter on the full regime, article R.312-40 uses the wording "within the limit of fifteen firearms"2, which factsheet F2250 confirms1. The figure of twelve, still widespread, belongs to the regime repealed on 1 January 2024.

The first-time holder — someone who has never held an authorization under the adult shooter regime, the first paragraph of 2° of article R.312-40 — is treated separately. Article R.312-41-1 provides that such persons "may only be authorised to hold, for a period of five years from the issue of their first authorisation, a maximum of six firearms"3. Six, not five — the confusion is common. The quota moves automatically to fifteen on renewal. The same article extends that ceiling to two other profiles: someone who has previously held such an authorization but then fell into one of the situations of article L.312-16 — a FINIADA entry — and "persons reaching their majority, where they were previously authorised to hold firearms" under the minors' regime3. A young holder of three handguns therefore does not move to fifteen at eighteen: they restart on six for five years.

One exclusion completes the picture: "the provisions of the present article apply neither to adults taking part in national or international competitions"3. An adult competitor therefore reaches fifteen straight away, without the six-firearm step. Conversely, a long-standing licence holder but only in Category C remains a first-time holder on their first Category B application.

One last point, often lost: this is not a strictly "Category B" quota. Article R.312-40 also covers Category A1 firearms authorized for sport shooting2. The detail of firearm and ammunition quotas — and the story of the move from twelve to fifteen — is in our dedicated guide to Category B firearm and ammunition quotas.

Buying a Category B firearm: ammunition and ceilings

Once the authorization is notified, the firearm is bought from a dealer. A deadline frames that purchase: article R.312-12 provides that "acquisition […] of the firearm must be carried out within six months from the date of notification of the authorisation"5. We flag it with caution: how this general deadline meshes with the SIA's single global five-year authorization, which allows acquisition up to the quota, is not clearly documented.

Ammunition follows its own acquisition quota. Factsheet F2250 sets the rule: "you may buy at most 3,000 cartridges per authorised firearm, per period of 12 consecutive months"1, which article R.312-47 confirms — "3,000 cartridges per firearm"4. Per firearm, never per authorization: the nuance changes everything for anyone holding several. To which is added an accessory limit: "at most 10 feeding systems per firearm"1.

Storing your firearms: the compulsory safe

The authorization comes with a security obligation, first stated as a general principle: "natural or legal persons holding firearms are required to take every measure to prevent the use of those firearms by a third party" (article R.314-2)7.

The practical arrangements sit in article R.314-3, which expressly covers Category A and B firearms. They "must be kept: 1° Either in safes or strong cabinets suited to the type and number of items held; 2° Or inside strongrooms with an armoured door and openings protected by bars"6. Two options, your choice, and it is article R.314-3 that governs here.

What can cost you a Category B authorization

An authorization obtained is not held for ever. The prefect may "order any holder of a firearm, ammunition or components of any category to dispose of them" on grounds of public order or safety (article L.312-11)9. Disposal then means selling the firearm to someone holding an authorization, or handing it to the State, within a period the prefect sets.

The mechanisms that remove — or suspend — an authorization:

• A disposal order from the prefect on grounds of public order or safety9.
• A FINIADA entry, or immediate surrender of the firearm where dangerousness is found.
• Failure to renew in time, which compels disposal within the three months following expiry15.
• An unregularized quota overrun, whose consequences are covered in firearm and ammunition quotas.

Sources 19 references

Official texts reread on Légifrance in their version in force, and administrative practice taken from service-public.gouv.fr and prefecture pages. Specialist commercial or legal sources are flagged as such. Click a note marker in the text to highlight the matching source.

1. service-public.gouv.fr — factsheet F2250, Category B firearms for a sport shooter: 5-year authorization, renewal no later than 3 months before expiry, silence for 3 months amounting to refusal, 15 firearms, 3,000 cartridges per firearm per 12 consecutive months, 10 feeding systems, minor's route by cerfa 12644, penalties of 5 years' imprisonment and €75,000.
2. Légifrance — article R.312-40 of the code de la sécurité intérieure: "within the limit of fifteen firearms", Category A1 firearms included, regime for minors aged twelve and over (three single-shot rimfire handguns, use limited to approved association ranges save international competition), and repeal of R.312-43 on 1 July 2020.
3. Légifrance — article R.312-41-1 of the code de la sécurité intérieure: six firearms for five years from the first authorization, extension to persons removed from FINIADA and to those reaching majority, exclusion of adults taking part in national or international competitions.
4. Légifrance — article R.312-47 of the code de la sécurité intérieure: "3,000 cartridges per firearm", per twelve-month period from the date of issue of the authorization.
5. Légifrance — code de la sécurité intérieure, "Firearms subject to authorisation" sub-section: article R.312-5 (favorable opinion of a sports federation), R.312-12 (six months to acquire after notification), R.312-13 (authorization granted for five years), R.312-14 (renewal no later than three months before expiry), R.312-17 and R.312-18 (disposal within three months of expiry or nullity, period reducible by the prefect).
6. Légifrance — article R.314-3 of the code de la sécurité intérieure: Category A and B firearms kept in safes or strong cabinets suited to the type and number of items held, or in strongrooms with an armored door and barred openings.
7. Légifrance — article R.314-2 of the code de la sécurité intérieure: general obligation to take every measure to prevent use of the firearm by a third party.
8. Légifrance — article R312-10-1 of the code de la sécurité intérieure, created by decree no. 2024-615 of 27 June 2024, in force since 29 June 2024: "Silence kept for three months by the competent authority amounts to a decision rejecting the authorisation application."
9. Légifrance — article L.312-11 of the code de la sécurité intérieure: the prefect may order any holder to dispose of firearms, ammunition and components on grounds of public order or safety.
10. service-public.gouv.fr — factsheet F2474, challenging an administrative decision: informal and hierarchical remedies within two months, judicial remedy within two months, sending the remedy interrupting the deadline.
11. service-public.gouv.fr — cerfa form no. 12644*04, "Application for authorisation to acquire and hold firearms and ammunition, and for renewal of a holding authorisation", to be sent to the prefecture.
12. Ministère de l'Intérieur — launch of the SIA module for sport shooters on 27 February 2024; online authorization applications; obligation for all holders to create an account before 31 December 2024.
13. SIA — holders' documentation: a single personal account per private holder, direct access to the digital gun rack, digital reception points at prefectures.
14. Prefecture pages for sport shooters: single global authorization of five years, no published average processing time.
15. FFTir — 2020, new regime for issuing prior opinions: three shoots at least two months apart during the twelve months preceding the application, absence of practice for twelve consecutive months barring the favorable opinion, only the prior opinion signed by the president accompanying initial applications, abolition of the shooting logbook and of its verification by the Administration, register of controlled sessions kept by the association.
16. Specialist press — processing-time ranges cited without any stated basis. ⚠️ Not verifiable; reported here only to explain why we do not repeat the figures.
17. Dealer guide — confirmation of the three-month period and of silence amounting to refusal. ⚠️ Commercial source.
18. Specialist law firm — grounds for refusal (criminal record, FINIADA, insufficiently substantiated legitimate purpose, psychiatric history, storage deemed insufficient, public safety) and absence of suspensive effect of remedies. ⚠️ Commercial source, cited for its enumeration and not as a statement of the law.
19. Légifrance — article L.231-4 of the code des relations entre le public et l'administration: silence-means-acceptance set aside where the request has the character of a claim or an administrative remedy, silence for two months then amounting to a decision of rejection.