Category B firearm and ammunition quotas: what the texts actually say

Fifteen firearms, 3,000 cartridges, 1,000 in stock. Three simple figures, which almost always circulate with at least one error: the first changed in 2024, the second is not calculated the way you read everywhere, and the third is missing from the official factsheet. Here are the texts, article by article.

Fifteen firearms, and not twelve

The foundation is decree no. 2023-557 of 3 July 2023, whose explanatory note announces a simplification of the firearm and ammunition quotas applicable to sport shooters and to associations affiliated to the Fédération française de tir1. It rewrites article R.312-40 of the code de la sécurité intérieure, which now authorizes licensed adult shooters "within the limit of fifteen firearms"2. The switch took effect on 1 January 20241, and every up-to-date official source confirms it: service-public.gouv.fr18, the SIA FAQ16, recent prefecture pages1920.

This ceiling covers only firearms subject to authorization, meaning Category B, whose holding article R.312-40 governs2. Category C firearms, subject to declaration, do not enter this count and have no numerical quota at all: the code caps their ammunition, never the firearms.

So far, nothing surprising. What is more surprising is that moving from 12 to 15 was not a relaxation for everyone.

Under the previous regime, article R.312-40 2° set "twelve firearms", and article R.312-41 added ten single-shot rimfire handguns, expressly placed outside the quota3. Twenty-two in total. But R.312-41 was repealed on 1 January 20243. A shooter who made full use of that derogation therefore saw their ceiling fall by seven firearms.

Three thousand rounds — per firearm, not per permit

This is probably the costliest error on the subject, and the most widespread. The wording leaves no room for doubt. Article R.312-47 provides that the holder of a firearm may acquire, per twelve-month period: "3,000 cartridges per firearm under 2° of article R. 312-40"6. Service-public.gouv.fr puts it in the same terms — "3,000 cartridges per firearm authorised for sport shooting, per period of 12 consecutive months"18.

The phrasing "3,000 per authorisation", still commonly read, changes the result by a factor of fifteen for a holder at the full quota.

The daily ceiling deserves a pause, because it appears almost nowhere. The official SIA FAQ, in its version of 15 October 2024, states it in the same box as the annual quota: "You may buy, for one firearm, 1,000 rounds per day and a maximum of 3,000 across the year"16. It is a transaction ceiling, implemented in the system. In practice, three purchase days at most are enough to saturate one firearm's annual quota.

Where the twelve months start

This is a recurring question on shooters' forums, and contradictory answers pile up there: calendar year, date the firearm was bought, rolling year from the first purchase. The text is explicit: the twelve-month period runs "from the date of issue" of the authorization6. Not 1 January, not the firearm's anniversary: your authorization's.

One implementation nuance is worth flagging, because it explains part of the confusion. A note published by the UFA in July 2021 — three years before the SIA opened to sport shooters — announced that the quota would attach "no longer to the authorisation date but henceforth to the date the firearm was acquired"24; we have found no official confirmation since, and the source predates the 2023 decree. The text itself does not vary. Until the point is settled, the figure to look at over the counter remains the balance shown firearm by firearm in your SIA account, not a mental calculation. That counter only lives if the sessions follow, incidentally: it is the three controlled sessions rule that conditions the authorization itself.

Acquiring is not holding: two articles, two offenses

This is the distinction that protects you best, and the one least often stated plainly. Article R.312-47 governs acquisition: 3,000 cartridges per firearm per twelve-month period6. Article R.312-49 governs holding, in one sentence: "No one may hold more than 1,000 rounds per firearm"8.

Two texts, two ceilings, two distinct ways of being in breach. You can perfectly well respect the purchase quota and exceed the permitted stock: three purchases of 1,000 cartridges in the year fit exactly inside the acquisition quota, but if the season is short and you shoot less than planned, the stock at home passes the 1,000 mark.

What counts inside the fifteen, and what does not

The quota does not cover everything you hold — and it does not cover Category B alone. The SIA FAQ and the prefecture technical sheet on first-time holders give the same list1617.

First nuance, often lost: this is not a "Category B" quota. Article R.312-40 covers, in the same paragraph, firearms of 3° bis and 7° of heading 1 of I of article R.311-2 — that is, Category A12. The SIA FAQ says so plainly: the fifteen cover "Category A1 and B firearms authorised for sport shooting"16, and the prefecture sheet speaks of "Category A1/B firearms"17.

Second nuance, the other way: a caliber conversion component does not count inside the fifteen, but it opens its own ammunition quota. R.312-47 places on the same footing "a firearm or a firearm component allowing calibre conversion"6, and the SIA FAQ confirms that conversions "give rise to a separate ammunition acquisition quota"16. The calculation "3,000 × number of firearms" therefore understates the real ceiling of a shooter who owns some.

On frames, one detail matters: article R.312-42 excludes firearm components from the quota "with the exception of frames or, where applicable, lower receivers"5, and the SIA FAQ adds that they are included "even those acquired before 1 August 2018"16. You sometimes read the opposite online, including from serious retailers; the text in force leaves no ambiguity.

First-time holder: six firearms, and the right date

Article R.312-41-1 limits a new holder to six firearms for five years4. It is very often written that this rule comes from the 2023 decree: it actually comes from decree no. 2022-144 of 8 February 2022, applicable to applications filed from 10 May 20221317. The consequence is concrete: anyone who obtained a first authorization before that date gets the full quota of fifteen straight away.

The prefecture technical sheet sets out the cases concerned17: the adult who has never held a Category B authorization, the minor reaching majority, the person reapplying after being removed from the FINIADA, and the expatriate holding only a foreign authorization. It also settles two received ideas. A break in practice does not restart the clock — only a FINIADA entry does. And a shooter licensed for fifteen years but only in Category C is a first-time holder on their first Category B application.

The five years are not a countdown to watch: they match the authorization's validity, and the same sheet specifies that "on renewal, the holder will automatically benefit from the full quota of 15 firearms"1718.

Not every round for a Category B firearm is Category B

Ammunition follows its own classification logic, independent of the firearm's. Article R.311-2 is clear on this9: category B 4° covers only five calibers — 7.62 × 39, 5.56 × 45, 5.45 × 39, 12.7 × 99 and 14.5 × 114 — and category B 10° covers centerfire ammunition designed for handguns of category B 1°, "with the exception of those classified in Category C by a joint order of the Minister of the Interior and the Minister for Customs". That exception is not theoretical: it moves into C 6° a set of revolver calibers also chambered by long guns, from .32-20 to .44 Remington Magnum by way of .45 Colt923.

In other words: a semi-automatic rifle classified in Category B but chambered in .308 Winchester consumes Category C ammunition923. It escapes the 3,000 quota, but not its own rules. Article R.312-61 prohibits holding more than 1,000 rounds of 6° or 7° of Category C per lawfully held firearm, and article R.312-63 more than 500 rounds of 6°, 7° and 8° without holding the matching firearm27; both overruns are fourth-class contraventions, under R.317-7 and R.317-8 respectively11. .22 LR, being rimfire, falls under 8°: no annual acquisition quota, no holding ceiling as long as you hold the firearm — but the 500 mark applies to anyone holding none.

If you are still hesitating between the two entry calibers, we compared them with the figures in a 9mm or .22 LR guide.

Ammunition components are subject to no quota

This is the least-cited article in the file, and probably the most useful. R.312-48, in force since 1 August 2018 and still applicable: "The persons mentioned in article R. 312-40 are authorised to acquire and hold, without limitation, ammunition components, for the calibres of the firearms they hold"7. Service-public.gouv.fr repeats it word for word18. Projectiles, cases, primed cases, primers: no ceiling. Only the assembled cartridge is rationed.

Hence a consequence few sources state properly, because it requires holding both articles in mind at once: reloading leaves the acquisition quota, not the holding quota. Components are bought freely and a cartridge you make is not "acquired" within the meaning of R.312-47; but it remains a round held, and the 1,000-per-firearm ceiling of R.312-49 applies whatever its origin. Unlimited production, capped stock.

What the SIA sees, and what it does not

Since the system opened to sport shooters on 27 February 202420, the count is automated. The dealer enters the SIA number and the firearm's, the system checks that a firearm of that caliber appears on the digital rack, deducts the cartridges from that firearm's quota, and the holder follows the balance on their portal24. According to the UFA, the counter of a transferred firearm restarts at zero with the new owner; we found no official confirmation of this24.

Areas remain that the system does not cover, and it is better to know them:

• Rounds bought at the club are not entered in the SIA account. The trade-off is strict, and the official FAQ puts it bluntly: "I may buy ammunition at the club for consumption on site. I may not leave with the ammunition"16. A shooter who has used up their 3,000 cartridges may therefore lawfully shoot at the club beyond their quota — provided they take nothing home. Article R.312-66 governs that sale: a price at least equal to the purchase price and use exclusively within the declared range; the UFA also points out that a club may not transfer reloaded ammunition25.
• Cartridges reloaded at home appear nowhere, by construction.

No official tool therefore tracks the stock actually held: only purchases at a dealer are traced. It is precisely the R.312-49 ceiling — the one service-public omits — that rests entirely on your own bookkeeping.

Magazines follow their own quota

People forget this along with the rest. Article R.312-45 provides that no one may acquire and hold more than ten feeding systems per firearm10. Service-public.gouv.fr confirms it in the same terms18, and an overrun is a fourth-class contravention under R.317-511.

A derogation exists for practical shooting: article R.312-45-1 authorizes, on a federal certificate and for the disciplines that require it, feeding systems of more than 20 rounds for handguns and more than 30 for long guns10.

What an overrun really costs

The fine is not the point. Exceeding the firearm quotas of R.312-40 and R.312-41-1 is a fourth-class contravention under article R.317-411. The financial consequence lies elsewhere, and the SIA FAQ states it: failing regularization in the SIA, "I may be dispossessed by the prefect under bound authority and in that case the holder receives no compensation (L. 312-12 of the CSI)"16. What is at stake is therefore not the size of the fine, but the value of the firearms concerned.

Two administrative deadlines are worth recalling in passing, because they produce the same effect without any quota fault at all. Renewal of the authorization must be requested at least three months before its term, the implicit refusal period being itself three months — and there is no longer any receipt serving as a provisional authorization16.

A body of law moving faster than its readers

The observation is not ours, it is the Cour des comptes'. In its March 2026 public report on the control of civilian firearms, it notes that 33 texts — statutes, ordinances, decrees, orders — were passed between 2007 and 2024, and that some articles of the code de la sécurité intérieure were amended up to six times between 2012 and 2024. It puts the minimum cost of this public policy at about €161m in 2024, and judges that these revisions, often justified, are not without risk for the intelligibility of the regulation, to the point of generating unintentional offenses22. It adds that it remains impossible to count reliably the number of firearms and lawful holders in France, out of roughly six to eight million firearms in circulation22.

The Category B quota illustrates that diagnosis exactly: 12 + 10 become 15, an ammunition acquisition ceiling raised from 1,000 to 2,000 then 3,000 per firearm, a first-time holder status grafted on in 2022, pump-action shotguns added in 2024. Each step left behind pages that were never revised — official pages included. That of the Seine-Saint-Denis prefecture, updated 10 September 2015, still announces that "only 1,000 rounds per firearm per year will be issued"21. That was the 2013 figure; the old R.312-47 3° had already moved to 2,000 before the 2023 reform3.

If you only take one thing away

Sources 28 references

Each article of the code was reread on Légifrance in its version in force, and each regulatory figure cross-checked against at least one second official source. Prices, which are not regulatory data, rest on dated commercial surveys flagged as such. Click a note marker in the text to highlight the matching source.

1. Légifrance — decree no. 2023-557 of 3 July 2023 (JORF of 5 July 2023) amending the regime for firearms and ammunition: explanatory note, repeal of R.312-41, article 19 III (sport shooters' quotas by 1 January 2024 at the latest), article 19 IV (frames counted within the quotas from 1 September 2023, whatever their date of acquisition) and one-year period to dispose of any excess.
2. Légifrance — article R.312-40 of the code de la sécurité intérieure, version in force: firearms of 3° bis and 7° of heading 1 of I (Category A1) and of 1°, 2°, 4°, 5°, 9° and 10° of II, "within the limit of fifteen firearms", association quotas (25/50/100) and the regime for minors aged twelve and over (three single-shot rimfire handguns, use restricted to the ranges of approved associations except in international competition).
3. Légifrance — "Tir sportif" section of the code de la sécurité intérieure, version at 31 December 2023: former R.312-40 2° ("within the limit of twelve firearms") and former R.312-41 I ("single-shot rimfire handguns within the limit of ten, which are not counted within the quota provided for in article R. 312-40"), repealed on 1 January 2024. The same version set the annual acquisition quota at 2,000 cartridges per firearm (former R.312-47 3°).
4. Légifrance — article R.312-41-1 of the code de la sécurité intérieure: six firearms for five years, and exclusion of adults taking part in national or international competitions.
5. Légifrance — article R.312-42 of the code de la sécurité intérieure: firearm components fall outside the quota "with the exception of frames or, where applicable, lower receivers".
6. Légifrance — article R.312-47 of the code de la sécurité intérieure, version in force since 1 January 2024: "3,000 cartridges per firearm", "per twelve-month period from the date of issue of the latter", and firearm component allowing caliber conversion.
7. Légifrance — article R.312-48 of the code de la sécurité intérieure: acquisition and holding of ammunition components without limitation, for the calibers of the firearms held.
8. Légifrance — article R.312-49 of the code de la sécurité intérieure: "No one may hold more than 1,000 rounds per firearm."
9. Légifrance — article R.311-2 of the code de la sécurité intérieure: classification of firearms and ammunition, B 4° (five calibers listed), B 10° (centerfire ammunition for B 1° handguns, except those classified in Category C by joint order), C 6°, C 7° and C 8°.
10. Légifrance — articles R.312-45 and R.312-45-1 of the code de la sécurité intérieure: ten feeding systems per firearm, and derogation for practical shooting on a federal certificate.
11. Légifrance — code de la sécurité intérieure, contraventions: R.317-4 (firearm quotas), R.317-5 (feeding systems), R.317-7 and R.317-8 (Category C ammunition), fourth-class contraventions.
12. Légifrance — decree no. 2024-615 of 27 June 2024: rifled pump-action shotguns reclassified to Category B counted within the quotas from 1 July 2024, whatever their date of acquisition, with regularization until 1 January 2025.
13. Légifrance — decree no. 2022-144 of 8 February 2022: creation of the first-time holder status, applicable to applications filed from 10 May 2022.
14. Légifrance — article R.2352-73 of the code de la défense: free acquisition, transport and holding of up to 2 kg of civilian hunting or target powder, and its use for making ammunition.
15. Journal officiel — written question answered by the Ministry of the Interior, published 9 May 2023: confirmation of the 2 kg powder regime for civilian reloading.
16. Ministère de l'Intérieur — SIA frequently asked questions, version of 15 October 2024: 1,000 rounds per firearm per day and 3,000 across the year, worked example for 5 firearms, Category A1 and B firearms covered by the fifteen, frames included whatever their date of acquisition, caliber conversions opening a separate quota, club ammunition for on-site consumption only, dispossession without compensation failing regularization.
17. Préfecture — technical sheet on first-time holders: cases concerned (adult never authorized, minor reaching majority, removal from FINIADA, expatriate), break in practice not restarting the clock, Category C licence holder still a first-time holder, automatic move to 15 firearms on renewal, nullity of the authorization if the competition condition ceases (R.312-15 of the CSI).
18. service-public.gouv.fr — factsheet F2250, Category B firearms for a sport shooter, verified 20 March 2025: 15 firearms, 3,000 cartridges per firearm per 12 consecutive months, 10 feeding systems, ammunition components without limitation. Does not mention the holding ceiling of 1,000 rounds per firearm.
19. Préfecture de la Manche — sport shooters page, updated 21 January 2026: 15 firearms, no treatment of ammunition.
20. Préfecture du Gard — sport shooters: opening of the SIA to sport shooters on 27 February 2024, single global authorization of five years.
21. Préfecture de Seine-Saint-Denis — sport shooters page, updated 10 September 2015: "only 1,000 rounds per firearm per year will be issued". ⚠️ Page describing the 2013 regime, cited as an example of an official page never revised, not as the state of the law.
22. Cour des comptes — public report of March 2026 on the control of civilian firearms: 33 texts between 2007 and 2024, some articles amended up to six times between 2012 and 2024, minimum cost of the policy around €161m in 2024, risk of unintentional offenses, impossibility of a reliable count of firearms and lawful holders out of roughly six to eight million firearms in circulation.
23. Joint order of the Minister of the Interior and the Minister for Customs classifying certain handgun calibers in Category C 6°: .32-20, .44-40, .44 Remington Magnum, .45 Colt among others.
24. UFA — note of July 2021 on ammunition quotas and their attachment to the acquisition date. ⚠️ Association source predating the 2023 decree and the opening of the SIA to sport shooters; cited as the origin of a widespread belief, not as the state of the law.
25. UFA — note on the sale of ammunition by clubs: article R.312-66, price at least equal to the purchase price, use within the declared range, prohibition on transferring reloaded ammunition. ⚠️ Association source.
26. Oplo — 9mm or .22 LR: price surveys at French retailers in 2026, €0.30 per round factory and €0.20 per round reloaded. ⚠️ Commercial data from one market at one date, not regulatory data.
27. Légifrance — articles R.312-61 and R.312-63 of the code de la sécurité intérieure: 1,000 rounds of C 6° or 7° per lawfully held firearm, 500 rounds of C 6°, 7° and 8° without holding the matching firearm.
28. French retailer price surveys, 2025-2026: €270 to €310 per 1,000 rounds of ordinary-quality 9mm, box of 50 between €13 and €31 depending on brand and type. ⚠️ Commercial sources, indicative and variable between retailers.