The Parliamentary Counsel Office has made editorial and format changes to this version using the powers under subpart 2 of Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019.

Note 4 at the end of this version provides a list of the amendments included in it.

This order is administered by the Ministry of Justice.

This order is made under section 74A(e) of the Arms Act 1983—

(a)

on the advice and with the consent of the Executive Council; and

(b)

on the recommendation of the Minister of Police.

1	Title
2	Commencement
3	Prohibited ammunition
	Schedule Ammunition declared prohibited ammunition
	Gazette Information
	Notes

Order

1 Title

This order is the Arms (Prohibited Ammunition) Order 2019.

2 Commencement

This order comes into force on 21 June 2019.

Order: confirmed, on 20 December 2019, by section 9 of the Subordinate Legislation Confirmation Act 2019 (2019 No 82).

3 Prohibited ammunition

The ammunition specified in the first column of the Schedule and described in the second column of the Schedule is declared to be prohibited ammunition.

Schedule Ammunition declared prohibited ammunition

cl 3

Ammunition		Description
Tracer ammunition		Projectiles containing an element that enables the trajectory of the projectiles to be observed
Enhanced-penetration ammunition		Projectiles that have a steel or tungsten carbide penetrator intended to achieve better penetration
Armour-piercing ammunition		Projectiles intended to penetrate or perforate armour plate and ceramic armours, typically achieved through the use of hardened or specialised core materials
Incendiary ammunition (excluding flares for flare guns)		Projectiles designed to provide an incendiary effect on impact with the target
Explosive ammunition		Projectiles containing a high-explosive charge that detonates on impact with or in close proximity to the target
Multi-purpose ammunition		Armour-piercing incendiary ammunition in which the incendiary compound is replaced by a high-explosive charge to provide a blast, fragmentation, and incendiary effect as well as an armour-piercing effect
Discarding-sabot ammunition (excluding shotgun cartridges)		Small-diameter projectiles designed to pierce armour that are placed into a supporting plug (a sabot) and then pushed down the bore as an assembly; the sabot is stripped off when the assembly leaves the barrel
Multi-projectile ammunition (excluding shotgun cartridges and rimfire cartridges loaded with shot)		Ammunition that has the ability to fire multiple projectiles in a single shot (for example, duplex ammunition)
Chemical or biological carrier ammunition (excluding projectiles for any device designed and intended solely for any medical, surgical, veterinary, scientific, agricultural, industrial, or other similar lawful purpose)		Projectiles that have the ability to carry a chemical or biological agent
Flechettes (excluding projectiles designed and intended solely for any bolt gun, stud gun, humane killer, deer net gun, nail gun, or a pistol that is part of rocket-throwing or line-throwing equipment)		Lightweight, fin-stabilised projectiles, fired from a sabot, with an aerodynamic shape and small frontal area to minimise air resistance

Schedule: amended, on 18 October 2019, by clause 4 of the Arms (Prohibited Ammunition) Amendment Order 2019 (LI 2019/248).

Michael Webster,
Clerk of the Executive Council.

Issued under the authority of the Legislation Act 2019.

Date of notification in Gazette: 20 June 2019.

Notes

1 General

This is a consolidation of the Arms (Prohibited Ammunition) Order 2019 that incorporates the amendments made to the legislation so that it shows the law as at its stated date.

2 Legal status

A consolidation is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments. This presumption applies unless the contrary is shown.

Section 78 of the Legislation Act 2019 provides that this consolidation, published as an electronic version, is an official version. A printed version of legislation that is produced directly from this official electronic version is also an official version.

3 Editorial and format changes

The Parliamentary Counsel Office makes editorial and format changes to consolidations using the powers under subpart 2 of Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019. See also PCO editorial conventions for consolidations.

4 Amendments incorporated in this consolidation

Arms Act 2026 (2026 No 47): section 393(2)(b)

Subordinate Legislation Confirmation Act 2019 (2019 No 82): section 9

Arms (Prohibited Ammunition) Amendment Order 2019 (LI 2019/248)

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Arms (Prohibited Ammunition) Order 2019