Overview
Civilian firearms in Iceland are governed primarily by the Weapons Act No. 16/1998 (Icelandic: Vopnalög nr. 16/1998), which entered into force on 1 September 1998. According to the Act's own preamble, it has been amended several times, including by Act No. 82/1998, Act No. 19/1999, Act No. 24/2007 and Act No. 124/2008; the consolidated English translation relied on here reflects amendments through 2008, and later changes may exist that are not captured in that translation. The Act is supplemented by ministerial regulations (notably Reg. 787/1998 and its successors) that set out detailed rules on training, testing, storage and permitted weapon types.
Iceland operates a licensing system: under Article 12 of the Weapons Act, "the ownership or use of firearms without a firearms permit is prohibited," and permits are issued by the chief of police in the district where the applicant is domiciled. Firearm ownership is comparatively common for a European country, driven largely by hunting and sport shooting; secondary reporting by Iceland Review (2019) and The Reykjavík Grapevine (2019) has described roughly 70,000 registered firearms in a population of around 370,000, though these figures are not drawn from the primary statute.
The legal framework is permissive toward manual and single-shot long guns held for lawful purposes but restrictive toward handguns and self-loading weapons. Article 5 of the Act prohibits the importation or manufacture of automatic and semi-automatic handguns and rifles, automatic shotguns, and multi-cartridge shotguns holding more than two cartridges, alongside "particularly dangerous types of weapons ... specifically intended for use in warfare." There is no general right to carry firearms for self-defence; Article 21 states that "carrying firearms in public is prohibited" and that carrying concealed weapons on one's person is prohibited.
Firearms are individually registered. Article 18 requires "a special register of firearms ... for the country as a whole," and Article 12 requires each permit to list every firearm the holder owns, with its type, calibre, maximum number of cartridges and manufacturer's serial number. Applicants must be legally competent adults who pass a background check, a training course and an examination, and who meet health and conduct conditions set out in Article 13. This article summarises the civilian rules only; it excludes police, coast guard, prison and military weapons, which Article 3 expressly places outside the Act's scope. Readers should treat this as a general reference and consult the current statute and the Icelandic police for authoritative, up-to-date requirements.
Ownership & licensing
According to the Weapons Act No. 16/1998, possessing or using a firearm requires a permit issued by the chief of police in the applicant's home district (Article 12). Article 13 sets the core eligibility conditions. Applicants "shall have reached the age of twenty and be legally competent to manage their affairs," although a regulation may provide an exemption from the age limit for sport shooting under Article 17. Applicants must not have violated the Penal Code, the alcohol-control legislation, the controlled-substances legislation, the wildlife protection and hunting legislation, or the Weapons Act itself; the Act allows the police discretion where a violation was minor or committed long ago, subject to conditions.
Article 13 further requires that applicants "possess adequate knowledge of handling firearms," be "mentally sound," and be otherwise qualified, and that they "attend a training course in the handling and use of firearms." The official government portal Ísland.is describes the practical process: applicants obtain "a medical certificate for a firearms licence from a general practitioner," provide "two co-defendants over 20 years old" (referees), submit an application for a police background check, and "pass a test in a course on handling firearms," after which the police issue a digital firearms certificate. Ísland.is lists a licence fee of 6,500 ISK.
There is some divergence between sources on the licence term. Article 12 of the Weapons Act states that a firearms permit "shall not be issued for a period of more than 10 years, and for a shorter period if necessary," while the current Ísland.is guidance states that "permits are valid for a maximum of 5 years." This discrepancy may reflect a post-2008 amendment or regulation not captured in the English translation consulted; the exact current maximum term should be confirmed against the live statute.
Civilian ownership centres on hunting and sport arms. Secondary reporting (Iceland Review) indicates licensed owners may acquire semi-automatic shotguns, bolt-action rifles, single-shot rifles and double-barrel rifles, while "all automatic and semi-automatic rifles and most handguns are banned for public use," with narrow exceptions for sport-shooting associations and collectors. The same source reports a rifle calibre limit of 8 mm (with an exception for those permitted to hunt large game abroad); this limit derives from ministerial regulation rather than the primary Act text and was not independently verified against the regulation during this research session. Storage is regulated by Article 23: firearms and ammunition "shall be stored in separate locked cabinets," and the minister may set stricter storage conditions once a person owns a specified number of firearms. On the death of an owner, Article 16 requires that a firearm forming part of an estate be transferred within twelve months to a person holding an appropriate permit.
Carry & transport
Iceland does not provide for the public carrying of firearms by civilians, whether openly or concealed. Article 21 of the Weapons Act No. 16/1998 is explicit: "A person carrying or using a firearm shall exercise extreme care at all times. Carrying firearms in public is prohibited." The same article separately prohibits carrying concealed weapons on one's person. There is no self-defence carry permit category in the Act; permits under Article 13 are granted for hunting, sport shooting under Article 17, employment-related needs under Article 14, and exhibition or collection under Article 15, rather than for personal protection.
For moving firearms between locations, Article 21 sets a clear transport rule: "On carrying and transporting firearms between locations the firearms shall be unloaded and encased." This means a firearm being taken to a range, hunting ground or gunsmith must be transported unloaded and in a case rather than carried ready for use. The Act does not, in the translation consulted, prescribe a specific magazine-round limit for rifles; the only cartridge-capacity restriction in Article 5 concerns shotguns, whose importation or manufacture is prohibited where they are "multicartridge shotguns with chambers for more than two cartridges, unless the weapon has been modified to comply."
Article 20 requires that "any person carrying or using a firearm shall carry a firearms permit and present it to the police on request." If a person cannot present a permit, the police may temporarily confiscate the weapon until the person produces a certificate showing they are entitled to use it; a person using a borrowed or hired firearm must be able to present the owner's written permission.
Article 21 also restricts discharge. The use of firearms "while under the influence of alcohol or other intoxicants is prohibited," and where police have reason to believe this provision has been breached they may require the person to undergo medical testing, including blood and urine tests. Firing "on a road, across a road, from a vehicle, in public or in other places where danger might ensue is prohibited, except as urgently necessary," and firing on or across another person's property without the owner's or occupant's permission is likewise prohibited, with such property-related violations prosecuted only at the request of the injured party.
Separately, Chapter V of the Act governs non-firearm weapons. Article 30 restates that "carrying a weapon in public is prohibited," while allowing blades to be carried "in places where such carriage is reasonable and normal, e.g. at work or in hunting." It prohibits the importation, manufacture, acquisition or possession of items including bladed weapons with a blade over 12 cm not intended for domestic or professional use, switchblades and similar knives, knuckledusters and electric-shock weapons; spray weapons such as mace and tear-gas devices may be handled only by the police. Taken together, these provisions mean that routine armed carry — of firearms or of the listed prohibited weapons — is not lawful for civilians in ordinary public settings.
Travel & import
The importation of firearms into Iceland is tightly controlled under Chapter II of the Weapons Act No. 16/1998. Article 5 makes commercial importation of firearms, ammunition, explosives or fireworks unlawful except with the permission of the Chief of Police of the metropolitan area of Reykjavík. For private individuals, the Act provides that a chief of police "is permitted to grant to persons holding a firearms permit permission to import firearms and ammunition for their own use," subject to further ministerial regulation. In practice this means a traveller or resident must already hold, or obtain, the appropriate Icelandic firearms permit and secure import authorisation before bringing a firearm into the country; the Ísland.is firearms licence covers "firearms and ammunition" as well as "components and accessories for firearms."
Article 5 also sets categorical import bans. "The importation or manufacture of firearms which do not carry a manufacturer's serial number is prohibited," subject to a possible waiver by the chief of police for firearms of obvious collection value. The importation or manufacture of the following is prohibited: automatic or semi-automatic handguns; automatic or semi-automatic rifles; automatic shotguns; and semi-automatic or manually loaded multi-cartridge shotguns with chambers for more than two cartridges, unless modified to comply. The importation of realistic weapon replicas is prohibited "if there is reason to believe that they may be difficult to distinguish from the original weapons," and weapons "specifically intended for use in warfare" are prohibited. Limited exceptions exist, with police permission, for weapons of obvious collection value owing to age or connection with Icelandic history, and for weapons demonstrably intended for sport under Article 17.
Export is also regulated. Article 6 provides that "the exportation of weapons, ammunition, explosives or fireworks is prohibited except with the permission of the chief of police," with confirmation from the competent authorities regarding import permission, and applies to permanent exportation; weapons forming the necessary equipment of a ship or aircraft are treated differently.
The Act contemplates visitors and non-residents. Under Article 13, "a chief of police may grant to a person domiciled abroad a temporary firearms permit, provided that the person in question fulfils the applicable conditions," with further detail left to ministerial regulation. This is the mechanism through which foreign hunters or sport shooters may lawfully bring and use firearms in Iceland for a limited time, rather than any automatic recognition of a foreign licence. Because the operational details — application lead times, documentation, ammunition quantity limits and which weapon types qualify — are set by regulation and administered by the police, and were not fully verified against the current regulation during this research session, prospective travellers should confirm exact requirements directly with the Icelandic police and customs authorities before travelling. Ammunition supply is separately restricted: Article 22 prohibits supplying ammunition to anyone other than the registered permit holder for the firearm concerned.
Hunting & sport shooting
Hunting and sport shooting are the principal lawful purposes for which civilians hold firearms in Iceland. Article 13 of the Weapons Act No. 16/1998 states that "permits may be granted for firearms for hunting, sports under Article 17, employment under Article 14 and exhibition and collection under Article 15," and requires applicants to specify the purpose of their application. The permitting, training and eligibility conditions described above apply across these categories, with the Act allowing a regulatory exemption from the minimum age of twenty specifically for sport shooting under Article 17.
For sport shooting, Article 17 provides that "a club which has shooting as its object shall apply for a permit from the chief of police," and directs the minister to issue further provisions governing both individual sport-shooting permits and permits for shooting clubs to own firearms. Article 12 reinforces the club framework by allowing the chief of police to "grant exemptions from the condition of possessing a firearms permit for persons who are training with a certified shooting club in a certified target practice area," which accommodates supervised club training. Article 24 requires that shooting competitions and practice take place only in areas the chief of police has approved, following consultation with local authorities and safety bodies. Secondary reporting (Iceland Review) indicates that sport-shooting associations can obtain licences for small-calibre handguns used in Olympic-style disciplines — a narrow exception to the general restriction on handguns.
For hunting, eligibility is tied not only to the Weapons Act but also to compliance with wildlife legislation: Article 13 disqualifies applicants who have violated "the Act on the protection and hunting of wild birds and wild mammals." Ísland.is and secondary sources describe a hunting-oriented training and examination process covering firearm safety and handling as well as which animals may be hunted and when, reflecting the close link between the firearms licence and hunting rules. According to Iceland Review, the firearms available to licensed hunters include semi-automatic shotguns, bolt-action rifles, single-shot rifles and double-barrel rifles, consistent with the Article 5 prohibition on semi-automatic and automatic rifles.
Two further limits are commonly reported but derive from regulation rather than the primary Act text. First, a rifle-calibre ceiling described as 8 mm, with an exception for hunters specially permitted to pursue large game abroad; second, a requirement that owners of more than three firearms keep them in an approved gun cabinet, which is consistent with Article 23's authorisation for the minister to impose specific storage conditions "when a specified number of firearms has been reached." Both figures come from secondary reporting and ministerial regulation and were not independently verified against the underlying regulation during this research session, so they should be confirmed with the Icelandic police. Handloading of ammunition for personal use is permitted under Article 4 only with police permission, and only for holders who have held a permit for at least a year and completed an approved handloading course.
Penalties
Enforcement and sanctions are set out in Chapter VII of the Weapons Act No. 16/1998. The central penalty provision is Article 36, which states: "Violation of this Act or rules established under the Act is subject to fines ... or up to four years' imprisonment unless there are more severe penalties under other legislation." The four-year maximum was verified against the text of the Act during this research session. Article 36 further provides that attempted violations, and complicity in violations, are subject to penalties under Chapter III of the General Penal Code, so ordinary rules on attempt and participation apply. Because Article 36 expressly defers to "more severe penalties under other legislation," conduct such as using a firearm in a violent crime may be punished more heavily under the Penal Code rather than under the Weapons Act alone.
Beyond criminal penalties, the Act gives the police significant administrative powers. Under Article 34, permits "may be withdrawn by the issuer at any time if the necessary conditions are no longer seen to exist," if the holder has not observed instructions, or if it is anticipated the holder will handle weapons unacceptably; a chief of police "is permitted to suspend a permit temporarily without notice if urgently necessary," and may confiscate firearms, ammunition, fireworks or explosives without notice where custody or premises are inadequate. Article 35 requires a person whose permit is withdrawn to surrender the permit together with the weapons and devices held under it, and sets out timelines under which the police may sell the goods (with the net proceeds accruing to the owner) or, where the items are of little value, destroy or render them inoperative without compensation.
Confiscation is addressed in Article 37: firearms, ammunition, explosives and fireworks that are imported or manufactured without permission, or "found without custody or in the custody of a person who does not possess a permit," "shall be confiscated and accrue to the State Treasury." Other weapons deemed unlawful under the Act are likewise confiscated. Where a person commits a crime using such items and the conditions for confiscation are met, the Act permits — if the crime is major — confiscation even of other weapons the perpetrator may hold under a valid permit, with confiscation otherwise governed by Article 69 of the Penal Code. The National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police decides on the storage and disposal of seized or confiscated weapons.
Supporting duties carry their own significance for enforcement. Article 25 requires that a lost or stolen firearm be reported to the police promptly and entered in the firearms register, and Article 38 prohibits modifying a firearm — for example its bolt type, cartridge capacity or accessories affecting its function — except with the permission of the chief of police, with approved modifications recorded in the register and on the permit. Because penalty outcomes depend on the specific offence, the category of weapon and any overlapping Penal Code provisions, the ranges above should be read as the statutory framework rather than as a prediction of any particular sentence.
Sources
- Weapons Act No. 16/1998 (English translation), Government of Iceland (accessed 2026-07-17)
- Licences for firearms — Ísland.is (official government portal) (accessed 2026-07-17)
- Apply for a firearms licence — Ísland.is (official government portal) (accessed 2026-07-17)
- What kind of gun laws exist in Iceland? — Iceland Review (accessed 2026-07-17)
- Guns in Iceland — GunPolicy.org, University of Sydney (accessed 2026-07-17)