Small arms and handguns / Ammunition

Information on the export of firearms (under the Weapons Act), their components and accessories, as well as their ammunition and ammunition components.

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Export of firearms (under the Weapons Act), their components and accessories, and their ammunition and ammunition components

Within Schengen states

Definitive export

Commercial export

Firearms classified as war materiel require a licence from SECO (Export Controls of Armaments). For hunting and sporting weapons, applications must be directed to the Central Office for Weapons of the Federal Office of Police (ZSW).

Non-commercial export

All export applications must be directed to the Federal Office of Police (ZSW), which issues an accompanying document (covering firearms, their essential components and the associated ammunition only).

Temporary export

Commercial export

Firearms classified as war materiel require a licence from SECO (Export Controls of Armaments). For other goods (e.g. hunting and sporting weapons), applications must be directed to the Central Office for Weapons of the Federal Office of Police (ZSW).

Non-commercial export

Anyone wishing to take firearms or essential weapon components temporarily into a Schengen state as part of personal travel requires a European Firearms Pass. This document is issued by the competent authority of the canton of residence. For temporary exports outside the context of personal travel, an accompanying document from the Federal Office of Police (ZSW) is required (covering firearms, their essential components and the associated ammunition only).
The relevant forms from the Federal Office of Police (ZSW) are available at: Weapons / Ammunition (Security / Weapons Ammunition / Forms for a firearm).

To a country outside the Schengen area

All exports require a licence from SECO. Firearms classified as war materiel require a licence from the Export Controls of Armaments unit. For other goods (e.g. hunting and sporting weapons), a licence from Export Controls of Industrial Goods is required.

Contact Federal Office of Police/ Central Office for Weapons:
Weapons / Ammunition

Contact Export Controls of Industrial Goods:
Industrial Goods

The following documents are available in German only.

• Diagramm Schengen

  PDF158.05 kB23 May 2016

• Factsheet on handguns and small arms

  PDF913.01 kB5 February 2021

Classification of small arms and handgun ammunition under the War Materiel Act

Ammunition is treated as falling outside the scope of war materiel only where it can exclusively be fired from weapons that are not themselves classified as war materiel (e.g. calibres .243, 12/70, .270 Win, .300 Rem. Ultra Mag, .32 WC, 6×47 Match). The fact that other countries treat certain ammunition as hunting or sporting ammunition does not automatically mean that it falls outside the definition of war materiel in Switzerland.

The following overview gives illustrative examples of how various types of ammunition – both Swiss and foreign in origin – are classified. The classification of foreign-origin ammunition follows the same principles as that applied to domestically manufactured ammunition.

• Classification of diverse ammunition types for hand guns and small arms of any calibre

  PDF169.81 kB25 February 2016

Ammunition is not a replacement part!

Ammunition is not generally considered a replacement part and does not fall under the replacement parts provision in Article 23 of the War Materiel Act (WMA).

 In practice, there is a single exception, which concerns ammunition for air defence systems. AHEAD ammunition for air defence systems, for example, is designed to detonate in mid-air into small metal fragments into which an incoming missile flies and is thereby destroyed before impact. The cost of a single round therefore typically exceeds CHF 1,000 depending on batch size. This ammunition is designed specifically for a particular air defence system and can therefore generally only be sourced from its manufacturer. If the operator of an air defence system designed for this type of ammunition can no longer obtain it, the system becomes effectively unusable. Because the legislature intended the replacement parts provision under Article 23 WMA to protect customer confidence in the operability of complex systems such as air defence systems, this ammunition is treated on the same basis as replacement parts.

For all other types of ammunition – in particular pistol and rifle ammunition – the replacement parts provision under Article 23 WMA does not and has never applied.

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