Weapons — Singapore
What travelers need to know about weapons in Singapore. What is legal at home can be a serious crime here — each rule links to its official source.
Weapons in Singapore: prohibited — what is legal at home can be a serious crime here.
Singapore's Guns, Explosives and Weapons Control Act defines "weapon" item by item, and the list is far wider than guns: swords, machetes, parangs, bolos, kukris and hooked swords, bayonets, push and throwing knives, diving and hunting knives, kris, karambit, kirpan and dirk, butterfly, balisong and gravity knives, flick knives and switchblades, throwing stars and shuriken, knuckledusters including weighted or studded gloves, spears and spearheads, axes and tomahawks, nunchaku, sai and jitte, blow guns and their darts, crossbows, pistol crossbows and any bow regardless of draw weight. Pepper spray is caught separately as a "noxious substance" — the Act covers any nauseating or lachrymatory substance together with the cartridge, cylinder or pressurised can holding it and any spray gun that discharges it. Each of these needs a police licence: the noxious substance possession licence is "not issued to general public", the weapon possession licence is limited to entities with legitimate needs such as collectors, and applying requires a Singapore SingPass or Corppass login. As a visitor, leave all of it at home.
§ Singapore Police Force — Apply for Weapon and/or Noxious Substance Licence (Guns, Explosives and Weapons Control Act)Verified Sep 25, 2026