Changes to the Northern Territory Firearms Act will double licence periods and allow police, particularly those in undercover operations, to better perform their duties, supporters of the changes say.

Police Minister Adam Giles said the changes were about reducing red tape.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 3 minutes 19 seconds 3 m 19 s Supporters of the changes to NT Firearms Act say frequently obtaining new licences does not improve safety ( Nathan Coates ) Download 1.5 MB

The changes would see weekend hunters, pastoralists and other gun owners able to apply for longer-term firearm licences.

Five-year licences would be extended to 10, and one- or three-year licences increased to five years.

Sporting Shooters' Association of Australia NT president Rob Kittle said it was hard to get a gun licence.

He said having to frequently obtain a new licence was a waste of time and money for the NT Government and for gun owners.

"There is a lot of red tape at the moment involved in getting a shooter's licence to start with," he said.

"For a lot of these licences, people have to front up every year for the same thing — to take the same photograph and pay the same fee.

"At the end of the day a lot of those people have been doing it for 30 years, so why they have to do it every year is beyond me."

Mr Kittle said gun licences in the NT could not be renewed, and each licence requiring a new application was a time consuming and costly exercise, particularly for pastoralists.

"You have to have another criminal history check," he said.

"For pastoral families that have been in the Territory for a long time, they have to keep going back, including for their employees, and repeating the same process."

Shooters say the increased gun licence periods will not compromise safety. ( Supplied: Sporting Shooters' Association of Australia )

On issues of safety, and firearms and licence holders being able to go unchecked for 10 years, Mr Kittle said he did not think that presented a risk.

"Because anyone who has had a licence and is used to firearm usage, generally has the thing well in hand," he said.

Gun licence changes safe, NT Police say

The man in charge of NT gun registration, Superintendent Mark Christopher, said the firearm licence extensions were safe because of advancements in detecting dangerous people.

"When the NT Firearms Act was written well over 10 years ago, technology was not as advanced as it is now," he said.

"Now, every morning my officers in the registry get a list of everybody who went to court, and they cross reference that against everybody who owns a firearm.

Rob Kittle says people with a gun licence generally know how to use their firearm safely. ( ABC Rural: Caddie Brain )

"At the same time we have reporting in relation to incidents.

"If somebody lost it with a firearm and that involved police being called, they are automatically pinged.

"My area looks at that and we automatically revoke or suspend their gun licence as appropriate."

Mr Christopher said domestic violence reports triggered the automatic revocation of a gun licence.

He said changes to ensure law enforcement officers were exempt from restrictions around the possession and co-location of ammunition with firearms, related to undercover police work.

"It's not hard to imagine, and if you can imagine in a movie where occasionally police officers are away from their station at night-time and need to have rest.

"As it [the NT Firearms Act] stands, I was unsure about the legal requirements around [firearm and ammunition] storage.

"I thought we would clarify that to make sure everything is cut and dried."

Rather than having any concerns about the proposed amendments to the NT Firearms Act, Mr Christopher said police had requested them.

A bill containing the changes was introduced to the NT Parliament on Wednesday.

Mr Giles said the amendments "followed extensive consultation with stakeholders, and a broad consensus was reached".