SSANZ press release
New Zealand Police claim they wish to make New Zealand the safest country in the world, yet in their 62 page discussion document proposing regulations to govern shooting clubs and ranges they are doing the exact opposite, says Sporting Shooters Association Media Director Rob Cope-Williams. “ Nowhere in the document does it describe the problem they are trying to solve with these regulations.”
He goes on to say, “clubs and their ranges, most of which are governed by National organisations, have an exemplary safety record. They are the safest place where a young person or novice can learn to shoot, yet these regulations as proposed will see many clubs and ranges close, when the reality is we need more of both.”
Most shooting clubs are run by volunteers, often aided by family members, yet they will be discourage from volunteering their time by the shear volume of bureaucratic nonsense required in seeking club approval from the commissioner. As a result many clubs will close and their ranges with them.
Further the fees proposed by police to recover their costs together with the cost of providing audited accounts and other compliance costs, will run to $1,000s. This again will put the future of clubs in doubt.
Finally many ranges will close simply because the land owner, who may well not be a shooter himself, will not wish to accept the liability and responsibility imposed by the new regulations.
All this will make New Zealand less safe as communities lose opportunities to educate their people in safe firearm use and shooters are left with no option but to shoot on ad hoc ranges set up on public or private land.
