Thread: The future of Rifle Ranges.

It is range certification not registration...

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings again all,
Thank you for all of your responses. A short summary of the current position might be of use.

1. Any ranges for which registration has not been applied for on 24 June this year will be closed. Sighting in in accordance with the Range Manual is still permitted but needs to comply with the manual. Watch this space... As of a couple of weeks ago, Police had only received < 10 applications. This is out of a pool of around 2000 known ranges... Divide that by < 100 volunteer range inspectors and 3 months remaining, and you can start to see the issue... If they do not move the deadline or start accepting what are effectively blank applications, a whole lot of ranges will suddenly become "illegal" post June. I somehow do not see that being politically acceptable...
2. The requirements in the Range Manual for range construction like danger areas, backstops etc are largely the same as previous requirements (not quite, we will have to agree to disagree on this one) but there are a lot of current ranges that never complied (they did not need to). These are often due to force fitting a range on an unsuitable site. What is NEW is that the police definition of what constitutes a "range" is significantly broader than what was previously used.
3. The need to register rifle ranges is new. Pistol ranges have been registered for some time. That was because pistols are/were treated as endorsed firearms, and the only place where they could legally be used is on a certified Pistol NZ / Police range. Registration is partly driven by (ideology) ensuring ranges are safe and partly by ensuring that the people using them are not nutters (irrational fear).

So our choice is either get behind those that are trying to provide compliant ranges by joining their clubs and helping where we can or bleat about the unfairness of it all. I've made my choice. What about you?
Regards Grandpamac.

I've added some comments in red above