Thread: NZDA requires FAL number

[QUOTE=Gillie;1465811]If that is the range I am thinking of then that one has been used as a bit of a test case between NZDA, DoC, and the Police Firearms Safety Authority around certification of ranges located on "public" land. The law requires ranges have an officer on duty while shooting and hence the request for a permit from the local DoC office and "bring your firearms license". The law requires the range operator to keep a list of suitably trained Officers of Duty including recording their firearms license number.[/QUO

so tell me my old mate whats the story now - lets say two of us go out to mates farm put up a target and zero our rifles - illegal now or not - no one else involved - have permission from landowner - I am asking simply because a mate has asked me to help zero his two rifles and is rural

[QUOTE=Barry the hunter;1465843]

Originally Posted by Gillie

If that is the range I am thinking of then that one has been used as a bit of a test case between NZDA, DoC, and the Police Firearms Safety Authority around certification of ranges located on "public" land. The law requires ranges have an officer on duty while shooting and hence the request for a permit from the local DoC office and "bring your firearms license". The law requires the range operator to keep a list of suitably trained Officers of Duty including recording their firearms license number.[/QUO

so tell me my old mate whats the story now - lets say two of us go out to mates farm put up a target and zero our rifles - illegal now or not - no one else involved - have permission from landowner - I am asking simply because a mate has asked me to help zero his two rifles and is rural

According to Firearms Officer I spoke with occasional use with temporary targets and shooting positions is ok. Once permanent structures are erected and regular events held it’s a different story. I guess that’s how we’re able to hold our pre-season duck shooters eye-opener. I have a cop aquaintance, recently transferred away, who used to come up and sight in or practice with his rifles up back of farm. He was pretty pedantic about rules/regulations, not a bad rooster though.

Originally Posted by woods223

According to Firearms Officer I spoke with occasional use with temporary targets and shooting positions is ok. Once permanent structures are erected and regular events held it’s a different story. I guess that’s how we’re able to hold our pre-season duck shooters eye-opener.

The first portion of that is reasonable - once you have pernament targets or shooting mounds then FSA will say range - get certification. Same with occasional use versus regular use though FSA have not given us an impression what constitutes "regular" in their interpretation.

Assuming your pre-season duck shooters eye-opener shoot is an advertised event, is more than you and a few mates, and / or is run by a club then it'll require range certification through FSA.

Originally Posted by Gillie

The first portion of that is reasonable - once you have pernament targets or shooting mounds then FSA will say range - get certification. Same with occasional use versus regular use though FSA have not given us an impression what constitutes "regular" in their interpretation.

Assuming your pre-season duck shooters eye-opener shoot is an advertised event, is more than you and a few mates, and / or is run by a club then it'll require range certification through FSA.

Greetings @Gillie,
Even occasional use under the Range Manual needs to have a level of compliance with the need for backstops and danger zones. These are less formal than for an approved range but still need to be complied with. I have an area at the rear of our block that I use for check zeroing before comps and such. There is a bench, built years ago, but nothing else. I have run the template over it and am happy that any danger is confined on site.
The real risk in Hawkes Bay is that we will wind up without any hunting type rifle ranges. There is a significant cost in setting one up from scratch let alone the difficulty in finding suitable land. We never realised how good we had it when the Roy's Hill Range was open.
Regards Grandpamac.

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings @Gillie,
Even occasional use under the Range Manual needs to have a level of compliance with the need for backstops and danger zones. These are less formal than for an approved range but still need to be complied with. I have an area at the rear of our block that I use for check zeroing before comps and such. There is a bench, built years ago, but nothing else. I have run the template over it and am happy that any danger is confined on site.
The real risk in Hawkes Bay is that we will wind up without any hunting type rifle ranges. There is a significant cost in setting one up from scratch let alone the difficulty in finding suitable land. We never realised how good we had it when the Roy's Hill Range was open.
Regards Grandpamac.

Roys Hill Range remember that -shot at Hawkes Bay Champs as a 16 year old in C grade -shot 48,s 200,300,500,600, and then the acid test 800 and 900 - never shot that far as our Gisborne range only went back to 600 -well 800 my usual 48 but 900 collapsed in a heap 36 - was still good enough for I think it was 3rd or 4th got $60 back in 1968 was a bit for a young fella - that 48 score was a real hoodoo for me as a young fella shooting fullbore

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

so tell me my old mate whats the story now - lets say two of us go out to mates farm put up a target and zero our rifles - illegal now or not - no one else involved - have permission from landowner - I am asking simply because a mate has asked me to help zero his two rifles and is rural

That is not a range requiring certification under the NZ Police Firearms Safety Authority interpretation of the Act and Regulations. FSA would refer you to the recommendations made in Section 8 of the FSA Shooting Range Manual (LINK).

Originally Posted by Gillie

That is not a range requiring certification under the NZ Police Firearms Safety Authority interpretation of the Act and Regulations. FSA would refer you to the recommendations made in Section 8 of the FSA Shooting Range Manual (LINK).

yup found it thats pretty clear thanks mate - man that is a damn big document - good thing I learnt years ago what an index is 8.1

Sighting-in that is done by an individual or a small
group of individuals (but not a shooting club) on a
one-off or occasional basis (e.g. before a hunting trip
or duck-shooting season), does not have to be done
on a range if it can be carried out safely, whether
on private or public land with the permission of the
landowner or respective controlling authority.
on a range if it can be carried out safely, whether
on private or public land with the permission of the
landowner or respective controlling authority.

[QUOTE=Barry the hunter;1465843]

Originally Posted by Gillie

If that is the range I am thinking of then that one has been used as a bit of a test case between NZDA, DoC, and the Police Firearms Safety Authority around certification of ranges located on "public" land. The law requires ranges have an officer on duty while shooting and hence the request for a permit from the local DoC office and "bring your firearms license". The law requires the range operator to keep a list of suitably trained Officers of Duty including recording their firearms license number.[/QUO

so tell me my old mate whats the story now - lets say two of us go out to mates farm put up a target and zero our rifles - illegal now or not - no one else involved - have permission from landowner - I am asking simply because a mate has asked me to help zero his two rifles and is rural

....it's a paddock. Not a range.

Sent from my SM-T225 using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

yup found it thats pretty clear thanks mate - man that is a damn big document - good thing I learnt years ago what an index is 8.1

Sighting-in that is done by an individual or a small group of individuals (but not a shooting club) on a one-off or occasional basis (e.g. before a hunting trip or duck-shooting season), does not have to be done on a range if it can be carried out safely, whether on private or public land with the permission of the landowner or respective controlling authority.

All good Barry,
Probably worth reading Section 1.4 of that FSA Range manual to get their definition of sighting in as well.

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings @Gillie,
Even occasional use under the Range Manual needs to have a level of compliance with the need for backstops and danger zones. These are less formal than for an approved range but still need to be complied with. I have an area at the rear of our block that I use for check zeroing before comps and such. There is a bench, built years ago, but nothing else. I have run the template over it and am happy that any danger is confined on site.
The real risk in Hawkes Bay is that we will wind up without any hunting type rifle ranges. There is a significant cost in setting one up from scratch let alone the difficulty in finding suitable land. We never realised how good we had it when the Roy's Hill Range was open.
Regards Grandpamac.

Not going to argue with you Grandpamac - not my land, not my interpretation, not my risk.
The difficulty in complying with the FSA Range Manual for field ranges lead us to develop our own reduced danger area criteria for field ranges - as a result we have managed to keep several ranges that otherwise would have been really difficult.

Originally Posted by tiroahunta

....it's a paddock. Not a range.

Again, not going to argue this. I have previously posted the FSA interpretation of this and my feelings as to what is needed to clarify.