New Arms Amendment Regulations have been Published for Clubs and Ranges
18 November 2022
Police, by Order in Council of the Governer-General, have published today the new clubs and ranges regulations.
These are the rules all shooting clubs, i.e. NZDA branches, and range operators have to follow and implement.
The legal obligations under regulations (link is external) come into force on 15 December 2022.
You can read the published regulations here.
Police are currently preparing guidance documents and forms on the new regulatory framework for clubs and ranges for release on 15 December 2022.
Note: These new obligations are contained mainly in Part 6 of the Arms Act 1983 (link is external) and Parts 5 and 6 of the Arms Regulations 1992 (link is external).
Read The Newly Published Regulations:
You can read the published regulations here.
OUR INITIAL REVIEW, WITH MORE TO COME
NZDA is in the process of reviewing these regulations and await Police forms and guides.
The most immediate impact we can see is NZDA is now obliged to collect and hold members' Firearms Licence Numbers on our register because new Regulation 28GE(1) says:
"(1) A shooting club must at all times maintain a list of—
(a) all current club members; and
(b) the firearms licence numbers of all current club members who hold a firearms licence."
We will be updating our joining forms to align with the new regulation imposed on us by Police.
More to follow.
REMINDER FOR COMMITTEES
The changes that have come into effect affect NZDA branches, especially those that:
- Run HUNTS courses;
- Manage a shooting range; and/or
- Participate in NZDA shooting activities (such as shooting competitions).
The above activities need to be run by a certified club on a certified range.
However, even though the operative law and regulations are effective, NZ Police are yet to provide complete guidance and forms.
It is important for committees who manage branches that use or have access to a shooting range to consider the following as soon as possible:
- Do you have a plan for preparing an application to have your club and shooting range certified before 24 June 2023?
- Do you have enough qualified range officers to oversee the range?
- Do you have access to a Shooting Range Inspector (SRI) to prepare a safety assessment of your shooting range?
- Are your Range Standing Orders (RSOs) compliant with the Arms Act and regulations?
The most important provision to note is that branches must not open any new shooting ranges unless they are certified by Police and clubs with an existing range must have applied to have it certified by the 24th of June 2023.
If you have any questions or require help with any of the above you can contact the National Office at office@deerstalkers.org.nz to discuss.
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