Approval of Shooting Clubs.

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A decision made (20/11/2008) regarding: Approval of Shooting Clubs.

Decision Reference: MD-HA-2008-0078
Decision Summary Title :	Approval of Shooting Clubs		Date of Decision Summary:	Wednesday, 17 September 2008
Decision Summary Author:	Heidi Sydor Executive Officer		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	written		Person Giving Oral Report:
Written Report Title :	Approval of Shooting Clubs – Minister’s report		Date of Written Report:	29th October 2008
Written Report Author:	Heidi Sydor Executive Officer		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	public
Subject: Approval of Shooting Clubs under Article 15 of the Firearms (Jersey) Law 2000
Decision(s): The Minister approved the Shooting Clubs as previously conditionally approved, following consultation with the Comité des Connétables and subject to agreed criteria. The Minister also approved the instruction of the Law Draftsman to include the fee of £120 / six years for the grant or renewal of an approval of a Shooting Club in the amendment to the Firearms Order .
Reason(s) for Decision: Article 15 of the Firearms (Jersey) Law 2000 requires shooting clubs to apply to the Minister for approval. An approval may be granted, after consultation with the Comité des Connétables, and subject to specified conditions, and continues in force for a period of six years, unless withdrawn.
Resource Implications: There are no additional resource implications to the Home Affairs resulting from this decision.
Action required: The Executive Officer, Home Affairs to inform clubs, States of Jersey Police and Connétables of the decision, and to instruct the Law Draftsman to include the fee in the amendment to the Firearms Order
Signature:		Position: Minister for Home Affairs
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Approval of Shooting Clubs.

Home Affairs Department
Subject:	Approval of Shooting Clubs
Exempt Clause:		Date:	29th October 2008

Author:	Heidi Sydor - Executive Officer, Home Affairs

Report for Minister

Introduction

Article 15 of the Firearms (Jersey) Law 2000 requires shooting clubs to apply to the Minister for approval. An approval may be granted, after consultation with the Comité des Connétables, and subject to specified conditions, and continues in force for a period of six years, unless withdrawn.

Background

Following a States of Jersey Police inspection of all clubs in 2006, the Minister granted conditional approval to clubs in February 2007, within the meaning of Article 15 of the Law. It remained, however, for the Minister to consult with the Comité des Connétables, and to agree the criteria for approval with SoJP, Connétables and Club representatives.

The Comité was consulted with reference to both the proposed list of approved clubs and the final version of the criteria.

The criteria for approval of a Shooting Club have been discussed at great length by the Firearms Law Liaison Group (FLLG). The specific areas of concern have been:

i) the insistence on clubs maintaining a register of the attendance of all who shoot with the Club, including a record of firearms used.

ii) the requirement for clubs to inform police at the earliest opportunity, of any expulsions or suspensions or inactive members, i.e. members who have not shot within previous 12 months without good reason.

It has now been agreed that the criteria (Appendix 1) would be acceptable to all parties. The requirement for the clubs to include a record of firearms used when shooting was considered by clubs to be onerous, and has been omitted; however, clubs will maintain a register of attendance, which they will make available for inspection by Police or Connétables with reasonable notice. Clubs also considered that it was not appropriate for them to carry the responsibility for notifying Police of inactive members; there was already provision for them to notify the licensing authority (Connétables) of any concerns, and they agreed, wherever possible, to notify details of deceased or permanently retired members.

A small group of clubs were not granted conditional approval. Of these, the

Jersey Paintball Games and Sports Clubs have withdrawn their application, following the advice that paintball markers should not be considered lethal weapons under the Firearms Law, and did not therefore require firearms licences. The Rough shooters, also, do not wish to pursue registration as a shooting club.

The Parish Rifle clubs are considered to be a special case, in that they only have one open meeting per year, and for this use ranges belonging to other clubs. It is proposed that they would be given the opportunity, although this would not be compulsory, to register as approved shooting clubs under Article 15 of the Law; however, this would require them to meet the ‘criteria for approval as a shooting club’. Their particular circumstances would be taken into account in considering how they satisfied the requirements of the criteria, and, where they only hold one-off events each year, they would be covered by the arrangements that are already in place at the host venue, e.g: under Criteria 3 – safe use of ranges and Criteria 7 – insurance.

Under Article 15(4) a fee may be prescribed for the grant or renewal of an approval as a Shooting Club. It is proposed that the fee be set at £120 for the six year period, and that this would be prescribed within the Firearms Order amendment.

With Ministerial approval,

all conditionally approved clubs will be formally notified of their approval subject to these criteria.
the Parish clubs will be notified that they may register as shooting clubs, but would then be subject to satisfying the requirements of the criteria
drafting instructions regarding the level of fee will be issued to the Law Draftsman

States of Jersey Police maintain that the original requirements around providing a record of firearms and notification of inactive members were reasonable conditions; however they have agreed to proceed, leaving open the possibility of putting forward amendments to the Home Affairs Minister in the future.

It is proposed that any such future changes would be presented to the States through the Minister for Home Affairs. Although this is not required by law as the Minister can approve criteria, the view taken by the States in 2000 in agreeing to the removal of the original requirements means that it would be appropriate for the States to make the decision about their re-inclusion.

Recommendation

The Minister is recommended to:

Offer approval as a Shooting Club to the clubs as previously conditionally approved (see list at Appendix 2), and the Parish clubs subject to their special circumstances.
Approve the instruction of the Law Draftsman to include the fee of £120 / six years for the grant or renewal of an approval of a Shooting Club.

Appendix 1

Criteria for approval as a Shooting Club:

1. The Club is a genuine shooting club and has a written constitution, and appropriate written range rules for the type of range(s) being used.

2. The Club has a member appointed to liaise with the police pursuant to Article 15, sub-paragraphs (4) and (5) of the Law, and when no-one has been appointed, the contact shall be through the Club’s Honorary Secretary in all matters relating to the Club’s approval.

3. The Club has an appropriate number of Range Safety Officers at its disposal and has a minimum of one officer on duty at any time that the range is in use. Clubs will be asked to provide a relevant certificate detailing the safe use of their ranges and calibres, within 6 months of receiving approval.

4. The Club maintains:

i) Membership lists

ii) A register of the attendance of all members, prospective members and guests who shoot with the Club.

- both to be available for inspection by SOJP or Connétables, with reasonable notice.

Membership applications are to include a standard set of information (as recommended by SoJ Police) and are to be retained by the Club for reference. Any changes in membership form details – address, medical conditions etc – are the responsibility of the individual member to update, in order to ensure that current records are held by the Club.

5. The Club informs the Connétable at the earliest opportunity, of any expulsions or suspensions and, where possible, details of deceased members or members who have permanently retired from the Club and Shooting Sports. The Club also informs the Comité des Connétables of any other matters of concern

6. Applicants for shooting membership will inform the Club if they have ever had an application for a firearm or shotgun certificate refused or had a certificate revoked; and all prospective members and guests, who do not hold a firearms certificate, will sign a declaration that they are not prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition.

7. The Club has appropriate insurance cover for its membership.

General conditions:

Audit discrepancies - any discrepancies between certificates and their armouries would result in a specific condition being attached to Club approval that the position be regularised and a follow up check by SoJP be made within 6 months to confirm that this discrepancy has been addressed.

Off site armouries – Clubs will make available for inspection any off-site armouries or other premises being used by the Club, in compliance with Article 15 (5) of the Firearms (Jersey) Law 2000)

Appendix 2

Shooting Clubs granted conditional approval:

Eastern Air-Rifle Club

Grouville Miniature Rifle Club

Jersey Air-Rifle Club

Jersey Crabbé Clay Pigeon Club

Jersey Muzzle Loaders and Antique Firearms Association

Jersey Outdoor Smallbore Rifle Club

Jersey Pistol Club

Jersey Practical Shooting Club

Jersey Rifle Association

Jersey Rifle Club

Lecq Clay Target Club

Leoville Sports and Miniature Rifle Club

Modern and Military Arms Association

Regent Shooting Club

St Brelade’s Smallbore Rifle Club

St Helier Miniature Rifle Club

St John’s Shooting Club

St Lawrence Miniature Rifle Club

Victoria College Rifle Club

Vinchelez Sports and MRC

Vintage Arms Association

Western Miniature Rifle Club

Applications still under consideration:

Jersey Paintball Games Club application withdrawn

Jersey Paintball Sports Club application withdrawn

Jersey Rough Shooters Association application withdrawn

St John’s Rifle Club

St Martin’s Rifle Club

St Mary’s Rifle Club

St Ouen’s Rifle Club

St Peter’s Rifle Club