There are requirements for
Home Office approved clubs (of which FDPC is one) to both maintain accurate
records of members attendance, and liase with the Police when certain conditions
are not fulfilled.
The recently published
document, “Firearms Law – Guidance to the Police”, (2002 – Ref No.011 341273 8) deals with such issues, and
provides clear direction on what information should be collected and disclosed.
There are a number of clear
references within the guide that indicate what is (or is not) considered to be
reasonable practice for both clubs, and their members.
Chapter
18, para 18.13 “… the club will maintain a register of the attendance of all
members with details for each visit of the firearms which they used and the
competitions, if any, in which they took part ……….. the club will inform the
police if any member who holds a firearm certificate has not shot with the club
for a period of 12 months…”
Chapter 18, para 18.23 “………attendance registers should also be checked to
ensure that all members with personal firearm certificates are regularly
shooting all their guns and that the club’s return of members who have not shot
with them for twelve months is accurate. ……… Target shooters may be expected to
use their firearms regularly, at least three times a year”.
This
guidance indicates that the club has a duty to maintain details of attendance,
and where a member has not attended in the past 12 months, the Police are informed
of that fact. In this instance, the club takes this to mean any member,
not just FAC holders, since it is reasonable to expect that all members should
attend at least once per year. If this is not possible, such extenuating
circumstances need to be brought before the committee, although the legal duty
will be complied with in all cases.
In
addition, it suggests that FAC holders should be able to demonstrate that they
use all their guns on a regular basis – reasonable use being defined here as 3
times (each) per year. This includes the clubs own firearms, held on the club
FAC.
The
only duty of the club is to maintain a record of attendance, and inform Police
if members have not attended within a prescribed 12 month period. It is not
the duty of the club to inform the Police if certain guns have / have not been
used x number of times within that period, and we will not volunteer to do so
(we may be requested to provide such information of course, on an individual
basis).
The
guidance suggests that it would reasonable to expect members to use each gun at
least 3 times per year, to demonstrate ‘regular use’, and hence attendance
entries on the club register would provide members with supporting evidence of
such use, if the Police ever questioned it,
e.g. as part of an FAC renewals process.
To
ensure relevant information is captured to both satisfy the clubs legal
obligation, and provide evidence for an individuals own use, the following
information will be captured on the clubs ‘Register of Attendance’
Minimum
required
§
Date
§
Name
§
Firearm
used inc.
Type / Calibre / Serial No.
§
Use Practice
/ competition name.
Additional
info, for FDPC use
§
Venue e.g. B&D, ETR3 etc
§
Membership
No } For FDPC Members only
§
FAC
details / address /club }
Non-FDPC Members only
§
Shooters
signature
§
Range
Officer’s signature
§
Range
fee / ammo sales info
The
club will provide returns to the Police on a 6-monthly basis, based upon the
information available from the past 12 months. In other words, every 6 months,
the club will look back at the last 12 months attendance, and if members have
not attended in that period, that fact will be passed to the Police – as a
legal duty of the club.
FAC
holders declare a ‘Primary Club’ on their FAC applications, although FDPC will
report all attendance for every member. If FDPC is not your ‘Primary
Club’, you may find that the Police will ignore our return, and concentrate on
your nominated Primary Club’s return. Conversely, if FDPC is your ‘Primary
Club’, but you shoot regularly at other ranges, it will be important to let us
know that fact, so that such information can be included in any returns.
Maintaining a personal (but certified) record of all your shooting, is once way
of keeping such information together, as a single source of reference. An
example of such a personal shooting record can be downloaded here :
Download Shooting Record Form – PDF file
FDPC
will keep attendance records, as part of it’s legal duty to report non-shooting
members. This report will be submitted
every 6 months.
FDPC
will also maintain records of attendance as evidence of use, for individuals to
utilise, in such things as FAC renewals.
If
individuals do not get their attendance recorded, they risk bring the club into
disrepute, and additionally, risk losing entries on their FAC, or the whole
thing.
This
is a joint responsibility – please do your part. It’s in all our interests.
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