The Ministry of Justice says the opposite - that it would undermine public safety - and describes McKee’s statement that many are closing as an untested assumption.
Officials warned Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee that her push to gut regulations for non-pistol shooting ranges is based on an untested assumption, and could result in the opposite of what she intends by undermining public safety.
McKee wants pistol clubs and ranges to remain regulated as they are considered higher risk. But she wants the 770-odd non-pistol shooting ranges that are currently operating to self-regulate, instead of the current regime where police have oversight, and ranges face a $10,000 fine if their safety standards aren’t up to scratch.
“This option would rely on parties adhering to the standards, without any ability to enforce compliance, which increases safety risks to range users and members of the public,“ said the briefing to McKee in March, which has just been published on the ministry’s website.
McKee’s proposal for non-pistol shooting ranges would be similar to what was in place for pistol clubs and shooting ranges - where standards were approved by a governing body - before regulations were tightened in the wake of the Christchurch terror attack in 2019.
“The lighter-touch approach did not result in high levels of compliance,” the briefing said. ”We also understand that, under this approach, some pistol clubs were introducing new types of shooting activities (eg cowboy horseback shooting) on ranges that were not certified for those activities.”
“Since the changes came into force, police has issued 251 improvement notices to pistol ranges for not meeting the pre-2020 safety standards that range operators agreed to adhere to ... mostly issued for failing to comply with range standing orders (eg maintenance, safety rules, firearm type) and ballistic safety issues (eg exposed tyres, bullet catch below minimum standards).
“These safety risks were not being picked up in five-yearly inspections by Pistol New Zealand, as set out in the LOA. They have since been identified through routine range inspections as part of the recent changes.”
Officials also disagreed with McKee’s central premise: that the current level of regulation was too burdensome, given the risks.
“We do not consider the requirements for initial certification and to maintain certification disproportionate given the activities undertaken. Without the knowledge from certifying a range, it renders the safety and security requirements effectively unworkable, and this could be exploited by criminals to gain access to firearms and ammunition.”
The shooting range beneath the Wanganui RSA Club has had an active membership for 75 years. Photo / Bevan Conley
McKee said in a statement: “Properly run clubs and ranges have an important public safety role, providing a place for people to learn to safely operate firearms, and to practise and compete. Their track record on safety outcomes at ranges over the past 100 years is commendable. While ranges may not be certified, new ranges still have to be enrolled with the FSA (Firearms Safety Authority).”
She said public safety was at the forefront of all her firearms reform considerations.
Police critical of McKee’s Cabinet paper
The data about the hundreds of improvement notices under the new regime is not included in McKee’s Cabinet paper in May, in which she said there is “no information to suggest that non-pistol ranges were operating unsafely” under the previous system.
She paraphrased a previous regulatory impact statement from police about the old regime, showing “no evidence that there were issues to be addressed, or that the onerous obligations would protect the public”.
However, she also noted the current police perspective: “Police is concerned that more generally this paper does not outline the public safety risks associated with the proposals to reduce the regulatory requirements on shooting clubs and non-pistol target shooting ranges.”
That many were shutting down was an untested assumption, the Ministry of Justice said, based on feedback from clubs and ranges to McKee. The new regulations have also only been in effect since June 2023, providing little evidence about their positive or negative impact.
“The paucity of available information means that it is difficult to assess the scale and significance of the issues experienced by shooting clubs and ranges. The proposals under consideration are therefore based on an assumption that the risk is of a scale that warrants regulatory change,” the ministry said in a regulatory impact statement.
“We have not been able to quantify the likely scale or significance of this risk.”
In her Cabinet paper, McKee responded: “I am confident that the assumptions are well-founded, and reflect the feedback provided to me by stakeholders directly impacted by the regulatory regime. This feedback is reinforced by my own extensive experience in, and knowledge of, the sector built over a number of decades.”
McKee has repeatedly said that she’s been told of a number of closures, but has not shed any light on how many she is aware of.
Te Tari Pūreke/Firearms Safety Authority has said it is unaware of any voluntary gun club closures since the post-March 15 changes, although it may not know of any such closures because those clubs were yet to come under the authority’s oversight.
Four shooting ranges on one site have been shut down because they claimed to have council consents that they actually didn’t have. The Rivers to Ranges Roys Hill, a public range in Hawkes Bay that McKee has referred to, closed and reopened following remedial work.
The authority also has noted three recorded injuries on shooting ranges since September 2022, where standing orders were either non-existent or not adhered to.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Elsewhere in the Cabinet paper, McKee said she wanted to remove enforcement measures for non-pistol shooting ranges.
“Some may be concerned that without the regulator having the ability to enforce compliance, there is potential for increased safety risks. However, I believe there is a strong incentive for range operators to maintain high safety standards, as it is against an operator’s interest to have an incident on a range. All shooting ranges will also have to retain incident safety records, which can be made available to the regulator.”
In an interview with the Herald in June, McKee said deregulating might end up being better than the status quo for non-pistol shooting ranges: “The National Rifle Association of New Zealand, for example, already had a number of volunteers within their community as qualified range certifiers who would go through and certify the ranges. One would arguably offer a higher standard.”
Targeted consultation on her proposals took place earlier this year.
McKee was due to report back to the Cabinet on final policy decisions for the regulations in July. A bill is expected to be passed by the end of the year to enable the changes, during which there will be public consultation.
Police also objected to McKee changing the annual reporting requirements for non-pistol clubs by Order in Council, and without consultation.
“We do not consider that the immediate change proposed here justifies making regulations without consultation.”
About 100 non-pistol gun clubs were due to submit an annual report in July or August, and McKee changed the requirements so they no longer needed to include a financial report, if firearms and/or ammunition are sold on the club’s behalf.
“Although providing a financial report has a role in reducing the likelihood that people use clubs to sell ammunition or firearms without having a dealer’s licence, I consider the risk to the public of making this change is low,” McKee said in her Cabinet paper.
Consultation is required on such changes unless the minister believes, as Mckee did, that it is not practicable.
“If consultation was undertaken, it would not be possible to assist those clubs this year, jeopardising their operation and overarching public safety objectives,” she said in the Cabinet paper.
“The proposed approach is premised on an assumption that without intervention, non-pistol clubs struggling to meet annual reporting requirement may ultimately close, potentially undermining the role that the network of shooting clubs and ranges play in supporting firearms safety,” officials said in a regulatory impact statement.
“A lack of information means that it is not clear how many of these clubs are at risk of not meeting their annual reporting requirements.
“Longer timeframes for this work would have enabled officials to consult with stakeholders and the wider public. This could have provided more fully informed advice on the scale and scope of the issue, and the likely impact of the proposal, including unintended consequences, however this would not meet the objective of providing short-term support for clubs and ranges.”
In a statement, McKee said: “Non-pistol clubs have contacted me directly, face to face at public meetings expressing concern about the requirement to provide an annual report. In my view, this is an example of over-regulation without a clear public safety rationale. Adjusting this requirement for non-pistol clubs will serve as a short-term measure until broader changes to the requirements for clubs are considered.”
The Cabinet signed off the request for an Order in Council, as well as waiving the standard 28-day period before it can come into effect after being notified in the New Zealand Gazette, which happened on June 28.
Derek Cheng is a senior journalist who started at the Herald in 2004. He has worked several stints in the Press Gallery team and is a former deputy political editor.
