certificate of competancy

[ronboy]

Recently I received a email from the NRA, requiring me to apply for a new certificate. The form asks for a photo, I cannot remember being asked for this before, is this a new idea and to what purpose. Can someone tell me if shotgun shooters, shooting on MoD land have to have one of these cards.? I have had ten bob gun licences for years, before having a FAC for the last 45 years. I am not suggesting I know it all, as I am
still learning but i feel it's getting out of hand. Thinking back in time I must have reloaded and fired something like 800,000 rounds. Am I correct in stating that this certicate of competancy came about because someone managed to send rounds beyond the safe zone at Bisley and so we all suffer.

[Steve E]

A certificate of competency (issued by the NRA or your club Chairman under the auspices of the NRA) is required by all shooters who shoot on MOD Ranges and that includes Bisley. ( Bisley uses the Pirbright RDA so is in effect a MOD range).
The SCC issued by the NRA requires you to submit a photograph as it is used as a form of ID.
The SCC came about not because someone fired rounds that escaped the RDA but as a result of negotiations between the NRA and the MoD.
A few years ago (maybe 2004 but not sure), the MoD wanted/tried to reduce the energy limits of firearms/ammunition used by civilian shooters and also require mandatory zeroing at 100yds before shooting at longer distance each time a civilian used a MoD range. This was because most MoD ranges have a reduced template for the Danger Area and the MoD wanted to ensure that all ammunition expended by civilians stayed within the Danger area. The proposals of zeroing each time were deemed over strenuous and the energy restriction would have in effect banned most calibre's over 7mm. The NRA worked very hard to get the now energy limit of 4500J (3319ft lbs) which has allowed us to continue shooting. What the SCC does is prove to the MoD that you are competent to shoot without having to zero at short range every time you want to shoot.
What it all comes down to is that the MoD accepts the risk from the training of its forces but will not accept the risk resulting from the leisure activities of civilian shooters who hire MoD ranges.
It is also why you need to understand correct zeroing and the 70mil rule.

Also if it were not for the efforts of the NRA I doubt very much that there would be much civilian shooting on MoD ranges these days.

[John25]

Having attended some of the early discussions I feel I must point out that much credit must also go to Colonel Billy Bowles who, on behalf of the MOD and Defence Estates, did the negotiations with the NRA.

His approach was unbiased and co-operative.

We (shooters all) were fortunate indeed that he was the man who, effectively, made the decisoin.

[IainWR]

Both the above are correct. The SCC is an element of the audit trail in ensuring the integrity of the process agreed between MoD and NRA. You do not need one for clay target shotgun. You do not need one for prone deliberate .22" TR under NSRA rules. You need one for any other form of shooting by members of civilian clubs on MoD ranges. People are working hard at NRA central to develop the process for Target Shotgun - please don't rock the boat in that respect for a couple of months. They were originally valid for one year only. NRA recently (end 2011 I think) negotiated 4-year validity (Heather correct me if I'm getting this wrong) for cards issued by itself - not sure if it applied to cards issued by Clubs - and has been introducing this by issuing cards with a variety of validities so as to spread the renewal load in years to come.

The primary driver for SCCs was a combination of the loss of Crown Immunity - which meant MoD could be sued for negligence if a member of the public got hurt - and handover of the running of MoD ranges to a commercial company, which meant that the directors of the company were potentially liable for injuries sustained as a result of their commercial activities. The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 no doubt concentrated some minds at LandMarc; Section 1 (1) reads:

An organisation to which this section applies is guilty of an offence if the way in which its activities are managed or organised—

(a)causes a person's death, and

(b)amounts to a gross breach of a relevant duty of care owed by the organisation to the deceased.

So, between those inputs, the people at the top needed (quite legitimately) to offload the risk of our recreational activity back to us. They started, as has been said, by telling us to get lost. It took, as has been said, a great deal of very careful work by NRA staff and our friends, Col Bowles in particular, to get us to a position where our sport could continue on MoD ranges in anything like a sensible fashion. Col Bowles continues to be an MoD employee (not sure if he is still serving or fills his post as a retired officer) as head of the ranges element of the MoD Land Accidents Investigation Team. Every time one of us cocks up on an MoD range, he gets to know, and I (as NRA Co-ordinator of Technical Investigations) have to try to explain why the guilty b****** should not be hung out to dry. As a courtesy, he also gets told about cockups at Bisley, and I, as an ex-military officer, find it embarrassing to have to explain that people I have accepted responsibility for have screwed up. Billy Bowles is also a recreational and competitive shooter of some ability and understands very well what makes us all tick. Please help by keeping his workload down.

An SCC is a very low level of competence. Essentially all that is required is that you can follow range orders and know how to set your firearm so as to achieve a first-shot hit anywhere on the target within the band of distances that your type of firearm might be used. Now this of course is a bit of a problem in some circumstances - a SCC for "scope sighted rifle" earned with a sporter at 100 yds is not really transferable to MR at 1200, but hey, it's MoDs rules and we will play by them because if we don't they will take the pitch away.

Iain

[toffe wrapper]

Well said John,
In the bad old days we all saw shooters who knew better having the odd error on a range.
MOD could have banned us all but it is now just like having to do an APWT.
Why should people be able to have a firearm and not have had to have any formal laid down training on its use on a range.

TW