Written by Alan Westlake. Director of the Association

The British Shooting Sports Council
The BSSC is a body that represents shooting sports in dealing with Parliament on our behalf. Its aims and objective is to promote and safeguard the Lawful use of Firearms and Air weapons for sporting and recreational purposes in the United Kingdom amongst all sections of the community.

The Organisations that are part of BSSC are:

Association of Professional Clay Target Shooting Grounds
Association of Professional Shooting Instructors
British Association for Shooting and Conservation
Countryside Alliance
Clay Pigeon Shooting Association
Gun Trade Association
Institute of Clay Shooting Instructors
Muzzle Loaders Association of Great Britain
National Rifle Association
National Smallbore Rifle Association
Sportsman’s Association of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
United Kingdom Practical shooting Association

The BSSC is active in all areas that are relevant to our sports, from meeting with the Association of Chief Police Officers or the Home Office to discuss problems and suggest solutions to them that are not to the detriment of the shooting sports. To guiding politicians in matters relating to our sport where the law is being made or changed , or attending conferences relevant to firearms, at the UN or in Europe, in order to have input that will mitigate some of the bad side of the legislation or treaties that may be forced upon us from abroad. All this and more, goes on in the background, mainly un-noticed by the shooting public.

A couple of interesting meetings that were particularly relevant to the SA took place recently.
One discussed what the Shooting community should do if another incident like Hungerford or Dunblane should occur.
It was decided that a plan of action should be formulated, to provide a structure to the shooting associations response to, in the first place, the Media Frenzy that would occur in the hours of the immediate aftermath and before the true facts have become apparent, and then to the political fallout, as politicians jump on to the bandwagon and start to grind their own particular axe and score points from the situation, as they did after Dunblane.

It was agreed that keeping a respectful silence as was done last time, was NOT the best policy, However, people that speak to the Press and TV in those first few hours should be able to put our side over in a lucid and responsible way and not make matters worse by reacting to offensive questioning. (ever seen channel 4 News?) So I suppose that it could be said that lessons have been learnt from past mistakes. These preparations are in the very early stages and are ongoing, so we must wait and see what transpires.

The second meeting was to formulate an official BSSC policy in respect to the fight to get the return of pistols for the sport of Target Shooting.
The immediate goal agreed, was for the seeking, shortly after the election, for the Repeal of the Firearms (Amendment) (No.2) Act 1997.
Thus allowing FAC holders to keep .22 Pistols at Licensed Clubs, for Target Shooting.

It was also agreed that if the repeal takes place, then the Target Shooting Associations will undertake to ensure that a training scheme is organised, so that Licenced Pistol Clubs will be able to have members trained as “Club Pistol Coaches”, so that their members can be trained in the safe use of the pistols and the marksmanship skills required to become proficient and skilled competition shooters.

Conditions prevailing after the repeal of Firearms amendment act No.2

If you wished to obtain a .22 pistol for Target Shooting, you would have to belong to a Club licensed to hold .22 pistols. See 19 and 20 below. You would not be able to remove the pistol from the Club premises unless you had a permit to do so from the Police see 13 below.

Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 and Firearms (Amendment) (No.2)Act 1997
19 Purpose of Part II
(1) This Part provides for the licensing of pistol clubs and their premises and for the regulation of licensed pistol clubs.
(2) In this Act—
• “License” means a license granted under section 21 below in respect of a pistol club and any premises of that club; and “licensed pistol club” shall be construed accordingly.
• “Licensed premises”, in relation to a licensed pistol club, means any premises which are specified in the club’s license as being premises which may be used for the purpose of storing or using small-caliber pistols.
20 No pistol club to operate without a license
(1) No club shall allow any small-caliber pistol to be stored or used on any of its club premises in connection with target shooting, unless the club is a licensed pistol club.
(2) No licensed pistol club shall allow a small-caliber pistol to be stored or used on any of its club premises by any holder of a firearm certificate or visitor’s firearm permit subject to a condition that it is only to be used for target shooting, unless—
(a) the certificate or permit holder is a member of that club;
(b) the premises are specified in the club’s licence as premises at which small-calibre pistols may be stored and used;
(c) the premises are specified in the certificate or permit as the place where the pistol is to be kept.
(3) Subsection (2) above does not apply to—
(a) the storage on licensed premises of a licensed pistol club of a small-calibre pistol purchased or acquired by the responsible officer of that club for use only by members of the club in connection with target shooting;
(b) the use on licensed premises of a licensed pistol club of a small-calibre pistol by a member of the club who is permitted to have it in his possession by virtue of section 27(3) below; or
(c) the use of a pistol on the licensed premises of a licensed pistol club if the person using the pistol is authorised by a permit under section 13 above to have the pistol with him on those premises.
(4) If a small-calibre pistol is stored or used in contravention of subsection (1) or (2) above, the persons or any of the persons responsible for the management of the club commit an offence punishable on summary conviction with imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or both.
(5) In proceedings against any person for an offence under subsection (4) above, it shall be a defence for him to prove that he took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence.
(6) In this section “club premises” means premises which are occupied by and habitually used for the purposes of the club.
13 Permits to have small-calibre pistols outside licensed pistol clubs
(1) A person whose firearm certificate for a small-calibre pistol is held subject to a condition that the pistol must be kept at licensed premises of a licensed pistol club may make an application in the prescribed form to the chief officer of police for the area in which he resides for a permit under this section authorising a person specified in the permit to have the pistol in his possession outside those premises for any proper purpose.
(2) A permit under this section shall not, unless the circumstances appear to the chief officer of police to be exceptional, authorise any holder of a firearm certificate which relates to the pistol to have the pistol with him in any place other than the licensed premises of a licensed pistol club or the premises at which a designated target shooting competition specified in the permit is being held.
(3) A proper purpose for having a small-calibre pistol outside the licensed premises at which it is required to be kept may be any of the following, namely—
(a) conveying the pistol to those premises following—
(i) the release of the pistol from police custody under Schedule 1 to this Act;
(ii) the purchase or acquisition of the pistol; or
(iii) a change in the licensed premises at which the pistol is required to be kept;
(b) having the pistol repaired or maintained by a registered firearms dealer;
(c) enabling the pistol to be used at a designated target shooting competition;
(d) selling or otherwise disposing of the pistol; or
(e) any other purpose which appears to the chief officer of police to be proper in all the circumstances.
(4) Where a person makes an application under subsection (1) above in relation to a pistol, the chief officer of police may, if he thinks fit, grant a permit in the prescribed form; and any such permit—
(a) shall specify the purpose for which it is granted and the name of any person who is authorised by the permit to have the pistol in his possession; and
(b) shall be granted subject to such conditions as the chief officer of police thinks necessary to secure that such possession will not endanger the public safety or the peace;
and any conditions may include a time by which the pistol must be taken or returned to the licensed premises specified in the applicant’s firearm certificate.

These Conditions I will have published on our website, so that you can download them and use them as an aid memoire, when you discuss this with your MP. If you have not already done so. If he seemed confused or did not know what you were talking about, give him a copy, so that he can see what he would be voting for if he voted in favour of the repeal.

When you fully understand what the Law would be, you realise how tightly controlled the pistols would be. The almost identical conditions have been in place for Historic Pistols since 1997, except that you may not shoot competitions with them, and there have been no problems with them, so there is a trouble free precedent for this that has been in place for over twelve years.