It struck me that we had so many pictures from the work we all did to build the Geoffrey Place Range that it might be an idea to use some of them in a brief history – so here it is ! It’s also interesting to see that when the range closed, it marked the end on over a century of target shooting in Parkgate.
See –
“The Rise and Fall of the Dive.”
Yearly Archives: 2020
Deactivated Firearms Guidance
The latest (last!?) EU legislation on deactivated firearms is complex and confusing, but the Deactivated Weapons Association (DWA) has put together a guide to what should be notified and when – see the tables at the bottom of this page.)
We may be officially “out” of the EU, but we’re still in the transition period sat the moment (18/2/20) and this particular law was enacted before we left.
You’ll note that the “who” to notify hasn’t been included, but now that’s been made (nearly) clear at – Deactivatedfirearmsnotifications@homeoffice.gov.uk
You should use the forms provided at – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/circular-0102019-firearms-regulations-2019-and-the-firearms-amendment-no2-rules-2019
What possible way this can enhance public safety is – to say the least – questionable, but it prevents the UK having to pay a massive fine to the EU if they haven’t “done something” to comply.
This is the very least they could do to comply with the legislation and still avoid that fine.
| Possession | ||
| Type of Deactivation? | Notify? | When to Notify? |
| UK legacy specifications deactivated prior to 7th April 2016 | No | N/A |
| 2010 UK Specification (for firearms outside the scope of the EU Regulation – mortars, flare pistols, launchers, etc.) deactivated from 8th April 2016 | No | N/A |
| EU Regulation 2015/2403 (EU Spec 1) deactivated from 8th April 2016 to 27th June 2018 | Yes | BUT Not before March 14th 2021 |
| EU Regulation 2018/337 (EU Spec 2) deactivated from 28th June 2018 to 13th September 2018 | Yes | March 14th 2021 if taken into your possession by 13/09/18 or from now if taken into your possession on or after 14/09/18 |
| EU Regulation 2018/337 (EU Spec 2) deactivated from 14th September 2018 | Yes | Now |
| Transfer (for more than 14 days) | ||
| Type of Deactivation? | Notify? | When to Notify? |
| UK legacy specifications deactivated prior to 7th April 2016 | No | N/A |
| 2010 UK Specification (for firearms outside the scope of the EU Regulation – mortars, flare pistols, launchers, etc.) deactivated from 8th April 2016 | No | N/A |
| EU Regulation 2015/2403 (EU Spec 1) deactivated from 8th April 2016 to 27th June 2018 | No | N/A |
| EU Regulation 2018/337 (EU Spec 2) deactivated from 28th June 2018 to 13th September 2018 | Yes | From now upon sale/transfer |
| EU Regulation 2018/337 (EU Spec 2) deactivated from 14th September 2018 | Yes | From now upon sale/transfer |
Our subscription year ends on 31st March 2023.
By that date Mary and I will have organised and run no less than 70 shoots since 1st January 2022. This equates to around two whole months of our time over that period.
Looking back over this period It is disheartening to find that quite a few members have shot with us less than ten times over more than two years.
We do not count those members who have had difficulties – and who have kept in touch with us, or are life or concessionary members, and we’ve taken account of the cancellations at Sealand.
We only ask that members shoot with at least four times a year (one more than the absolute minimum that the Home Office want to see) yet very sadly no less than Thirteen members did not even achieve this in 2022. (Again not including those mentioned above.)
It may well be that we are doing something (or not doing something) that does not appeal to those members, so we held a couple of on-line surveys, and we always like to ask after a shoot if there was anything we could do better. While there are some areas for improvement, there has been no sign of general dissatisfaction, and I’m sure most members would tell us if there was.
We have a waiting list to join, and therefore some members will not be invited to renew their membership in 2023/24: this is painful to us as we regard members as friends – that’s a part of the ethos of Phoenix.
We do not want to be a club where people take advantage of us just in order to keep a Firearm Certificate, or to zero their rifles on the odd occasion. We are absolutely sure that’s not what the vast majority of members want, and its certainly not the sort of club we would want to be members of.
What should we do? Should we run far fewer shoots? Should we reduce the club to a much smaller number of members? Should we raise the annual subscription massively and remove range fees? NONE of those options appeal, and if every member attended more we wouldn’t need to even consider them. That doesn’t apply to those members mentioned above.
So, getting back to the point of this post – Please, if you want to remain a member of Phoenix, come and shoot with us.
We are truly thankful that the above does NOT apply to the majority who come and shoot regularly with us.