Thread: St Arnaud sighting in area.

For many years there has be an informal sighting-in area on DoC land near St Arnaud.
Just recently there has been some work done on the range and with it changes in the conditions of its use. For those familiar with the area and who have, or are likely to use it in the future here are the new requirements. This is from the local DoC Operations Manager.

Teetotal Sighting-In Range
There has been a lot of work done to make the
Teetotal Sighting-In Range ready to meet the
requirements under the new regulations under the
Arms Act 1983. This includes a gravelled access
road, a fenced and gated range boundary, new
terracing and work on and around the bullet catcher
target area. We expect to install a small sign kiosk
and a red flag to raise when the range is in use this
coming week.
If you hold a current permit to use the range it will
become invalid later this week on June 30. From
1
st July (this coming Saturday) every use of the
range will be under the supervision of a nominated
‘Range Officer’ who will need to obtain a Teetotal
Sighting-In Range Permit in person from the visitor
centre and sign up to their responsibilities under the
Range Standing Orders. The appointed Range
Officer must also be a licenced firearms holder and
hold a standard DOC hunting permit. Be sure to bring
your fire arms licence and DOC hunting permit to be
sighted when you come to obtain a Teetotal SightingIn Range Permit.
I expect some may ask why you need a DOC hunting
permit just for sighting in. This is because the only
way we can currently approve the discharge of a
firearm on public conservation land is through the
hunting permit system of the Conservation Act 1987.
It is possible that the range permit (issued under the
police managed Arms Act) may be recognised as
permission on its own but this hasn’t happened yet.
It can’t be stated strongly enough how important it
is that the rules around the use of the range are
respected and fully observed. Individuals who
misuse the range will be committing a criminal act.
They will have their permits and potentially their
firearms licence revoked and will likely face
prosecution by the police. If this isn’t done well, the
range will need to be disestablished with all
improvements dismantled. Let’s all make this work.

I understand having a formal range/sighting-in area on DoC land is quite unique so this is a bit of a test case for future opportunities around the country so if you do plan on using it please abide by the rules.