National Rifle Association and National Smallbore Rifle Association
Other
Action Planned
The NRA and NSRA will develop training for staff at their ranges on identifying and responding to potential self-harm, to be delivered by September 2021. They will review their emergency response procedures, testing them twice yearly, and will publish guidance for other rifle ranges by October 2021. (AI summary)
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NATIONAL RIFLE 6 ASSOCIATION Majesty' s Coroner for the County of Dorset Regulation 28 Report to Prevent Future Deaths (Ref Investigation into the death of Michael Jonathan Woods Response on behalf of the National Rifle Association (NRA) and National Smallbore Rifle Association (NSRA) We extend our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Mr Woods. circumstances described in the Coroner's report will clearly have caused pain and distress to the family and friends ofMr Woods. We also offer our heartfelt sympathies to the staff at the Target Sports Centre: Dealing with the events on &th October 2019 must have been deeply upsetting for all concerned. Matters of Concern We have been asked to respond to two Matters of Concern raised by the Coroner: (a) the recommendation of of the Dorset Council Environmental Health Department that staff at shooting ranges offering shooting experiences should undergo training to ensure customers are in the appropriate frame of mind to shoot; and (b) the recommendation of that staff at shooting ranges should periodically carry out "Emergency Response" exercises in response to serious incidents of the type that occurred in this case. Preamble
2.1 The NRA is the national governing body for full-bore target shooting in the United Kingdom. NSRA is the national governing body for small-bore rifle and pistol target shooting in the United Kingdom Both organisations are registered charities. The NRA and NSRA operate rifle ranges at Bisley Camp through their respective wholly owned trading subsidiaries:
2.2 The NRA and NSRA publish guidance to assist affiliated rifle range operators across the United Kingdom:
2.3 Safety is an essential element of all shooting activities. It should be embedded into the culture and operation oftarget shooting ranges, and is built upon the four pillars of "safe place, safe practice, safe equipment safe person"_
2.4 Suicide on shooting ranges in the United Kingdom is very rare, but the impact on families and friends can be catastrophic regardless of the rarity of the event:
2.5 All operators of shooting ranges are expected to ensure the safety oftheir staff,customers and visitors_ The NRA and NSRA take very seriously their role in contributing to a safe shooting environment, both directly at ranges operated by their subsidiaries and through issuing practical guidance to the wider sector. Both organisations recognise the harm that is caused by such tragic events. Her The The and
Response
3.1 The NRA and NSRA have carefully considered the facts of this particular case and the findings of the Coroner: We have also carefully considered the action that each organisation is able to take to reduce the risk of future deaths and set out below details of that action: We have also set out timetables for implementing these actions. These timetables vary subject to the easing of current COVID restrictions.
3.2 We have decided to direct our respective commercial subsidiaries that operate ranges to arrange training of staff employed in the delivery of shooting experiences_ training objective will be to assist staff to identify signs of abnormal behaviour in people who wish to take part in shooting experiences. The intended operational outcomes are to raise awareness of the indications of abnormal behaviour that may suggest that a person is not in an appropriate frame of mind to engage in shooting activities and to provide guidance to staffas to how to respondin that situation. We expect this training to be delivered by 30th September 2021.
3.3 We recognise that people intent on self-harm may show no indication of this intention: However, the training will raise awareness of the risk of self-harm and provide guidance for range staff as to the action they should take if they identify signs of abnormal behaviour
3.4 The NRA and NSRA will publish specific guidance recommending appropriate training and procedures for staff at other rifle ranges operating in the wider sector offering shooting experiences to the public We intend to publish this guidance by 30th October 2021 to allow time for the review of the initial training and incorporation of feedback
3.5 The commercial subsidiaries of the NRA and NSRA already have emergency response procedures in place for the shooting ranges they operate_ We will now review our emergency response procedures specifically in relation to documenting the appropriate response to an act of self-harm or a threat of self-harm: We will ensure, commencing April 2021,that these procedures are tested twice vearly:
3.6 We will publish specific guidance to encourage operators of other rifle ranges operating in the wider sector offering shooting experiences to the public to review their own procedures in this area. We intend to publish this guidance, highlighting points, by 30th October 2021 to allow for review and incorporation of feedback Publication
4.1 NRA and the NSRA have no objection to the Chief Coroner publishing this response to any person the Chief Coroner believes may find it useful or of interest
4.2 We will each publish this response on our respective websites for the benefit of the range operators and the public National Rifle Association National Smallbore Rifle Association Name: Name: Position: Secretary General Position: Chief Executive Officer Date: 12 March 2021 Date: 12 March 2021 may The key The Acting
2.1 The NRA is the national governing body for full-bore target shooting in the United Kingdom. NSRA is the national governing body for small-bore rifle and pistol target shooting in the United Kingdom Both organisations are registered charities. The NRA and NSRA operate rifle ranges at Bisley Camp through their respective wholly owned trading subsidiaries:
2.2 The NRA and NSRA publish guidance to assist affiliated rifle range operators across the United Kingdom:
2.3 Safety is an essential element of all shooting activities. It should be embedded into the culture and operation oftarget shooting ranges, and is built upon the four pillars of "safe place, safe practice, safe equipment safe person"_
2.4 Suicide on shooting ranges in the United Kingdom is very rare, but the impact on families and friends can be catastrophic regardless of the rarity of the event:
2.5 All operators of shooting ranges are expected to ensure the safety oftheir staff,customers and visitors_ The NRA and NSRA take very seriously their role in contributing to a safe shooting environment, both directly at ranges operated by their subsidiaries and through issuing practical guidance to the wider sector. Both organisations recognise the harm that is caused by such tragic events. Her The The and
Response
3.1 The NRA and NSRA have carefully considered the facts of this particular case and the findings of the Coroner: We have also carefully considered the action that each organisation is able to take to reduce the risk of future deaths and set out below details of that action: We have also set out timetables for implementing these actions. These timetables vary subject to the easing of current COVID restrictions.
3.2 We have decided to direct our respective commercial subsidiaries that operate ranges to arrange training of staff employed in the delivery of shooting experiences_ training objective will be to assist staff to identify signs of abnormal behaviour in people who wish to take part in shooting experiences. The intended operational outcomes are to raise awareness of the indications of abnormal behaviour that may suggest that a person is not in an appropriate frame of mind to engage in shooting activities and to provide guidance to staffas to how to respondin that situation. We expect this training to be delivered by 30th September 2021.
3.3 We recognise that people intent on self-harm may show no indication of this intention: However, the training will raise awareness of the risk of self-harm and provide guidance for range staff as to the action they should take if they identify signs of abnormal behaviour
3.4 The NRA and NSRA will publish specific guidance recommending appropriate training and procedures for staff at other rifle ranges operating in the wider sector offering shooting experiences to the public We intend to publish this guidance by 30th October 2021 to allow time for the review of the initial training and incorporation of feedback
3.5 The commercial subsidiaries of the NRA and NSRA already have emergency response procedures in place for the shooting ranges they operate_ We will now review our emergency response procedures specifically in relation to documenting the appropriate response to an act of self-harm or a threat of self-harm: We will ensure, commencing April 2021,that these procedures are tested twice vearly:
3.6 We will publish specific guidance to encourage operators of other rifle ranges operating in the wider sector offering shooting experiences to the public to review their own procedures in this area. We intend to publish this guidance, highlighting points, by 30th October 2021 to allow for review and incorporation of feedback Publication
4.1 NRA and the NSRA have no objection to the Chief Coroner publishing this response to any person the Chief Coroner believes may find it useful or of interest
4.2 We will each publish this response on our respective websites for the benefit of the range operators and the public National Rifle Association National Smallbore Rifle Association Name: Name: Position: Secretary General Position: Chief Executive Officer Date: 12 March 2021 Date: 12 March 2021 may The key The Acting