Approved shooting clubs in Scotland: EIR release

Information requested

1) How many approved shooting clubs are there in Scotland?

2) Can I have a list of the names of all approved Scottish clubs?

3) Of that list can you tell me which of these were granted approval in the last five years? (Can these be listed by year please)

4) How many applications for approval for Scottish clubs were rejected in the last five years?

5) How many shooting clubs have been granted approval (to operate as a shooting club) by Scottish Ministers so far in 2022?

6) How many shooting clubs were granted approval (to operate as shooting clubs) by Scottish Ministers in 2021?

7) How many shooting clubs were granted approval (to operate as shooting clubs) by Scottish Ministers in 2020?

8) How many shooting clubs were granted approval (to operate as shooting clubs) by Scottish Ministers in 2019?

9) How many shooting clubs were granted approval (to operate as shooting clubs) by Scottish Ministers in 2018?

Response

Under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, you asked the Scottish Government to provide lists and quantities in respect of which target shooting clubs have been granted approval by the Scottish Ministers in recent years. As explained in my letter dated 9 November 2022, your request is being dealt with under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), instead of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. As previously mentioned, this is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

Answers to all of your questions are provided below.

It may be helpful if I explain that under section 15 of The Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 target shooting clubs may be granted approval by the Scottish Ministers (or, outwith Scotland, by the Secretary of State i.e. normally the Home Secretary). If granted and unless withdrawn, a target shooting club approval is valid for a duration of 6 years and will expire at the end of this period unless the club applies for their approval to be renewed. Approvals are not country-specific, so an approval granted by Scottish Ministers would allow members of a Scottish club to make use of ranges in England or Wales, and vice-versa.

The majority of approved clubs in Scotland are long-established and renew their approvals on a six-yearly cycle. Most recently this renewal date fell this year, and as such, with the exception of 1 club, all target shooting club approvals granted in 2022 were granted to clubs applying to renew existing approvals, rather than new clubs applying for approval for the first time.

Further information on the approval process and the criteria which clubs must meet is available at www.mygov.scot/firearms. Within the remit assigned to them by reserved firearms law Scottish Ministers do not grant any firearms approvals without having received a recommendation from Police Scotland based on thorough assessment.

1) How many approved shooting clubs are there in Scotland?

As of 23 November 2022 Scottish Ministers have approved 121 target shooting clubs.

2) Can I have a list of the names of all approved Scottish clubs?

A full list of club names is provided in the attached Annex.

3) Of that list can you tell me which of these were granted approval in the last five years? (Can these be listed by year please)

This information is provided in the attached Annex.

4) How many applications for approval for Scottish clubs were rejected in the last five years?

Our records show that no applications for club approval were rejected in the last five years. The fact that all applications were of sufficient quality to warrant approval may reflect that clubs are aware that, as explained on the above webpage, an application will involve payment of a fee, will involve coming to the attention of and being assessed by Police Scotland, and may fail if the specified criteria are not fully met.

5) How many shooting clubs have been granted approval (to operate as a shooting club) by Scottish Ministers so far in 2022?

As of 23 November 2022 Scottish Ministers have approved 103 target shooting clubs in 2022. As noted above, this number is unusually high compared to other years because – as a result of a 6-year cycle introduced by legislation – the vast majority of existing club approvals fell to be renewed this year.

6) How many shooting clubs were granted approval (to operate as shooting clubs) by Scottish Ministers in 2021?

This information is provided in the attached Annex.

7) How many shooting clubs were granted approval (to operate as shooting clubs) by Scottish Ministers in 2020?

This information is provided in the attached Annex.

8) How many shooting clubs were granted approval (to operate as shooting clubs) by Scottish Ministers in 2019?

This information is provided in the attached Annex.

9) How many shooting clubs were granted approval (to operate as shooting clubs) by Scottish Ministers in 2018?

This information is provided in the attached Annex.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202200328272 - Information released

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