Lee Enfield Rifle Association letter regarding the NRA changes

Dear Leramembers,

There has been much discussion on the forum regarding range competency. Last Saturday, your Committee met and discussed this in depth.

The main points were as follows:

From 1st January 2009 it will be a mandatory requirement for a civilian shooter to have a certificate of competence to shoot on an MOD Range (including Bisley). The certificate will be issued on successful completion of a Range Safety and Competency Test (RCST).

The NRA are still at the draft stage of what the RCST needs to include but we expect this to be published shortly.

The RCST is to certify the shooter, not the rifle so you don't need a RCST for each rifle you own. You need to be certified by 31st December 2008 for 2009 and thereafter annually.

LERA are already ahead of the game as most of the points required in the draft are included in the LERA probationary training notes. The assessment will also include the requirement to fire a zeroed group.

LERA will certify members with whom LERA is designated their `primary club'. Other members will need to get themselves certified through their own `primary club' although we will certify members who shoot regularly with LERA if they wish.

We aim to publish training notes for the RCST (based on our probationary training notes) to go out with renewals at the beginning of April.

The 4th Sunday shoot in April will be designated a RCST Certification Day where we will try to get as many members assessed as possible. Other 4th Sunday shoots will be made available for certification as necessary but note it will be your responsibility to turn up to get certified. LERA will not issue reminders or follow up those who have not attended.

Your completed RCST certificate will need to be sent to the NRA with a photo for them to issue a card to state you're competent to use an MOD Range. There will be a charge for this, probably in the region of œ15-œ20 that would be paid direct to NRA.

Please may I ask you to be patient and not swamp the forum or committee members with questions regarding this issue.

More details will be given nearer the time and published on the forum and through Dispatches.