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Auckland Pistol Club – shooters who get stuff done

We all heard about the noise complaints at Auckland Pistol Club (APC). We were all instantly worried about our own clubs, and the directions our shooting sports could take if established venues such as this one could get shut down. Well, the news, for once, is good.

It should be clarified, APC was never shut down. They entered into a voluntary closure of 3 months, to get out in front of what could have been a messy situation. The club and its members took proactive measures to ensure their pistol shooting range would not be in danger of having its doors closed by anyone else.

Substantial effort has been put in, to ensure Aucklanders have a safe place to train and compete. Image credit: APC
Substantial effort has been put in, to ensure Aucklanders have a safe place to train and compete. Image credit: APC

Their club secretary had this to say to The Gun Rack;

“We closed voluntarily for 3 months at the time of the first complaint to allow us to engage with the complainant and council. Needless to say the complainant has never engaged with us. We are in frequent contact with the council and working with them on the issue. We have been opened ever since that initial 3 month closure.”

The club has put substantial effort (and $$$) into making sure shooters in Auckland have a safe place to train and compete. The 16-bay turning target ISSF range has been sound-insulated and has proven to be very effective at containing noise, with sound dampening material at the mound and down the walls of the range.

The Auckland Pistol Club has great facilities and is open for business! They’re busy making sure all of the ranges capture as much escaping sound as is reasonably possible, in order to ensure the club can continue to operate at full capacity. Image credit: APC

Also fully approved by the club for use, is the large IPSC range which is used by members for casual practice, and weekly competitions. There is more soundproofing to be done on this range, so there is a restriction on ported handguns and magnum calibres until this is sorted.

So, how can you help Auckland and national shooting sports? Well, you can do two things:

  1. Always obey the instructions of the range you are shooting on, to help protect the ongoing use of that land, especially if your range has a resource consent in place or fussy neighbours.
  2. Chip in. Lend a hand, gift some materials or donate a few bucks to help the cause. APC has a ‘Give-a-little’ page, helping them to fund work such as the IPSC range soundproofing – that’d be a good place to start.
Geoff

Geoff

Geoff is a shooting and reloading enthusiast who would rather be at the range, but is content to write about it. He is a member of Waiuku Pistol Club, and shoots rifle, pistol and shotgun in various disciplines, occasionally, managing to get out for a hunt.

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