The Charity Commission has ruled that it will not award charitable status to the Cambridgeshire Target Shooting Association (CTSA) on the grounds that it does not promote physical health or operate “for the public benefit”.
In a report published yesterday, the regulator said: “Although the Commission recognises target shooting as a sport which involves physical and mental skill, it was not satisfied it had been sufficiently demonstrated that the activity itself promotes health.
“Accordingly it could not be considered charitable either under the advancement of amateur sport or the promotion of community participation in healthy recreation.”
Gun clubs were historically registered as charities on the grounds that "teaching people skills of accurate shooting could be considered as a charitable purpose for the defence of the realm”, according to the Commission.
But the regulator said yesterday that the registration of “certain existing registered gun clubs” could not continue where they existed primarily “for the benefit of members rather than for the defence of the realm as to which there was little or no connection”.
Under the Charities Act, the advancement of amateur sport was recognised as one of the 13 descriptions of charitable purposes. Sport in this context was defined as activity designed to “promote health by involving physical and mental skill or exertion”.
Evidence presented to the regulator by the CTSA as part of the application for charitable status, claims that “the physical benefits in shooting sports are less obvious at first sight and more difficult to define".
The paper continues, “nevertheless there are physical benefits to be had, and to perform well at higher levels in the sport, you need to attain a good level of physical fitness".
But the Commission concluded yesterday that it was not satisfied that shooting could be said to promote health and highlighted a "potential concern that recognition of gun clubs as charities may have a potential detriment or harm arising from unlawful civil shootings and increase potential access to firearms".
A statement by the Charity Commission said: “The commission did not register the organisation as it did not consider it is established for exclusively charitable purposes. This included having considered whether the sport of target shooting promotes health.
"The Commission was not satisfied that there was sufficient evidence of the benefit to health through participation in the recreational activity or the sport of target shooting.”
The CTSA aims to “promote, encourage and facilitate the development of the participation in the sport of target shooting within Cambridgeshire,” according to the organisation’s website. It provides coaching, administers target shooting leagues and hosts tournaments and events.
The CTSA did not respond to Civil Society News' request for comment.
