15th September 2020
The government announced exemptions to the rule of six for England which cover shooting (14th September) and other country sports.
- Any outdoor physical activity which requires a licence issued by a public body for the activity itself, or for equipment used during the activity, will be exempt from the gathering limits.
- For shooting, this means that where the organiser or a participant holds a valid shotgun or firearms certificate, there is no limit to the number of people who can gather for the purpose of the relevant activity whilst outdoors.
- The organiser will be required to have undertaken a health and safety risk assessment and put in place all reasonable measures to limit transmission of COVID-19.
- The exemption does not apply indoors where the gathering limit of six people will still apply.
- Employees, such as beaters, pickers-up and loaders are also exempt from gathering limits, both indoors and outdoors, where their gathering is necessary for work purposes.
Amanda Anderson, Director of the Moorland Association, said: “Grouse shoots are generally undertaken as part of estates’ business operations and provide much-needed employment in fragile rural areas. Pubs, restaurants and hotels, which also support shooting, have also worked extremely hard to resume their businesses. There is very clear guidance on these exemptions which we hope will aid rural economic recovery.”
Guidance from BASC on shooting and COVID 19 is available here: https://basc.org.uk/coronavirus/
