Shooting club (SV) De Heerhugowaard has canceled the lease of shooting club All Rounds, after some weapons from the safe went missing at that club. This puts the survival of SV All Rounds in question. “It would be the death knell for our club.”
Shooting Club (SV) De Heerhugowaard is the main manager of the club building on the Vork in Heerhugowaard. The association also rents out the shooting ranges to two other clubs. At one of them, SV All Rounds, Some weapons disappeared at the beginning of May from the vault.
The case came to light at NH Nieuws after an anonymous tip. Inquiries with the police learned that indeed weapons have disappeared at SV All Rounds and that a report of loss has also been made. Weapons and ammunition of the All Rounds board members are in police custody while the investigation is ongoing.
According to the police, this is a ‘serious case’, which is being investigated by the team chief of police. That team issues licenses for firearms possession and monitors license holders.
Vague statement
NH Nieuws had a long conversation with a board member of SV All Rounds, Piet Otto, about the missing firearms. But in his statement, the board member remained vague, consciously or unconsciously. The only thing that became clear is that Otto took the weapons out of the safe and sold them on. The chief of police would have been aware of this.
According to board member Otto, the whole case is based on an administrative error, an innocent mistake. But to questions that continue to burn: why there is a missing person report and why the case is being investigated, he did not give a clear answer.
It is difficult to determine whether the weapons were indeed resold. The chief of police did not respond to several requests for comment.
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SV De Heerhugowaard strongly doubts the statement of board member Piet Otto. “The chief of police always works adequately and accurately, in our experience. Administrative errors are completely foreign to us. The building is very well secured and everything that goes in and out is recorded in a logbook, we are not a skittles club.”
The board takes the matter very seriously. “This also disadvantages our association. It puts this beautiful sport in a bad light.”
Stripe through lease
The forty members of SV All Rounds are given six months to find a new association. The board of SV All Rounds has now appointed a lawyer to challenge the decision.
According to lawyer Colin Burger, the board itself reported missing weapons at the end of May. “At the request of the police, the association itself also filed a report at the end of July. For inexplicable reasons, SV De Heerhugowaard believes it can now terminate the long-term lease in the interim.”
‘New licence’
According to the lawyer of SV All Rounds, new permits have now been issued and weapons and ammunition from the board will soon be returned to the association.
Now that SV All Rounds threatens to become homeless, according to the lawyer, the board is forced to defend the interests of its members with legal proceedings. “We will recover the damage suffered as a result from the board of SV De Heerhugowaard.”