Shooters Lottery Incorporated

The role of the independent Charities Registration Board (“the Board’) is to maintain the integrity of the Charities Register by ensuring that entities on the Charities Register qualify for registration. A purpose is charitable if it advances a public benefit in a way that is analogous to cases that have previously been held to be charitable.

The Board makes its decisions by applying the law to the facts before it. The Board has carried out a full assessment of the eligibility of Shooters Lottery Incorporated (“the Society”) for registration. In its decision dated 14 June 2019, the Board declined the Society’s application. The Board considers that the Society does not advance exclusively charitable purposes.

The Board considers that the Society has an independent purpose to promote its own specific viewpoints on firearms issues in a way that cannot be found to be in the public benefit in the charitable sense. Further, the Board considers that this non-charitable purpose is the primary purpose of the Society and cannot be considered ancillary to another charitable purpose being undertaken by the Society.

In making its decision, the Board is not taking a position on whether or not the Society’s viewpoints are of benefit for New Zealand, but on the Society’s eligibility for registration under the Charities Act 2005 and relevant case law.

The Board’s full decision can be read at the link below.

The Charities Registration Board’s statement regarding the decision can be found here.