Specialists

Nicole McKee

I enjoy competing in multiple shooting disciplines and am a keen meat hunter with a .303 rifle. I have held the national shooting title for the Dick Travis VC .303 Target Rifle for two years in a row and have been the NZ Service Rifle Association Bolt Action Champion four times.

I have legal training and worked in law firms in Rotorua and Wellington followed by eight years at home raising four children. After which I worked five years for Steve’s Wholesale Ltd, a leading firearms component wholesaler. Employment at Steve’s caused broad spectrum contact with other wholesalers, retailers, hunters and shooters throughout New Zealand. Following this I was employed by Mountain Safety Council as the National Firearms and Hunter Safety Programme Manager for two and half years.

I hold the following firearms qualifications and positions:

Whitireia Polytechnic – Certficate in Outdoor Leadership (Firearms Instructor)
New Zealand Open Polytechnic – Certificate of Achievement Firearms Legislation and Safety
NZ Society of Gunsmiths Inc – Firearms Safety Instructor
NZ Society of Gunsmiths Inc – Ammunition Advisor (Level 5)

President – Karori Rifle Club est 1892 (Fullbore Rifle Shooting)
President – Melrose Rifle Club est 1943 (Smallbore Rifle Shooting)
President – New Zealand Ladies Association for Fullbore Target Rifle Shooting
Secretary – COLFO Council of Licenced Firearms Owners
Member – NZ Police Firearms Community Advisory Forum
Warranted Firearms Instructor – New Zealand Police
Warranted Firearms Instructor – Mountain Safety Council of New Zealand
Range Officer – New Zealand Service Rifle Association
Range Officer – National Rifle Association of New Zealand
Range Officer – Mountain Safety Council of New Zealand
Range Officer Assessor – Mountain Safety Council of New Zealand
Firearms Assessor – Mountain Safety Council of New Zealand
Captain – New Zealand Ladies Rifle Team 2010; January 2013 and March 2013
Team Member – New Zealand Ladies Rifle Team 2006; 2008; 2015
Member – New Zealand Deerstalkers Association
Member – Wellington Pistol Club
Member – Wellington Rifle Association
Member – Wellington Smallbore Rifle Association
Member – Target Shooting New Zealand
Member – National Rifle Association of New Zealand

Mike Pyatt

My association with Firearms and Firearms Safety has been life long, as a young lad trailing around behind anyone I could find to take me out in the field. Learning how to and in some cases how not to handle and behave around firearms. It seems that now days I am the older bloke with young ones trailing behind me, passing on what I have learned.

I have worked with firearms by profession and obsession for over 30 years. Nowadays I am a hunter. A large family gives me the excuse to get out into the bush and field chasing game for the table. A broad range of experience has given me the chance to gain a wide range of skills and the time spent in the scrub putting food on the table for my tribe has allowed me to stay sharp in those skills.

As I mentioned I have a tribe so economy drove me to reload my own ammunition and I have been doing so for twenty-five years now in a fair range of calibres.

I am an Instructor in Firearms, Hunts, Range Officer and Bushcraft both as a volunteer and professionally in the firearms and hunter safety field. I hold formal qualifications up to Diploma level in Firearms Safety, Outdoor Safety, Instruction and Leadership. As well as being active in Land Search and Rescue, Rural Fire, Urban Search and Rescue and Maritime New Zealand Pollution Response.

I enjoy the Outdoors and teaching safety training. There is certainly a need for good practical training in most outdoor disciplines. I was originally taught this from the old fellas who would serve up an apprenticeship of sorts by teaching ethics and the skills to stay safe for a good outdoor experience. Society has changed to the point that the folk who taught me are now few and far between. My personal opinion is that for me to not carry on this tradition would be an insult to those who taught me, and a disservice to those who will follow. Sustainability, ethical hunting, and survival techniques are important reservoirs of knowledge that should be passed down.

Mike holds the following firearms qualifications:

Whitireia Polytechnic – Certficate in Outdoor Leadership (Firearms Instructor)
New Zealand Open Polytechnic – Certificate of Achievement Firearms Legislation and Safety
NZ Society of Gunsmiths Inc – Firearms Safety Instructor
NZ Society of Gunsmiths Inc – Ammunition Advisor (Level 5)
Firearms Instructor Warrant – New Zealand Police

Mike Spray

Mike Spray is recognised by many as a leading authority for firearms and hunter safety. Mike previously worked for the New Zealand Mountain Safety Council as Programme Manager for Firearms and Hunter Safety. He was responsible for 500 firearms instructors who delivered training and testing to around 10,000 new licence applicants per year. Mike is a qualified outdoor instructor and assessor and holds tertiary qualifications for firearms and hunter safety, range officer, bushcraft, rock-climbing and emergency management. He has published numerous articles on outdoor safety and has developed educational material for hunters and other firearms users.

Mike participated in the development nationally recognised qualifications for firearms and hunter training instructors in New Zealand and over the years has assisted governments in Australia and the South Pacific with the development and implementation of their own firearms safety programs.

Mike has collected and analysed data on non-intentional firearms incidents in New Zealand and his knowledge and expertise in this area has been frequently used by the media, and by Criminal and Coroners Courts. Mike recently returned from three years working in Australia as Operations Manager for the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (SSAA). Here, he was responsible for the design and compliance requirements for SSAA (Vic) shooting ranges and the development of training programs for Range Officers and Game Management Operators. Mike is a passionate hunter himself and more likely to be seen with a camera these days rather than a rifle.

Mike holds the following qualifications:

Whitireia Community Polytechnic – Diploma in Outdoor Leadership (Firearms)
Whitireia Community Polytechnic – Diploma in Outdoor Leadership (HUNTS)
Open Polytechnic of New Zealand – Certificate Firearms Safety and Legislation
New Zealand Gunsmiths Society – Ammunition Advisor
New Zealand Gunsmiths Society – Firearms Safety Instructor
Firearms Safety and Training Council NSW, Australia – Firearms Training Officer
New Zealand Police – Range Inspecting Officer
NZQA – National Certificate in Outdoor Leadership (level 5 Bush)
Whitireia Community Polytechnic – Diploma in Outdoor Leadership (Bush)
Whitireia Community Polytechnic – Diploma in Outdoor Leadership (Abseil)
Auckland University of Technology – National Certificate in Emergency Management
Auckland University of Technology – National Certificate in Pre-hospital Emergency Care
Tocal College NSW – Certificate IV Training and Assessment
NZQA – Unit Standard 16078 Describe application of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Treaty of Waitangi in tea o turtoa

Bryce Meredith

Bryce has recently retired from the RNZAF and is based North of Auckland. He has 32 years’ military experience including operational tours to Bosnia, Bougainville, East Timor and the Middle East.

Bryce is a keen hunter and a firearms safety instructor. Bryce held the position of convenor and chairman of the Firearms & Hunter Safety Technical Advisory Committee for the MSC firearms and hunter safety programme for four years.

Bryce’s qualifications include:
NZ Society of Gunsmiths Inc – Firearms Safety Instructor
Whitireia Community Polytechnic – Certificate in Outdoor Leadership (Firearms Instructor)
He was until recently an MSC Firearms Safety Instructor, Firearms Safety Assessor (of other instructors) and greater Auckland Region firearms coordinator.
Bryce was also a moderator and assessor for the MSC outdoor leader courses and as such held his Bush qualifications with MSC.

Bryce has great interpersonal skills and the ability to relate to people from all walks of life. He is knowledgeable and experienced in all things firearms. Bryce can effectively communicate with both young and older age groups.

It is a privilege to have Bryce on our FSS NZ Team.

Bryce holds the following firearms qualifications

Whitireia Polytechnic – Certficate in Outdoor Leadership (Firearms Instructor)
NZ Society of Gunsmiths Inc – Firearms Safety Instructor

Joe Green

Joe is currently the lay pastoral leader for the Catholic parish of Wellington South. He retired from police in December 2015 having completed just over 32 years service. The last three of those were coordinating emergency management. From 1998 to 2014 he managed arms control nationally, representing new Zealand at two UN conferences, one in Fiji, the other in New York. In 2006 he co facilitated an international firearms safety seminar. He is also one of a group of subject matter experts advising the UN on the development of international standards for arms control. Joe is married to Anne. They have three children and nine grandchildren.

Joe has a special interest in Whakatūpato.