BDH

As always, thx for all the feedback. 'Maybe' these are more common in the US than I realized!

Demetrio, Patience young man, patience! Uncle Vince is a busy guy and depending what is on his plate, he may just be delayed in responding. Anyway, we are happy to have you here, and I am sure you will be welcomed in the Global Villiage as well.

Chuck, check out the italics in rule 8.5.1... 'Except when the competitor is actually aiming or shooting at targets'. Yes, it gets a little sticky on the movement definition, but I would view this as he 'is' changing positions if he is shooting all the way left, and then has to swing all the way to the right to engage the next target. Like I said, earlier, always tough being a Monday morning QB, but from the description I'm sure I would have called this one as well. Then again, that is why we have the Arb option...

Well, there is something in the rulebook, see section 7.2. Also, here is the RO disciplinary policy in case you need it in the future. Sorry you had a bad experience...

Micah, TRUST ME!! All my shots, etc., are very current.... even the really strange ones, and yes, I did follow my Doctor's orders and finished all my malaria medicine (although, I did meet a local Doc and he said that while there are things to be cautious of, malaria really wasn't one of them, so I wonder if the CDC goes a little overboard on recommendations. Then again, better safe than sorry)! All that said, I would go back to South America in a heartbeat...

Chuck, as I stated earlier, it's always tough to be a Monday morning quarterback (especially since I did not see the incident or the stage), but from how you explained it, I would have DQ'd the competitor under the following rule... 10.5.10 Failure to keep the finger outside the trigger guard during movement in accordance with Section 8.5. 8.5 Movement 8.5.1 Except when the competitor is actually aiming or shooting at targets, all movement must be accomplished with the fingers visibly out the trigger guard (my emphasis) and the safety should be engaged. The firearm must be pointed in a safe direction. "Movement" is defined as any of the action below: 8.5.1.1 Taking more than one step in any direction 8.5.1.2 Changing shooting stance (e.g. from standing to kneeling, from seated to standing etc.). From your description, the competitor was not aiming or shooting at targets, and even if I did not have a clear view of his finger, if the gun goes off, either his finger was inside the trigger guard, OR his gun broke (which he will need to prove). I would call this one every time, and if the ARB committee overruled it, so be it... Again, tough call without being able to see the actual stage/hallway etc., BUT, if you truly believe that you had an RO that "was just waiting to DQ someone" you need to report that through the appropriate channels. Maybe the individual involved needs further training, or should not be an RO. In any case, USPSA/NROI has policies to deal with situations like this...

Micah, thx! I have been around just not posting much. My travel has significantly slowed down so you will probably see me around here and the local ranges more often. Good luck at MRPC tomorrow. I had 'planned' on shooting but manage to step into the weeds behind our prop barn during setup today, and drove a nice, long, rusty spike about half way through my foot. Not sure if I will be able to get a shoe on or walk very well tomorrow, but I am going to try to get out there... As for the unloaded start, maybe I will sneak one in to our club match before year end...

The USA currently does not have a trigger pull minimum in any division. The vote was for adding a 3 pound minimum to the USA production division. The vote failed so there is no change. Demetrio, just to clarify, this was a proposed change to USPSA rules, and has nothing to do with the IPSC rules you compete under in Brazil. If you check out Appendix D4 in your IPSC rulebook you will see that Production guns have a minimum trigger pull of 2.27 kg for the first shot with the testing procedure defined in Appendix F2. Hope this helps...

I agree with the posted comments that you can't DQ him since you were not able to see and be 100% sure. Then again, often tough to be the Sunday morning quarterback on some of these things, but assume he finished the reload, got a little quick on the trigger but the bullet actually scored on the target? I've seen stuff like this a lot of times and the usual telltale sign is when the competitor 'jumps' because he was not actually ready. Anyway, even though I knew he broke the shot early, it went in a safe direction and actually toward or hit the target. I certainly cannot call anything on it! I also agree with Nik's comments about stage design and positioning, but some times it is just tough (especially for someone as 'petite' as I am on a tight stage)... I just had a stage at the Ecuador Open where the competitor climbed a couple of steps, ran across a platform several yards long, and back down a couple of steps and into the rest of the stage. While the competitor was on the platform, he had to engage targets on both sides of the platform, which put everyone in a position of having to be extremely aware of the 180 (or actually, the 90 since this was under IPSC rules). Further, the way the targets were layed out, the competitor shot one side, swung all the way around, shot the other side, then back around to the other side, etc. all while moving down the platform. Hmmm, exactly how was I going to run this?? I decided right away that it would be a bad plan for me to follow them on the platform, so I had to work along one side of the platform, while the competitor shot from the platform. When making a call like a 180 violation, I like to be directly behind the competitor so I can see without a doubt that his muzzle swung past the 180. In this case, if I was in my preferred position while he was shooting let's say the left targets, I would have been almost directly in front of his muzzle when he swung around to shoot the right hand side targets. Obviously, I had to stay back farther than I would have liked to, but that was the only way to safely run this stage. Finally, what I ended up doing was standing on the platform myself, and putting marks along the side of the platform where I knew if the competitor shot target T1 beyond a certain mark, then he had to have broken the 180. Of course this was not perfect because of the different in left and right handed competitors, but sometimes you just have to do the best you can do.

As most know, I went down to Ecuador and worked the Latin American Cup and the Ecuador Open this month. I had a different stage in both matches, with one thing in common... both stages had unloaded starts (one was unloaded gun on a table, and one was unloaded gun in a box with the lid shut). Of all the Area and Nationals I have worked over the years, I don't think I remember a single unloaded start (then again, since I am normally working not shooting, I suppose there could have been some out there that I just did not know about). I'm just curious why we don't see this more in the US. Anyone got any thoughts around this??

A most undignified procedure, but well worth the trouble. Actually, I had one just a few months back and they did not notice anything abnormal other than a couple of small polyps which they removed. Seems strange that they would not have noticed the diverticulitis unless it just developed. Oh well, I've finished my antibiotics, the pain is almost gone, and I am shooting tomorrow (been way too long)...

As always, I appreciate everyone's feedback and tips, but gotta tell ya Mark... yours was probably it... one problem down South was that I probably did not drink enough. I was sweating as bad or worse than Barry in the Summer (or even down in Louisiana at Area 4), but water was a little bit of an issue. In the States I generally leave the hotel in the morning with a gallon thermos of ice water and have that plus water/Gaterade on the range whenever I want. I won't say that 'down South' we didn't get enough to drink because there was plenty on the range, but I opted not to fill my gallon thermos with tap water in the morning which probably left me short based on the amount of sweat I was pouring out (I did bring it and it was a perfect container to transport a bottle of Knob Creek for the MD though ). Even though I seemed to be drinking all day, there were no trips to the 'loo'... I think this is probably what caused this, but appreciate the tips because I am not going to let it bite me again!!!

I decided that I owe many of you an update from my trip to Ecuador, and thanks for the help that you provided in not only encouraging me to venture out, but also for the little tips you gave me! This community never ceases to amaze me!! Since I am not sure that the experience fits well inside this thread, I will start a new one soon. Thanks all!!!

I came back from the Latin American Cup in Ecuador which a host of new friends, and a new appreciation for the World. Unfortunately, the day after I returned, I woke up with one h*ll of a pain in my lower left abdomen. I headed out to work, but finally could not take it and called the Doctor (actually, Deb made me, but it was a good call). I got in to see him late in the day, and by the time he did the abdominal exam, I just about left the planet when he pressed on me. I was SURE this was related to Ecuador but he said 'absolutely not'. Anyway, we started the course of mega-antibiotics and I am slowly recovering (of all things, another person at work had this while I was out of the Country... unfortunately, his infection burst, and he ended up in the hospital with peritonitus (sp?) Well, I've done a lot of web research (WebMD, etc), and spoke with a couple of Doctors, but I am finding that this is a relatively common problem, so I'm wondering if anyone out here has any personal experience (or family experience) that isn't too shy to share. Any thoughts/comments appreciated!!

Demetrio, Don't leave yet! Someone may surprise you and show up here! Even though the 'bulk' of the contributors are from North America, many International shooters monitor and chime in occasstionally. I just got back from the Latin American Cup in Ecuador, so if you shot it, you definately met me, and already know someone here!! If you know my new friend Jose Maria F. from Brazil, tell him I said hello!

Well, I was hoping the Kobold name would show up here!! Great products, unique watches, and good customer service. Also, I did not know the 24 background (now I'll have to go back and watch for it). You've got more than a wonderful wife if she bought you one for your wedding present!! Heck, I had to wait until I turned 50 before Deb took care of me!!!

Deb and I head out at 7:05 AM tomorrow and are spending some time up in Glacier National Park and Waterton Provincial Park. Kind of bummed out that it looks like the Going to the Sun Highway will still be closed though... See ya all on the range!! Safe travels...

As always, you guys are awesome!! Thanks for the help!!

I'm headed down South (like really far South) to work a match, and a little concerned about the heat. I normally wear Pro-Ears on the range, and while they do a great job, I think that they will be too hot, and also, they aren't going to fit over the top of the big sun hat I bought. Anyway, I've seen more and more competitors coming through with those behind the head ear plugs. Two questions... first, how well do they work, and second, where can I pick up a pair? I've tried what I thought were the logical online sources with no luck...

+1

+1 Some competitors think I have a hard time seeing through the clear ones, let alone the opaque (or translucent, Troy) ones!!!

I mean, you have to go clean out your underwear, too, ya know??? Well, the only time I got to that point was when a competitor had his hot firearm pointed directly at the center of my chest when he was moving right to left and doing a reload (right handed competitor). I was WAY behind the 180 line, and many in the RO corps still raz me about my call... WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, STOP, STOP, STOP!!! Not quite sure where that range command is in the rulebook, but it worked for both of us!!!

Many of you know that I am working a couple of International matches this year (European Handgun Championships in France, and the STI Latin American Cup/Ecuador Open in Ecuador), and I gotta tell you, this is just an amazing community of people!!! I have already had people reach out from overseas/South America, and offer to pick Deb and I up at the airport... stay in their homes... drive us the 630 miles from London to the EHC... show us the sights... just an unbelievable show of support from people that we have never even met!! This is truly a unique community that reaches around the World, and I am d*mn proud to be a part of it!! You're the best!!!

Not exactly. If you have your finger inside the trigger guard while moving, reloading, clearing a jam, etc., it's a DQ, not a warning. The warning should be issued if you can't really see where the competitor's finger is during these activities, or it's very close. It's not a warning if it's there, it's a disqualification. We don't warn once, then DQ. Troy First, I agree with the comments that this could have been handled a little better. Then again, I was not there, I did not see it, and I have been in enough situations to know that sometime 'sh*t happens' and you may not catch it for whatever reason. A great example was at one of the Multigun Nationals. I happened to be following my two RO's downrange as the competitor shot the COF (shotgun slug stage). The competitor went through a door followed by the the two RO's, threw in a reload (keep in mind the muzzle of his shotgun was probably pointed 60 - 70 degrees into the air), completed the reload, and as he was bringing the gun down to start engaging the next target array, I heard a BOOM, and saw the gun recoil (the muzzle was probably still 45 degrees in the air). I paused for a second expecting one of the two RO's to call STOP, and got nothing. The competitor continued, so I screamed 'STOP' at the top of my lungs (supposedly they heard it four bays down the range ). We cleaned up the situation, and DQ'd the competitor under 10.4.6. After things settled down, I asked my RO's why they did not call it? The bottom line was they were both so caught off guard, that they basically froze. I was in the worst position to make the call because the competitor had his back to all of us, and I had two RO's in my way since all of us had just come through a door, but since I was 110% confident of what happened, I made the call. None of us like to send someone to the showers at either a club, or big match, but safety first! Second, as for 'comments from the peanut gallery'... I had kind of an ugly situation in Tulsa last year. A competitor was having a tough time dropping a piece of steel, and his squadmates were pretty vocal about it. I wasn't on the timer, but the competitor stopped himself, lowers his gun from on target, turns to the RO on the timer and says 'the steel won't fall' to which the RO said nothing and just looked at the timer (which was his only option other than issuing 'If you are finished... '). After several seconds, he got the idea and shot the steel down. This created a couple of problems... one, the competitor stated that he thought one of the RO's yelled STOP, and that was not the case. There was a lot of crowd noise, and he must have heard something from his squad about stopping. Second, he had now shot down the popper so his run stood as shot since he could not call for calibration. Tough situation, which I don't think his squadmates helped him on... Second, just to clarify Troy's comment above, take a look at 10.5.8, 10.5.9, and 10.5.10...

Since the word is out, I probably should give everyone fair warning... Her nickname is 'Slappy'...