Rob Boudrie

Just take the little rubber piece to an auto parts shop and tell them it's a sample of the size brake hose you want to buy. I wore out the vertical bar that actuates the primer slide. It looked fine, but took a bend (in the counter-intuitive axis - the direction in which you would think bending would be impossible). I had a hard time getting the slide to move all the way into place. When I compared this to the replacement, the bend was obvious - and the press worked much more reliably with the new one. It took over decade for this to happen.

Fixed. I should not have tried an auto classification update after fixing the two bad member numbers. Fortunately, I had the exact copy from the match and posted with those two member numbers (and the misspelled name) correctly taken care of.

Spudzooka!!!

I will check this tonight. If you class is not "X" on www.uspsa.org, it should not have been "X" in the results. Rob

X - Expired; kicks in after membership is inactive for an amount of time.

The decision was made exclusively by the Match Director Ted Firnstein and Rangemaster John Amidon. I can say with absolute certainty that no "what if" scenarios were run regarding the results prior to display, as I had the scoring laptop in my possession continuously from the time the results were first calculated to the time I was told to pull the stage from the results. My personal thought (not as a match official, as my capacity at this event was stats only) is that the stage was fundamentally unfair to those who shot it early who understood the obvious intent of the course designer before competitors knew ROs would not call anyone on using the "trick" and therefore shot the stage as intended. Once the match was well underway, almost everyone was shooting it around the wall.

I was thinking of the handgun, not the rifles, when making that comment. All the competitors loaded the handgun via the magazine. There is no need to have a mag in the handgun for such a technique to work.

It was obviously less than fully concealed or it would not have been noticed . The CT permit is indeed distinctive, and my guess is many CT permit holders who saw that 10%-20% would recognize it. What I find amazing is the number of people who put their LTC in the window portion of their wallet (not your situation) - like they want to look at it ever time they have their wallet out. I keep mine in a completely different section of my wallet from my license and credit cards. Consider this a real world example of the benefit of perfecting the art of not beeing seen (Monty Python reference) This encounter was not anything you did wrong, but incomplete training of the officer in question.

Yes, I know that dropping a round directly into the chamber and letting the extractor snap over it is bad form and not good for the extractor. I also know that it will generally work . That being said, if I had $100K on the line and needed to get one shot off quickly, I would consider doing so and pulling the slide all the way back to release it (and get the extra bit of spring tension to snap over the extractor). I wonder if all of the competitors chose not to employ this technique, or if they were told not to engage in such gamesmanship.

The relevant information WAS provided. (1) A match confirmation letter stating the match was NRA recognized (and I had NRA paperwork on file if anyone wanted a copy). This is the exact letter the law states should be carried by the competitor. (2) A copy of NY penal code 265.20(a)(13)was provided. Suggestion: Never ask an officer to look at your copy of the law; ask them to look this section up in the book they carry in their car. (3) When I first ran a match in NY, I phoned the NYSP Pistol Licensing Division, and they verbally confirmed the existence of the exemption to me. I already knew of the exemption before I phoned, however, I wanted to make sure they had heard about it - and the indication I received from that conversation was that they had. When the next big NY match comes around, I may send them a letter asking the same question. (4) I have personally been the passenger in a car stopped on the way to a NY match twice (once by the NYSP near Cortland; once by the Fulton NY PD). In each case the driver said "pistol match" when asked where he was headed, and neither case resulted in any adverse action. In both cases, the officers acted as if they understood the exemption. I know two is not an exhaustive sample; that's just my experience. (5) Although the match provided some information, it was made clear that the match staff is not in the position to provide legal advice, and copies of state information we provide should not be construed as such. If I run it by a lawyer or two, I will be told the same thing - NO attorney can make any sort of warranty or representation that police officers will be properly trained in the law, but the attorney will be glad to explain the law. I do not intend this disrespectfully or to lay blame on the original poster, however, I have an observation here. I teach the MA handgun licensing course as well as the basic USPSA course (which is also a MA certified licensing course). One of the things I *ALWAYS* mention when presenting the overview of MA and Federal law is that one'e carry permit should NEVER be placed in the wallet such that anyone can see it unless you are making a deliberate choice to show it to them. It announces "gun" to persons near you when paying for anything at a store; presents the "gun" issue when interacting with police officers; etc. I cannot help but wonder if this incident would have been anything but a routine citation if the driver did not choose to broadcast "gun" by keeping his home state carry permit in a high visibility location. I call it the "getting lost in a crowd of one" approach. This is a legally ignorant statement. Under the federal, and most state definitions, the frame alone is legally a "gun". A stripped frame is not legally a gun under Massachusetts law when not possessed with other parts (yes, really), but even that is most likely not the case when possessed with other parts, and that particular MA definition of "firearm" is the exception to the more common definition.

Relevant points: The majority of large clubs in A7, and ALL clubs bidding on the 2010 A7 are in '10 round states' (NY and MA) The match is NRA sanctioned so it is covered by the exemption for competitors (and I have the paperwork to prove it) A copy of the relevant exemption is sent out with each confirmation latter The confirmation letter mentions the 10 round limit The match staff does not include any NY licensed attorneys, and as such, we do not offer legal advice of any form. Unlike CA, it is legal to bring in pre-ban mags, buy them, or sell them (in CA, the mags must have been personally possessed in CA before the Caliban)

If the DNS server is denying access,just set it to the Open DNS servers (208.67.222.222 / 208.67.220.220) servers or the Google servers(8.8.8.8/8.8.4.4). Generally, the connection is configured to accept the DNS server provided by the DHCP server when the address lease is issued, however, you can configure it so that you are using the dynamically assigned address but DNS servers of your own choosing. This may not work with OpenDNS if the hotel is using the services of OpenDNS for filtering (a product they offer), in which case you should try the Google DNS servers. There are more effective ways than DNS based filtering but, if that is what the hotel is using, you are in luck. http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/using.html

I believe that the serial number has to contain at least one digit (current BATFE reglation), and I don't know if a dash is allowed.

This is why I always refuse my bank's offer of a debit card on my checking account. I have no confidence whatsoever that the bank would reimburse me for all the third-party charges (bounced checks fees, late fees from credit card companies that got bad check) that I would incur if a fradulent charge set off a cascade of NSF checks, not do I have any confidence I would not have to spend a boatload of time working to get my record cleared at places like ChexSystems.

Requested info for the first hour of the waitlist: mysql> select count(*),minute(updated) as min from nationals_waitlist where hour(updated)=22 and day(updated)=27 group by min; +----------+------+ | count(*) | min | +----------+------+ | 7 | 0 | | 34 | 1 | | 13 | 2 | | 11 | 3 | | 12 | 4 | | 13 | 5 | | 5 | 6 | | 5 | 7 | | 5 | 8 | | 4 | 10 | | 3 | 11 | | 1 | 12 | | 1 | 13 | | 2 | 14 | | 1 | 15 | | 2 | 16 | | 1 | 17 | | 1 | 18 | | 2 | 19 | | 1 | 20 | | 1 | 21 | | 1 | 22 | | 1 | 23 | | 1 | 24 | | 1 | 27 | | 1 | 28 | | 2 | 29 | | 1 | 32 | | 1 | 33 | | 1 | 36 | | 1 | 45 | | 4 | 52 | | 2 | 57 | | 1 | 59 | +----------+------+ 34 rows in set (0.00 sec) mysql> And by hour: > select count(*),day(updated) as day,hour(updated) as hr from nationals_waitlist group by hr order by day,hr; +----------+------+------+ | count(*) | day | hr | +----------+------+------+ | 142 | 27 | 22 | | 12 | 27 | 23 | | 24 | 28 | 0 | | 13 | 28 | 1 | | 1 | 28 | 2 | | 9 | 28 | 3 | | 2 | 28 | 4 | | 2 | 28 | 5 | | 3 | 28 | 6 | | 10 | 28 | 7 | | 14 | 28 | 8 | | 13 | 28 | 9 | | 10 | 28 | 10 | | 6 | 28 | 11 | | 15 | 28 | 12 | | 9 | 28 | 13 | | 4 | 28 | 14 | | 5 | 28 | 15 | | 7 | 28 | 16 | | 6 | 28 | 17 | | 10 | 28 | 18 | | 7 | 28 | 19 | | 17 | 28 | 20 | | 10 | 28 | 21 | +----------+------+------+ 24 rows in set (0.01 sec) mysql>

Payment was intentionally disabled for the first hour of the list to avoid the extra load of the credit card service making the callback to the USPSA server. Rest assured - your place on the list was locked in before you paid.

We already thought of that . The waitlist may be accessed via a "top and center" link on www.uspsa.org that does not require any password. I'll look into his after things calm down, but I am not going to touch working code at this critical time. Your classification record will display where you stand on the list.

Huge sigh of relief here in my basement - the waitlist turned on at exactly 10:00 (I synced the clock with the NIST time servers a few minutes before go-live time), and the table in the database is starting to fill up. My congratulations to member numbers A55939 (Steve S) who is #1 on the Open/Ltd 10 list, and TY54900 (Sarah I) who is #1 on the Limited/Production/Revolver list.

22 people signed up on the waitlist while it was in "development mode". My goof for exposing this to the world. The waitlist page contained the "Not open until 10PM on the 27th" notice at ALL TIMES this was up, so people can't say they weren't warned . I emailed all of these people who slipped in while this was visible. My understanding is that the fee is $270 if you have an earned slot, $295 for a waitlist slot ($25 when you reserve the slot and $270 when it is offered). I will be babysitting the server at 10PM tonight to make sure the waitlist turns on. If there are any problem (and I don't expect there will be), I will resolve any issue as quickly as possible. rob

No whining; no complaints about the gun not being one Mike shoots; no griping about the sight problem. The one thing all contestants on that show had under their absolute control was the amount of class they showed when they did not do well (it's easy to show class in victory). Mike handled himself with a level of honor and dignity that is far to uncommon in these "blame someone else" times.

Effective August 1, 2010 the USPSA Match Results and Classification Upload system will not accept data from any version of EzWinScore prior to 4.0. This is necessary to lay the framework for support of some new website functionality that USPSA has planned.

A bit of history. When the Classic was first introduced, I stated it was the first step towards elimination of the more realistically shaped target. A prominent member of the IPSC president' council said I was off base. I believe he was being honest with me, and that there was no specific conspiracy - but certain courses of events have a way of unfolding in a predictable manner. Since then: Behind the scenes pressure was brought to bear on a World Shoot host club that planned on using a mix (a region reportedly argued "we'll get in trouble back home if our own government finds out we shot those target while out of country") The targets were re-ordered in the rulebook so the metric target appeared second The metric target was left out of some region's rulebook printings IPSC made a decision to request removal of the best stage diagrams ever done (Cebu, 1999, Philippines - see them at http://www.uspsa.org/mr/members/match_index.php?year=1999&match=World_Shoot_XII_-_Cebu ) since one nation expressed concern their competitors would get in trouble if their home government saw an accurate depiction of the nature of the competition they were attending. The merits of this request can be debated, but the fact that it was made, and honored, is part of IPSC history The metric target was allowed, but the illustration not printed in the rulebook The metric target was removed as an authorized target I also predicted that the next step after removal of the Metric target would be to tone down stages, starting with "descenarioization", followed by removal of props that suggest the use of a defensive sidearm in an interpersonal encounter. This path, if we embark upon it, leads in only one direction.

I'll give you a couple examples of the amount of help the headless target provides: Australia - When Australia tightened up their handgun laws, there was a caliber limit of 9mm, with an exemption for guns used for competitive purposes. Guess what? The people in charge made it clear that IPSC would not be granted the authorization, and IPSC competitors must surrender their 40s and 45s. Ireland - Irish handgunners finally got their handguns back after they were "temporarily" taken into custody decades ago. IPSC Ireland started up and quickly had an active program of dedicated shooters. Ireland's justice minister has been working to have IPSC completely banned. In neither of these cases did the use of PC targets make the anti gunners play nice, or suddenly accept that it was acceptable for a person not employed in government service to own a handgun.

There is no avoiding it - what we are a taking about is a "PC" move, though I accept that your motives are not "PC" related. Just as calling a dog's tail a leg does not mean that the dog has five legs, asserting that the motivations behind an action are not PC does not change the PC nature of the action. What happens when someone decides that "scenarios" are interfering with the growth of the sport? Would we then take steps to make sure the stage layouts in our high profile matches did not include doors, windows, starting positions that resemble self defense scenarios (sitting reading a newspaper, etc.)? Steel Challenge meets all the PC requirements - skills testing exercises, no scenarios, etc. and can be offered where there is the need to be politically correct. Ever since the buyout by Disney, ESPN has had a strict policy that no sporting events involving the use of handguns may be covered.

I am absolutely opposed to this. The World Body has embarked on a path towards political correctness, and dismissed my claims that the so-called "Classic" target was a step towards elimination of the standard target back when it was first introduced. Over the following years, we saw the rulebook re-organized to put the Metric target second (to make it easier to remove from some regional rulebooks); backroom dealings to make sure the first world shoot authorized to use both targets utilize the Classic exclusively; removed from the rulebook but left a legit target; and finally removed as an allowed target. I'm not saying they planned this - chances are very good the persons telling me I was "wrong" in my prediction honestly believed it but, like gun control, one step leads to another which leads to yet another. There will always be some aspect to our sport that is the least "politically correct". This year, it may be the target. In another year, it could be stage descriptions or the layout of stages. Further down the road, we could actually see pressure to replace realistic stages with abstract skills testing exercises, or a move away from drawing from the holster or running with a loaded firearm. At some point, you need to draw a line and not cross it. I respectfully submit that we are now at that point. The gun banners aren't suddenly going to like us because we shoot at targets without heads, and they aren't stupid enough to not notice that drawing a gun from a holster has its roots in the defensive use of a sidearm. Also, unlike some other nations, our ability to practice our sport is based on legislation, not the whim of what one particular public official may feel like permitting. If this particular issue is important to you, please be sure to ask those running for Area Director or USPSA President to clearly state their position on this matter before sending in your ballot. This isn't like some other shooting orgs where the current board members are the only ones allowed to vote for the organization's leadership - it's in the hands of you, the members. Pay attention to the issues, listen to what everyone stands for, and don't just give the incumbant or more familiar name on the ballot your vote unless she/he has earned it.