Gary Johnson

Stop, ULSC, hand the shooter a gift card to Dairy Queen and call the RM.

10.5.12 comes to mind. Back a few years I was competing in a shotgun match and set a closed box of shells on the safe table while I took the shotty out of the bag. The RM happened to be watching and told me that while it was technically not handling ammunition it wasn't a good idea.

Couldn't have said it better myself. The eternal frustration for me is that while record numbers of folks are going to NROI seminars and getting trained they are a drop in the bucket compared to the total number of folks who shoot our matches. I have nothing but respect for anyone willing to help run a match but too many at the club level just don't have the skills or aren't familiar with USPSA safety protocols. The fact that this happened means that the squad didn't have any trained range officers in it or any that were there didn't act quickly enough. Either way it points out the importance of trying to get everyone through a minimal level of training. We run with guns. That's not something you manage with common sense. USPSA collectively has millions of man-hours of experience and NROI does their best to boil that down to a weekend seminar and make it available to anyone who wants to help out. Folks who have no intention of going beyond their local clubs still need to know how to deal with situations like Danny brought up so when (not if) it happens again they will be ready to act before something dangerous happens.

Sorry, didn't mean t imply that you didn't know. Just mentioning it for the new folks.

There is a system for dealing with RO misconduct or incompetence. File an incident report with NROI. I can tell you from personal experience they are not ignored.

I'm pretty sure everyone agrees on that.

Nope, the RO screwed up big time and everyone who failed to yell stop loud and clear did too. None of that relieves the shooter of the responsibility for maintaining a safe muzzle direction.

There are thing for which we issue warnings or go behind the berm for a chat. Pointing a loaded gun downrange while people are working on targets isn't one of them.

Nothing wrong with pointing a loaded gun downrange during make ready. The problem is pointing a loaded gun downrange while someone is setting targets or repairing props. That's one of the rules daddy tells you about when he hands you that Daisy Red Rider.

Are you saying pointing a loaded gun downrange while people are setting targets or repairing props is OK?

10.5 says "Examples of unsafe gun handling include, but are not limited to:" so a competitor's actions don't have to precisely match any of the examples to be considered unsafe. Based on the information as presented I would say the competitor's actions fall into that category. He pointed a loaded gun down-range knowing there were people there. The fact that he didn't point the gun directly at anyone doesn't change that. If this was a new guy who was just trying to do what the RO told him then he learned a valuable lesson. I feel bad for him but that's not a reason to ignore basic safety protocols. As for the RO walking in front of the gun, needless to say he messed up big time. If the competitor was paying attention he should have been able to see what was coming and turn the gun to a safe direction. He would still be DQ'd for pointing the gun down-range but it would have prevented something that could have resulted in tragedy.

Have a look at 5.1.6

The current rules only limit how much of a target can be covered by no-shoots or hard cover.

2.1.8.4 refers to the angle from vertical. The rules don't place any limit on rotation. If the match organizers are building stages that are unreasonably difficult or present an unrealistic shooting challenge your main option is to take your business elsewhere.

Books used to be available in the online store but shipping was expensive. They are still issued to students at level 1 and 2 range officer seminars.

The OP is a little thin on details so forgive me if I guess wrong but this sounds like a club level match using embedded range officers who may or may not be certified / experienced. If that is the case then you should use this opportunity to educate them. In the case of a distracted RO disregarding something. If you are saying you feel he was paying attention to the wrong thing I would point that out to him. He may agree that your opinion of what should be watched is the better one and change his methods or he may explain to you why he was watching something else. Either way you can't really state anything conclusive until you've asked. In any case the first thing to do is discuss your concern with the individual in question. If that doesn't produce a satisfactory result report your concern to the RM if there is one or whomever is in charge of the match if there isn't. If you're still not satisfied then take it up with NROI. It can be as simple as sending a message to Troy or you can go the formal route and submit an official report.

South East Michigan Practical Shooters is kicking off match season with a USPSA101 class on 13 April and classifier match the following day. USPSA101 is a free class for folks thinking about trying their hand at competition shooting. We start at 10:00 with a presentation covering the basics then go to one of the bays for a live demonstration. I'm the point of contact for the USPSA101 class. For info about the facility go to livingstongunclub.org.

Facebook post from owner of American Spirit Arms on how BOA froze his account because they don't think he should be selling guns on the Internet. https://www.facebook...&id=67153142789 They did it to McMillan too http://dailycaller.c...nd-another-bank OK BOA patrons, time to 'find another bank'.

Stages available for viewing / download here and here.

The rules don't say you must but they impose penalties if you don't. As far as putting it in the briefing, 3.2.1 lists the items that must be included. Everything else is optional. You are buying trouble if you leave too much out which is why the typical briefing is half a page long but you don't have to include things that are covered in the rules. In the case of a new shooter, if the guys on his squad don't tell him what a fault line is, he'll find out the same way many of us did.

4.3.1.5 is the rule you're looking for. Here's the relevant chunk: "Scoring poppers which fail to fall when hit are subject to the provisions of Appendix C1, 6 & 7."

Sounds like a simple misunderstanding. Nothing to apologize for. My reply to Bosshoss wasn't meant to excuse RO misconduct but rather to acknowledge his observation and point out that what he saw probably had more to do with inexperience than 'club rule' mentality. The latter certainly exists but isn't as prevalent as some let on.

I'm not sure where we disagree. You cited the correct rules to support what I wrote but seem to think they don't. As to the comment regarding match size/level, it is a well established fact that some consider the match, or even the experience level of the competitor, when deciding whether to enforce a rule. I'm not advocating in favor of the practice but rather reporting observations made at matches ranging from club level to continental championship. Based on my observations, inconsistency in the application of rules is more often a matter of inexperience than a deliberate decision to ignore something. Are we going to go down this path of making up rules again? Gary can you cite the rule in support of your assertion? Seems like you know some ROs that need to get thee into an RO class. Call USPSA HQ, they can get you set up with one. The rules are: 9.5.7 A competitor who fails to shoot at the face of each scoring target in a course of fire with at least one round will incur one procedural penalty per target for failure to shoot at the target, as well as appropriate penalties for misses. 10.2.7 A competitor who fails to shoot at any scoring target with at least one round will incur one procedural penalty per target, plus the applicable number of misses, except where the provisions of Rules 9.2.4.4 or 9.9.2 apply. 9.2.4.4 is a fixed time exception and 9.9.2 is a disappearing target exception. There is NO "does not apply in level 1" nonsense applicable here. The revolver competitors should have been assessed penalties and misses, period! For the Texas Star, which targets did they shoot at? If you don't know, you can not assess penalties. Here again, two ROs should be there, one with the clock primarily watching the gun and safety and the second primarily watching for engagement, foot faults, etc.

FTE penalties should only happen when a competitor forgets a target or intentionally ignores one. A competitor who fires the minimum number of rounds and gives up is unlikely to get socked with anything beyond the misses. Match size/level can be a factor but from what I've seen it has more to do with the experience and confidence level of the RO.

I let the competitor decide what he wants to touch with.