Our local paper doing an article on action shooting

[Shooter115]

Prior to our last match I was contacted by a reporter and she asked if she could come out and take some pictures and interview some folks for a possible story in the paper. I said sure and she came out for the entire day. She thought it was pretty cool and is now doing a story on it. She's had a barrage of questions for me, but I thought I would put this one out there for the masses. What do you cats think?

" If you had to describe action pistol shooting in one sentence, how would you explain it?"

And yes if you come up with something really clever I might plagiarize you

[calvary45]

Formula one (open) or rally car racing with a pistol.

[GrumpyOne]

The most fun you can have with your clothes on.

[MarkCO]

My answer: Action pistol shooting can't be explained in a sentence as there are too many facets to the thrill; it must be experienced to comprehend it.

Then I would tell her that the many facets of power, precision, speed, preparation, challenge, competition, adrenaline, comraderie, and reward all get mixed in together with a recipee that is never the same.

Edited August 23, 2012 by MarkCO

[BritinUSA]

as much fun as sex, but safer

[Chris iliff]

I would highlight the many professionals that attend matches. Around here in Indiana, we have teachers, lawyers, CEOs, small business owners, IT techs, computer wizards, just to name a few. I'd introduce any media to as many of the diverse good folks as I could.

You won't have to come up with a "sentence". Everyone will do it for you!!!

[Pat Miles]

" If you had to describe action pistol shooting in one sentence, how would you explain it?"

I thought about that same question a couple of years back. My answer... "We RUN with loaded guns!"

This will freak out the wrong kind of people and make the right kind of people curious to the point where they might come watch a match and maybe take the sport up.

Pat

[Shooter115]

My answer: Action pistol shooting can't be explained in a sentence as there are too many facets to the thrill; it must be experienced to comprehend it.

Then I would tell her that the many facets of power, precision, speed, preparation, challenge, competition, adrenaline, comraderie, and reward all get mixed in together with a recipee that is never the same.

Nice. I like it Mark. I might use some of that in my response.

[Steve Anderson]

I tell people that it's like timed miniature golf with guns.

Or an obstacle course with targets.

It's very difficult to describe.

[sfchorn]

"It's what the action heroes in the movies WISH they could do with a gun."

[dsb45acp]

Just a great time with some great people. To the point and honest.

[outerlimits]

It's easy-try describing multigun!

[Hi-Power Jack]

a reporter asked if she could take pictures and interview some folks for a possible story in the paper.

Shooter, don't mean to be a pessimist, but it is "possible" that

her article may NOT be positive.

I'm with you in remaining positive and hoping for The Best, but

it doesn't take much to completely reverse the context of things,

with wild action photos and misquotes, to make a very dynamic,

entertaining, negative story.

Less chance, I suppose, in Minnesota, but I worry more about that on the Coasts.

Hope it goes well, and you get your photo in the paper, with some

excellent quotes - hope it helps grow the sport.

I'd be interested in hearing back from you after the story runs.

Edited August 24, 2012 by Hi-Power Jack

[Miranda]

All the joy of any competitive sport,

the equipment is the only real difference.

[Shooter115]

Here was my response to her question. Obviously I didn’t write just a sentence, couldn’t be done. I did steal a good chunk of Mark’s response…. Thanks. Don’t be too hard on me for the writing and grammar. English was never my best subject.

@Jack. I’m not at all concerned with this being a sneaky way to write an anti-gun article. This is for our small hometown newspaper. Morris, MN is a rural community located in west-central MN, Population 5000 and 99% of that population are gun owners. We have over 200 members at our local shooting range at which I’m the club secretary. Gal writing the article would get run out of town.

• If you had to describe action pistol shooting in one sentence, how would you explain it?

This is a tough question. Action shooting can't really be explained in a single sentence as there are just too many facets to the thrill, it really has to be experienced to comprehend it. When you combine the power, speed, precision, preparation, challenge, competition, adrenaline, camaraderie and reward you get a recipe that's never the same. Some might say it's like golf combined with sprint car racing. Like golf, you’re propelling an aimed projectile around obstacles towards a specific target as efficiently as possible. Except in our sport you do it as fast as you can, while trying not to spin out and hit the wall (metaphorically speaking of course).

There's a few other things that separate our sport from others. I mentioned camaraderie earlier. In no other sport that I can think of is your competition so eager to help you out. If you need advice or have trouble with your equipment at a match just about everyone is there to lend a hand. This holds true even at the major matches with thousands of dollars in prize money on the line. It's about the friendliest group of people you'll ever come across. Also the diversity of the competitors is so vast it's astounding. You'll meet everyone from cooks and mechanics to judges and aerospace engineers and yet we're like a big extended family, everyone is equal.

Another thing worth mentioning is that in our sport, anyone that wishes to do so can go to a major match, pay your entry fees and compete against the best in the world. Last spring I went to a match in Missouri and was competing against the same professional shooters you've probably seen on some of the numerous TV programs. Yes, I did get whooped pretty bad, but in what other sport can you do this..... Golf, Tennis, NASCAR..... I don't think so.

And then safety. As you saw at our match we operate under pretty strict safety protocols. In what other sport can you go out and get the same adrenaline rush as skydiving with almost zero chance of injury. Action shooting has an astounding safety record. In fact I don't think I've ever even heard of a serious injury ever occurring at a match.

All I can say is try it once and you’ll be hooked. It’s more addictive than anything you could ever pull out of a pill bottle.

[Flatland Shooter]

If possible, please post the article or a link.

I like to see positive press.

Thanks.

Bill

[Shooter115]

Okay there's a few typos, I have no idea what a "cold holster" range is and I doubt any of our RO's used the term "Give 'em hell" (suppose it was just put in to add some color to the story) But overall it's pretty good for something coming from a reporter who's never shot a gun before (Yes I tried). No mention of how our IPSC's look like human torso's even

This is the text of the article that's going to be on the front page of the Morris Sun Tribune tomorrow.

A man stands behind a tall, white barricade the size of a door with two orange Xs painted at chest height. A loaded pistol is holstered to his side.

A timer standing behind him issues instructions: “Hands on the Xs. When you hear the buzzer, give 'em hell.”

Second pass. The buzzer chimes and the man draws his pistol, taking aim at cardboard targets in front of him.

Moments like this one were common at the Morris Rifle Club last Sunday, when a group of target shooting enthusiasts gathered for an action pistol match.

The Morris Rifle Club has been organizing local action pistol matches since May. Organizer Chris Sell, secretary of the club, said he got the idea to start hosting matches locally after seeing how many shooters from the Morris area were traveling to the Twin Cities for competitions.

“The way the sport is blowing up, the matches down there were getting so crowded I thought this could be successful in Morris,” said Sell.

In an action pistol match, shooters complete timed stages and are scored based on how quickly and accurately they complete the stage. Shooters are penalized for “failing to neutralize” targets and hitting “no shoot” areas, adding time to their final score.

Sell describes action shooting as golf combined with spring car racing: “Like golf, your propelling an aimed projectile around obstacles towards a specific target as efficiently as possible. Except in our sport you do it as fast as you can, while trying not to spin out and hit the wall – metaphorically speaking, of course.”

Unlike stationary shooting, action pistol stages mimic more active shooting scenarios. Sell said he has seen more law enforcement officers participating in these types of competitions because it offers better training for some situations.

One of the participants Sunday, Luke Butterfass, is a member of the National Guard. Sunday was Buggerfass' first competition because “it's the first time I had a pistol worth shooting,” he said.

After gathering about $3,000 to pay for supplies to begin building stages, the Morris Rifle Club hosted their first competition in May, attracting 17 shooters. Two competitions since have each brought in more than 25 people.

About half of the participants come from the Morris area, but the events have attracted shooters from Alexandria, Willmar, Fergus Falls, Sauk Centre, Osakis and Marshall said Sell.

Mike Bates, owner of Mike's Guns and Sporting Goods in Osakis, participated in pistol competitions in the 1990s, but gave up the sport until he began coming to the Morris matches this year.

And participants aren't just men.

“At our last match a friend of mine brought his wife out for the first time,” said Sell. “She had little to no experience and was so nervous before the match she was trembling, but turned out to be a rock star. Our mid-thirties, mother of two was the top female of the day and bested many of the boys her first time out.”

Sell also praised the camaraderie he sees at these events – “If you have trouble with your equipment at a match just about everyone is there to lend a hand. This holds true even at the major matches with thousands of dollars in prize money on the line.”

There were fewer shooters at last Sunday's event, but Sell hopes to attract more at the next competition in September. Sell estimates that he needs to attract about 20 participants each match to make the effort sustainable and to begin purchasing more advance targets to use when building stages.

Sell uses a 3D modeling program to design each stage, which makes it easier to test sight lines and allows volunteers to help set up the stages before each match. Most of the stages are a combination of cardboard targets, plastic barrels, and homemade walls that shooters move though, taking out targets.

Although good aim and speed are important, each stage involves strategic thinking about how what order to approach the targets in to maximize your time. Reloading, for example, takes extra time. If a shooter can reload while moving between targets, they can save time on the stage.

Safety is also paramount for organizers. The Morris Rifle Club operates a “cold holster” competition – until a shooter is lined up for a stage, pistols must remain unloaded and at the shooter's side. At the end of each stage, shooters must empty their weapons and leave them untouched until they compete again.

“We operate under pretty strict safety protocols,” said Sell. “In what other sport can you go out and get the same adrenaline rush as skydiving with almost zero chance of injury? Action shooting has an astounding safety record. In fact I don't think I've ever even heard of a serious injury ever occurring at a match.”

If the matches take off, Sell hopes to eventually modify the Morris Rifle Club area to include bays, which would allow them to run four stages at the same time, rather than the two they can run now. Fully enclosed competition bays would also allow for more creative course designs.

There are two more matches scheduled for this season, Sept. 1 and Oct. 21. All matches are scheduled on Sunday afternoons starting at 1:00 p.m. More information is available online at www.morrisrifleclub.webs.com or by contacting Sell at (320) 287-0210.

[Shooter115]

Update:

For a young female reporter with no former knowledge of our sport and no experience with guns, I think she did pretty good. When she first got there she was a little hung up on our "people" targets, but I explained to her that they just offer different scoring posibilities and she kind of backed off the subject. Thankfully nothing went to print about how we were "shooting people". And No!, none of our RO's ever used the term "Give em' Hell. I'm going to stay in touch with her and try to do a "one on one"practical shooting introduction, just to see what happens. Let her shoot a few poppers and see if we can't a grin going!

Anyways here's a link to the on-line version of the story. Our paper keeps track of the "Most read" stories, so every time you check it out your keeping us at the top of the list. Now our local newspaper does require everyone to log on view an article, but it's totally painless and you won't get any spam from it. So PLEASE!!!! log in and see if we can't make this the most popular article to ever hit the Morris Sun Tribune

Go Here!!!

[carter300]

Looks like the article turned out good.

[Hi-Power Jack]

WOW !!!

Glad I was incorrect:)

That is a GREAT article.

Wish we could run that in the New York Times

Yes, you should stay in touch with her - and hope she

gets promoted to editor, or to a larger publication

[Shooter115]

Actually she is the editor!!! I'm really tried to highlight all the positives involved with our sport and I think she did a pretty good job of putting it into print. I'm getting lots of positive comments here locally anyways . Hopefully we'll see some new faces at our next match as a result!!