rubberneck Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 I was told by the local IDPA match director that IDPA is all but done at my club. It is a real shame because it was the first IDPA club in the state and it's demise means that there will only be one left and while they have great matches their facilities are very small and the town is trying to close that club down to sell the land to developers. The current board ran on a platform that said the club should should be enjoyed for all members. Any reasonable person would logically interpret that to mean that the club sponsered events would be supported by the new board. What they really meant is that the rimfire bullseye mafia (which includes the entire board) want the club to themselves. Amongst their list of complaints was that we allowed non-members to use the facilities (ignoring the fact that the PPC league does the same, the junior air rifle league has non members as does their weekly old timers bullseye league), that our sport is "unsafe" and that the club doesn't get any tangible benefit from IDPA (besides money and new members that joined because of it). All of which are total BS and they know it. What they really want is an old boys club where they can sit around and drink. In a state where our rights are constantly under attack the board of my soon to be former club turned on fellow guns owners in a shameless and shelfish act. I guess all is not lost. I have been giving more and more thaught to switching to USPSA. I guess that decision has been made for me last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 Too bad...hope you enjoy USPSA...I too have been thru that kind of club politics...not plesant.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L9X25 Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 (edited) A few years ago we had a club do something similar. They were the "Old Fogies Rod and Gun Club" and they allowed Cowboy, and IPSC (there was no IDPA at the time) to come into their range and hold matches. When we arrived on the scene, the club was broke and the facilities were shabby. They used the large influx of money to payoff the land and building loans, renovate the facilities, and then told the IPSC and Cowboys to hit the trail. They were particularly classy in how they did it too ... we showed up on Sunday morning (match day) and the gate was locked. There was a small handwritten sign saying that we had been voted off the range by the board. The took us for our money and spit us out once they did not need us anymore. There were NO accidents or incidents but they did not like our style of shooting. Anything that used a holster and allowed you to walk with a gun on was unsafe in their view. Now they hold bullseye, service rifle, and plink all they want. You are not alone and, unfortunately, it WILL happen again. Edited February 23, 2006 by L9X25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMH Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 We've seen that too. A few of the less action oriented folks are even ashamed of the practical style shooters. They seem to think we give shooters a bad name because of what we do. Their whole emphasis is on the "humanoid" aspect. What they generally don't realize is that the anti-gunners want to take away bench-rest rifles and sporting clay guns as well as a "hot rod" combat pistol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 The Geezer Factor will get you every time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Murphy Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 (edited) I am sorry to hear that Rubberneck, they are a good crew over there. Best advice is to stay active in the club and vote them out next year. We had something like that happen a few years ago and our shooting was threatened. I slowly got people to join the club. During the meeting where they appointed Board Members, only 2 of us showed up. (this is most important, if too many come they will smell the blitz) We nominated our select few. During the election, we blitzed them with about 20+ shooters. The fogeys didn't expect it so they did not call out the old guard, and we got a voice in the board. Ted Edited February 23, 2006 by Ted Murphy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFD Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 Sorry to hear this happened. While our club is OK with the action pistol sports, the money tended to be directed towards the shotgunners who expected the 600 of us handgun/rifle shooters to support the 400 of them. In a sudden blitz, very similar to that described by Ted Murphy, we changed leadership and evened things out a bit. Of course this is the same club where I had to finally shut down the USPSA matches due to a lack of interest - and especially a lack of help. IDPA is doing great though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chills1994 Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 (edited) Yeah, I have seen this we vs. they mentality before. The latest club I joined doesn't even allow you draw from a holster. Now, granted, they are having housing encroachment problems, but, but.... The local cops can't even come out on their own to practice drawing from their duty gear. Only if it is a qualification/training day with a certified cop firearms instructor can they draw. At another club, which was nice enough to allow us to shoot an IDPA classifier there, they happened to have a hunter safety course going on at the same time. The instructor came out and "asked" us not to shoot against a side berm. Because of the cold weather and the wind we wanted to shoot in the side berm. Well, we appeased the old fart and shot into the backstop. And shivered and moaned about it, too! How much you wanna bet that old timer went back into his "classroom" of 60 + young'uns and bad mouthed our bunch of pistol shooters? Illinois pretty much wants you to hunt with just a shotgun. So all those young'uns could now be anti-pistol for a long time to come. Sorry to hear about your club's demise. In the long run, they will have shot themselves in the foot. Pun intended. Hey JFD, with respect to closing down your USPSA matches because of lack of help, was there some sort of incentive you could have given to get people to help you? How about a flat $15 match fee, if you showed up early and helped set up, you get $5 back? Same if you stayed late and helped break everything down. Chills Edited February 24, 2006 by Chills1994 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubberneck Posted February 24, 2006 Author Share Posted February 24, 2006 I am sorry to hear that Rubberneck, they are a good crew over there. Best advice is to stay active in the club and vote them out next year. We had something like that happen a few years ago and our shooting was threatened. I slowly got people to join the club. During the meeting where they appointed Board Members, only 2 of us showed up. (this is most important, if too many come they will smell the blitz) We nominated our select few. During the election, we blitzed them with about 20+ shooters. The fogeys didn't expect it so they did not call out the old guard, and we got a voice in the board. Ted I'd be all for it but sadly the last election was a month or two ago and their terms are for a year. In the mean time Paul and Skip have had enough. If those two walk away and the board carries through on its veiled threats than the next election will be too late. It would be like starting all over again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFD Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 Chills It's old news now. The match has been history for a couple of years now. I tried everything I could think of, and while I finally did get a little help tearing down, I was still the only one there to setup 5+ stages. Basically we can only shoot matches on Sundays at the club. Every other USPSA match in SC is on Saturday. Our shooters like to shoot Saturdays. With our new representation on the board, we may get the money to make Saturday matches possible. If that happens, USPSA will revive for sure. I really feel for some of you folks. Our old guard may have been all about trap, skeet and 5 stand, but they weren't anti-USPSA/IDPA. I see now that there is a huge difference between the two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Murphy Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 I'd be all for it but sadly the last election was a month or two ago and their terms are for a year. In the mean time Paul and Skip have had enough. If those two walk away and the board carries through on its veiled threats than the next election will be too late. It would be like starting all over again. The latest I had heard is that they are tryin to drive out IDPA by saying that they do not have the correct insurance to cover non club members. At the very least they should continue an action shoot in-house to preserve the day and the momentum. The fees from one or two matches would cover the premium for a second insurance policy. Ted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackdragon Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 When I first moved to Las Vegas, Shot their " Big Match" Took all their S$&T. Asked if I could join the club? NOPE! We are full and we don't want any new members!!! That was 4 years ago! Now they ask me why I'm not a member? They can KISS MY A$&!!! I joined the club in Boulder City, They seemed to agree with what Me and other shooters agree with,...... We are a small enough group, Lets not get too extremest and alianate ( SP) any one! Ivan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlamoShooter Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 (edited) When I first moved to Las Vegas, Shot their " Big Match" Took all their S$&T. Asked if I could join the club? NOPE! We are full and we don't want any new members!!! That was 4 years ago! Now they ask me why I'm not a member? They can KISS MY A$&!!! I joined the club in Boulder City, They seemed to agree with what Me and other shooters agree with,...... We are a small enough group, Lets not get too extremest and alianate ( SP) any one! Ivan Funny how we hold on to things like that, but its hard to let go. Some times it helps me to remember things I have been forgiven of. Jamie Foote Edited February 24, 2006 by AlamoShooter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackdragon Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 True!!! Ivan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubberneck Posted February 24, 2006 Author Share Posted February 24, 2006 The latest I had heard is that they are tryin to drive out IDPA by saying that they do not have the correct insurance to cover non club members.At the very least they should continue an action shoot in-house to preserve the day and the momentum. The fees from one or two matches would cover the premium for a second insurance policy. Ted That is only one of several gripes the board has with IDPA. The fact that they called Paul and Skip to the mat about the insurance policy and had no clue if it covered non members or not tells me that they were using it as a means to bust their balls just for the sake of it. It also is telling that there are three other events in which non-members participate yet IDPA was the only one that was singled out for a special meeting. Also throw in the fact that the board is trying to claim that IDPA is a non-sponsored club event even though the membership voted to hold those matches and it appears on the club calender. It has become apparent to Paul and Skip that they want us gone and will use any BS excuse to do so. Several of us plan to fight a rear guard action if for no other reason than to annoy the ever living hell out of the board. I am so PO'd right now that the next members meeting will probably get ugly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Murphy Posted February 25, 2006 Share Posted February 25, 2006 (edited) That is only one of several gripes the board has with IDPA. The fact that they called Paul and Skip to the mat about the insurance policy and had no clue if it covered non members or not tells me that they were using it as a means to bust their balls just for the sake of it. It also is telling that there are three other events in which non-members participate yet IDPA was the only one that was singled out for a special meeting. Also throw in the fact that the board is trying to claim that IDPA is a non-sponsored club event even though the membership voted to hold those matches and it appears on the club calender. It has become apparent to Paul and Skip that they want us gone and will use any BS excuse to do so. Several of us plan to fight a rear guard action if for no other reason than to annoy the ever living hell out of the board. I am so PO'd right now that the next members meeting will probably get ugly. How much is membership again? It's funny but I am the president of a bullseye club and while most the old guard never cared to hear about IDPA or USPSA, none of them ever had anything against it. Might make my club very unique in my area. The other BE oriented clubs I belong to fight action shooting of all kinds tooth and nail. I was at one of my other clubs, and the Be shooters were commenting on USPSA shooting once. Said (arrogantly) they wold stick out at 50 or so yards and pick them off. I made the mistake of pointing out to them that many stages in that sport occur at that distance, and they do not have the generous 10 minute time limit for 10 rounds either. That made me shunned at that club for a while. It's never the young guys, just the fogeys though. I used to think that it was completely for philosophical reasons, but I do know that BE shooting is on the decline and maybe they feel threatened as well. I just think in this MTV world something that goes as slowly as a 2700 match is not as alluring to the yutes. I think BE kicks butt, but so does AP, IDPA, USPSA, and anything else that puts lead into a backstop. If I can add a hate to this that is BE related. I hate that I have to drive over to one of my BE club members and see if he's okay. He's missed the last 4 shoots and won't answer the phone. I'm fearing the worst. 84 years old and he has never missed this many shoots before. Ted Edited February 25, 2006 by Ted Murphy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
et45 Posted February 25, 2006 Share Posted February 25, 2006 I had to chuckle when you said"rimfire mafia".At our club it is the "rimfire and bullseye he man women haters club" They would love for the Hi Power rifle guys(too loud),Sub Gun,IDPA,and NRA Hunter Pistol shooters (too dangerous)to just go away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpolans Posted February 25, 2006 Share Posted February 25, 2006 (edited) I think it's funny that so many old fogey bullseye shooters are deadset against IPSC when one of the biggest names in bullseye, Bill Blankenship shoots IPSC. (And very well too.) Personally, I like both, bullseye and IPSC (as well as ISSF 10m air pistol and rapid fire pistol, skeet, and trap) and hate that there is so often conflict. This sort of thing has prompted my dad to change from one club in MD to another. Edited February 25, 2006 by mpolans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted February 25, 2006 Share Posted February 25, 2006 I hate that the local Bullseye / Hi-Power / Silhouette NRA club thinks any steel targets closer than 40 meters are unacceptably dangerous and therefore banned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorch Posted February 25, 2006 Share Posted February 25, 2006 (edited) BoyI know what you mean Folks, At our former club they did not like the "boys running around with Guns" SO I rented a Bulldozer and BUILT AN IPSC RANGE. Only IPSC Guys are members, No shotgun, No Bench, No High Power, no clays.... Just IPSC & 3 gun. It rules and we can leave he stages up till next match and nobody shoots up the props. Edited February 25, 2006 by scorch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
et45 Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Our club built a new range with berms on 3 sides,Do you think they would let us and the Sub gunners on it,Hell no.It is for the rimfire shooters because the muzzle blast of centerfire guns disturbs their concentration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear23 Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Our local club (which) is IDPA affiliated actually wrote in their By-Laws that USPSA shooting was not allowed. Never mind that this club only put on six IDPA matches a year, hosted local rifle, 3 gun, and CCW 'type' matches.... IN the CCW matches you could shoot your High cap limited gun as it was essentially 'anything goes'...though i never did show up with my Open gun.. The prior year the Execs held their elections, bypassing several of the clubs own bylaws (allowing proxy voting) and produced a 'member' list that was hereto never ever seen before. The club went downhill, with poor support from many of the members who saw through the sham, money has been wasted, a state level IDPA match was never held, even though it was promised... The members who saw what was happening to the club took action, and on election day...Wrote in their candidate, who wasn't of course on the ballot......and voila, the old guard had to step aside. Now the club is on the right track and is attracting members, though still not holding USPSA matches. There is a local USPSA club here in town, many of the shooters shoot both disciplines and don't complain. Another large club in town, has Cowboy, sillhouette, Bullseye. But won't even mention the other shooting sports in town. Even though many of us are members... Bullseye is held on a .....weekday....in the morning when most are still at work. They are proud to announce at their meetings that they had 3 shooters show up, and maybe 8 that shoot the sillhouette on any given month. Our USPSA shoots have 30+ shooters and the IDPA has at least 20 per month show up.... they don't like the 'run and gun' crowd'....So i've been told. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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