DQed Tonight

[JThompson]

We had a meeting about this tonight and I was very impressed by what the board had to say. I didn't know, but they have discussed this since the incident and as a result they are going to tighten up the rules on practice nights, as well as, have a designated RO for all stages during USPSA events.

The prez got involved and he flat out said there will be no safety oversights regardless of practice or match. My hats off to them for these proactive measures. They also said that if I'm RO and something like that happens to come and get one of them on the spot. I can not imagine a better outcome from this event. It is nice to know the guys are behind me, and safety, 100%

Edited January 4, 2008 by JThompson

[ima45dv8]

That's great news, Jim!

[Jim Norman]

First off, I am glad that all this worked out.

What we do is the following:

We have a twice a month "Practice" match. New shooters are welcome. All new shooters or strangers are identified. We know the regulars, so this isn't too difficult. New shooters get a lecture lasting about 60-90 minutes depending upon the shooter and how many we have. After the lecture portion, the shooter is brought out onto the range and watches the shooters already in progress.

A bit of info on our Practice match. We run two squads and have two COFs set up. after everyone has shot their first stage, we switch sides, shoot stage two, then we break down, reset and shoot two more stages.

So the new shooter(s) are now watching the others. At the switch, we give each shooter a live fire basic safety check. Make Ready, Standby, Beep, If finished, ULSC, GC-HD, Holster. The COF for this is two shots on one target, reload and re-engage. IF the shooter has completed this without coaching, we put them with an experienced "Mentor" for the rest of the night, they shoot all four COFs and then IF they have made it through the night they are invited to continue on to our regular matches. If they are shaky, we strongly suggest that they make at least one return trip to the indoor practice before attempting a "Real match"

Now, we will coach a new guy during his initiation in to USPSA. If he corrects the problems as the night progresses he is a learner and is usually OK, if he continues the same behaviors that were the reason for the coaching, we will again suggest that he not show up at a "real" match until he has satisfied us here.

If he is good to go, he is welcome. If onthe other hand, we have told him to come back first and he shows up at the regular match, he will be run through another safety check. He MUST pass this and again he will be watched and if needed coached. If he is not ready, he is told so and welcomed to stay and watch, but we won't let him shoot with us.

This last is rare as MOST people do seem to get it given a bit of instruction or coaching.

Jim

Edited January 7, 2008 by Jim Norman

[Alaskapopo]

Frankly I wish USPSA and IDPA ran hot ranges. Cold ranges are where the accidents happen. Only let them handle their weapon on the firing line. In all my LEO related shooting training and competitions we run hot ranges. Nothing like unloading and showing clear after you shoot a bad guy. That is how muscle memory works. This is one of my biggest pet peeves with both USPSA and IDPA. If you can't trust the shooters with loaded guns they should not be at the match.

Pat

[scribble]

We had a meeting about this tonight and I was very impressed by what the board had to say. I didn't know, but they have discussed this since the incident and as a result they are going to tighten up the rules on practice nights, as well as, have a designated RO for all stages during USPSA events.

The prez got involved and he flat out said there will be no safety oversights regardless of practice or match. My hats off to them for these proactive measures. They also said that if I'm RO and something like that happens to come and get one of them on the spot. I can not imagine a better outcome from this event. It is nice to know the guys are behind me, and safety, 100%

I noticed the designated RO for the Jan. Match. That was a little different but is a very good idea.