USPSA New Rule Comment Section

[Wildman]

The USPSA members’ section hosted a comment area for the proposed IPSC rules currently being finalized. By my count, 28 members provided comments to this area. Pretty low turnout for an organization our size. Maybe 150-200 comments total. But in a more public forum, everyone seems to have ideas on what the rules should be, and are not afraid to share their views. Why the lack of guidance for the sanctioning organization?

Yes, I understand that you have be be a member, and give your number and name. Is that really of any concern?

[Bucky]

Nope, just wasn't aware this was there. Most like, 'cause I wasn't paying attention. I'm going to mozey on over there later as I have some issues with steel calibration procedure ... as many do know.

Thanks for the tip!

Bucky Pollard (always including <almost> real name.)

[Vince Pinto]

Hi guys,

Don't worry about it.

Firstly I read every single submission on the USPSA member's pages, and some of the ideas were adopted.

Secondly, I'm an active participant on this forum (and a number of other forums), and all rule comments and suggestions were taken into account by me, and I referred all matters to my committee, even if I didn't necessarily agree with them.

Thirdly, the USPSA was the best represented Region on the planet. Apart from Mike Voigt acting as Overall Chairman, John Amidon was one of the five voting members on the Coordinating Committee, which supervised the activities of the three discipline (handgun, shotgun and rilfe) committees.

Additionally, Bruce Gary (Area 1 Director) was on the 5 man Handgun Committee, Arnie Christianson (Area 3 Director) was on the 3 man Shotgun Committee and Troy McManus (former Area 4 Director) was on the 4 man Rifle Committee.

After 9 months, +5,000 emails, numerous telephone calls and 4 days of face-to-face meetings in Orlando in February, we finally finished our work about 2 hours ago and, in my not-very-humble opinion, we've produced The Mother Of All Rulebooks.

As soon as I'm able, I'll upload a copy to a website somewhere and point you guys in the right direction.

[Vince Pinto]

One more thing. In case anybody is interested, here is the roll call from the Orlando meetings:

Ex-Officio Host:

IPSC President Nick Alexakos

Overall Rules Committee Chairman: Mike Voigt (USA)

Coordinating Committee:

Chairman: Bob Chittleborough (GBR) (Non-voting)

Secretary: Martyn Spence (GBR) (Non-voting)

John Amidon (USA)

Dino Evangelinos (CAN)

Vince Pinto (HKG)

Neil Beverley (GBR)

Tim Anderson (DEN)

Handgun Rules Committee:

Chairman: Vince Pinto (HKG)

Bruce Gary (USA)

Yvan Vogels (BEL)

Kees Guichelaar (NED)

Johnny Gildenhuys (RSA)

Shotgun Rules Committee:

Chairman: Neil Beverley (GBR)

Arnie Christianson (USA)

Myro Lopez (PHI)

Rifle Rules Committee:

Chairman: Tim Andersen (DEN)

Troy McManus (USA)

Geir Owe (NOR)

Roger Stockbridge (RSA)

IPSC Executive or President's Council Member Observers:

Fritz Gepperth (GER)

Juergen Tegge (GER)

Dick Metcalf (USA)

Alain Joly (FRA)

Luiz Frota (BRA)

Victor Ferrero (ECU)

IROA Member Observers:

Denise Minor (USA)

Joel Dix (USA)

[Vince Pinto]

Bucky,

It's too late to make submissions, but here's a sneak preview of the final draft of the revised calibration procedures:

Appendix C1 - Calibration of IPSC Poppers

1. The Range Master must designate a specific supply of ammunition and one or more handguns to be used as official calibration tools by officials authorized by him to serve as calibration officers.

2. Prior to commencement of a match, the calibration ammunition must be chronographed using the procedure specified in Rule 5.6.2. The calibration ammunition, when tested through each designated handgun, must achieve a 125 power factor (variance +/- 5%) to qualify.

3. Once the supply of ammunition and the designated handguns have been tested and approved by the Range Master, they are not subject to challenge by competitors.

4. The Range Master must arrange for each popper to be calibrated prior to commencement of a match, and whenever required during a match.

5. For initial calibration, each popper must be set to fall when hit within the calibration zone with a single shot fired from a designated handgun using the calibration ammunition. The shot must be fired from the shooting location in the course of fire furthest from the popper being calibrated. Calibration zones are indicated in the diagrams in the following pages.

6. If, during a course of fire, a popper does not fall when shot, a competitor has three alternatives:

a. The popper is shot again until it falls. In this case, no further action is required and the course of fire is scored “as shot”.

b. The popper is left standing but the competitor does not challenge the calibration. In this case, no further action is required and the course of fire is scored “as shot”, with the subject popper scored as a miss.

c. The popper is left standing and the competitor challenges the calibration. In this case, the popper and the surrounding area on which it stands must not be touched or interfered with by any person. If a match official violates this rule, the competitor must reshoot the course of fire. If the competitor or any other person violates this rule, the popper will be scored as a miss and the rest of the course of fire will be scored “as shot”.

7. In the absence of any interference, a calibration officer must conduct a calibration test of the subject popper (when required under 6c above), from as near as possible to the point from where the competitor shot the popper, when the following will apply:

a. If the first shot fired by the calibration officer hits the calibration zone and the popper falls, the popper is deemed to be properly calibrated, and it will be scored as a miss.

b. If first the shot fired by the calibration officer hits the calibration zone and the popper does not fall, the popper is deemed to have failed, and the competitor must be ordered to reshoot the course of fire, once the popper has been recalibrated.

c. If the first shot fired by the calibration officer hits above or below the calibration zone, the calibration test is deemed to have failed and the competitor must be ordered to reshoot the course of fire.

d. If the first shot fired by the calibration officer misses the popper altogether, another shot must be fired until one of 7a, 7b or 7c occurs.

8. Note that authorized metal plates are not subject to calibration or challenge (see Rule 4.3.1.6).

[Wildman]

Vince, it’s marvelous that you have kept the information flowing. It’s not a job I would envy. But my real question is, with so many strongly held opinions, why such a meager turnout when USPSA solicits the membership for input in the rule making process. Browdie went to a lot of effort to develop the web system, and I thought it worked pretty well. I would much prefer to be in on the process, than question the product after completion. There seems to be a real propensity to wait until things are finalized, then raising hell, rather than stick our necks out and try to influence the decision makers.

[Vince Pinto]

My Dear Wildman,

Such is the nature of The Beast.

Rob Boudrie provided an excellent and simple mechanism in the USPSA Member's Area for members to raise rules issues, and I also came here (and to other IPSC related forums) to invite comments, but very few people responded.

The totally astounding thing is that one guy in the USPSA member's general comments area actually wrote on July 7 (3 months after the rules area was launched):

"....we are never asked what we think about this rule or that division .....". Go figure.

The fact is that the vast majority of people are happy to let others handle mundane, yet important, matters such as the rules until it directly affects them ...................... then they scream like hell.

[vluc]

The fact is that the vast majority of people are happy to let others handle mundane, yet important, matters such as the rules until it directly affects them ...................... then they scream like hell.

...as with all things in life, unfortunately.

[Wildman]

Vince and Vluc, you have expressed the problem very well, and I had hoped that the point might be taken by others, particularly those currently running the “10 rounds in the magazine” issue in smaller and smaller circles. The fact that open promotions happen is sad, as are any issues that force a shooter out or up, but preventable in almost all cases by the competitor themselves. If some want to scream, snivel or whine, don’t expect much sympathy, particularly if it didn’t happen to them.

Our sport is about more than just shooting. If the only time you are involved is match day at the range, you are living off the work of others.

My apologies to Rob Boudrie, for misspelling his name.