This dialog is very discouraging! Reading through the thread, it has become an attack between the young and more experienced shooters, pointing fingers at each other.

The NRA is not like our Congress. We are the NRA, and we (the membership) tend to drive the bus! Perhaps the leadership at the NRA has lost sight of what the membership desires, but how often does the membership communicate their desires to the leadership? Sometimes, the membership plops down the cash for an annual membership, then expects the organization to: fight the anti-gun movement, promote firearms safety, sanction competitions, conduct/establish/enforce rules pursuant to the ISU, etc.

With respect to the competitions, the NRA can only be guided by the participation that they see. When numbers dwindle, they have to look to the games that are drawing participants. I really don't want to draw financial comparisons between the NRA and the CMP, because I am not well versed in those areas. But I do know that the NRA like each and every one of us here, will not invest hard earned (or hard to come by) cash in something that doesn't show signs of taking hold.

Local matches are a fair indicator of participation at the state, regional, and national levels. Costs of running a national match may include (but not be limited to) range leases, material costs (including material storage between nationals), awards, volunteer expenses, payment of subcontractors, and NRA staff expenses (placing NRA staff on-site for the duration of the event, travel expenses, and upkeep). Perhaps some may say that I was a fool, but during mid-range, I was one of two volunteers (my assignment was parking/range traffic control from 6a to 7a, then scorecard runner in addition to block officer duty until about 3p). During long-range, I was the only volunteer, with my day starting at 4:30a and ending about 3:30p, doing parking/traffic control from 5a to 7a, then block officer until the end of firing. That for about a hundred or so competitors.

Granted, there is an ongoing boycott of Camp Atterbury because some are opposed to the move from Camp Perry. The state of Indiana wants the NRA national matches there. It was discussed among the National Match staff that Indiana was going to:
a) build a 200 point smallbore range,
b) build a 300 point precision pistol range, and
c) reorient the 4000 foot north-south runway to a 4000 foot east-west runway in order to accommodate the high power matches.

Now for the challenge! Think back to the matches that you participated in this past year. Did you participate in:
IDPA, IPSC, USPSA, GSSF, IHMSA, CAS, Precision Pistol, F class, XTC, Mid-range, Long-range, or ATA, just to name a few of the many offerings? Just like there are a number of Gun Rights groups fighting for your membership support, there are a number of shooting events that we may participate in, but we must remember that they don't necessarily call within the NRA's domain! As we branch out into different shooting games, we may be drawing away from NRA sanctioned events. In many respects, we are contributing to the demise of the traditional shooting events.

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Judge control not gun control!