I will leave them in the links section for a few more months until I'm completely over this crisis of faith, but I'm not very happy.
It all started a few years ago when I found some really great friends at the shooting range! We had some great fun, a few beers afterwards, and promises to get together the next week.
What's not to like?! Right?
It was when I decided to get a little more serious with my shooting that I encountered the real truth of the sport, and the 'hardcore' element of the sport.
They didn't like anybody! They didn't want to be friends with anybody, they didn't want to 'hang out' with anybody, they were just 'hardcore' shooters!
Of course they couched their argument in the 4 Rules! But the 4 Rules were developed by one of the most respected members of the sport, nay, one of the founders of the sport, Col. Jeff Cooper.
Col. Cooper's 4 Rules are:
Rule One: All guns are always loaded.
Rule Two: Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
Rule Three: Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target.
Rule Four: Be sure of your target. (Know what it is, what is in line with it, and what is behind it. Never shoot anything you have not positively identified.)
And we ALL respected Col. Cooper, so their position was, when you argued against the 'hardcore' you argued against the Colonel!
I said Bullshit!
Of course we ALL respected the Colonel, but, I had my own rules too!
I started shooting in the 50's. I was familiar with pistols, revolvers, rifles, shotguns, ARs, machine guns(30 Cal., 50 Cal. and the old Maxim), recoilless rifles(105s), 40mm cannons, even flintlocks, wheel-locks and blunderbusts !
This wasn't my first rodeo!
MY Rules:
1) Never hand another person a loaded gun.
2) Before handing someone a gun, point the gun at the ground, rack the slide back and lock it. Put your finger in the chamber to verify no bullet. With the slide still locked open grab the gun by the slide(muzzle end) and present the gun, butt first, and ejection port exposed, to your friend.
3) Always assume the gun is loaded!
4) And, lastly... If you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong!
So we were at an impasse. FUN was missing!
Sure, I was more interested in having fun... I was old!
This wasn't going to last forever!
But, they seemed to think that fun just materialized on it's own!
They were more interested in recruiting new members, 'preaching' the 4 rules, and making sure you learned the USPSA rules!
With vigor!
Fun was something you packed in your range bag and brought out to share with a select few friends at special times!
I even had a competitor ask me if I had been drinking alcohol, just after I had sprayed myself with the insect repellent, OFF, to keep the bugs down!
He didn't have a clue as to 'how to win friends and influence people'!
Every Range Officer I met was without personality, without enthusiasm and without any interest in helping me enjoy the sport!
I had a good friend that joined me for competition shoots and when we would show up, the RO would constantly separate us.
I asked him why he did this and he had no answer, but he continued to separate us. Finally, I confronted him and said that the only reason my friend and I came to this club was to shoot together, his reply was, "If I didn't like shooting here, I could go somewhere else."
Not very comforting.
I asked my friend if he had experienced the same 'lack of understanding', and he said , "No, I seem to be fitting right in. I'm having a great time!"
Of course, he was a completely NEW shooter and all this was just so much excitement! He really didn't get 'the point' of shooting with a buddy until I explained it to him...
OK. It was me. I was asking way too much of the experience.
I thought, "I wanted to be friends with everybody and they simply didn't want to be friends with me."
This was all my fault? Did I forget my deodorant? What gives here?
I didn't have an answer... and still don't!
I'll admit that these old eyes don't see as well as they used to and my aim isn't as true as it once was, but why does my performance at the scoring table determine my group of friends?
I keep hearing that the USPSA has a goal of 20,000 members by the end of 2008. Is this how they expect to achieve that goal?
When I joined USPSA, I visited their forum and posted a few responses and asked a few questions. I was surprised to discover that, at that time, there was a serious discussion going on about the upcoming elections(USPSA Elections).
There seemed to be a distinct segmentation of two factions. One group was strongly against the incumbent president because of some scurrilous rumors from his ex-wife, and the other group seem to care less about the rumors, but were not very supportive of the incumbent... in an odd sort of way.
I vocalized my sentiments with a statement that this was between the incumbent and his ex-wife and really none of our business. That the forum was not the place to vent opinions about the nasty divorce or the incumbent's relevant 'fitness for duty' based on the so called rumors!
I was soundly criticized!
It was right then and there that I felt like an outsider.
Who in the hell were these guys?
How do they get off criticizing this guy like they were above reproach?
I thought, what a bunch of high-minded, hypicritical, aloof, holier-than-thou assholes!
I'm afraid it didn't get any better.
When I moved to a new state, I tried a totally new club... new people... new attitudes(I thought). But, I found the same mistrusting, the same in-fighting, the same petty squabbles.
I even studied hard for the RO Exam and passed. But that didn't seem to make any difference. The 'in group' was solid and no outsider was going to break through.
Even over at the Brian Enos site where many USPSA shooters hang out and discuss strategies and tactics and upcoming events, I felt like an outsider.
These guys are not very trusting!
They want to know your address, your wife's name, your dog's name, the serial number on your pistol, who your gunsmith is, what type of ammunition you shoot... then maybe... MAYBE, they'll talk to you!
They just weren't my kind of people.
I posted my concerns on the USPSA website back in June and said that while my membership was up for renewal in August, I was going to let it expire.
I just didn't feel comfortable at USPSA. I didn't feel like a member of the group.
I didn't feel like anyone went out of their way to make me feel 'at home'.
I didn't feel welcome.
Some responded with good wishes and regret that I had such a bad experience, but not many. I went out with a whimper.
So, I'm no longer a member of USPSA. No one has called. No one has emailed. I have just disappeared from the roster and no one cares...
Maybe my concerns were justified after all?
I'll continue to shoot. I'll continue to support the 2nd Amendment.
I'll continue to carry my pistol everyday, concealed.
I'll continue to look for like minded friends to enjoy the shooting sports.
I just won't be looking for USPSA members anymore...
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