Can the NRA return to competitive shooting

[desert deuce]

On the AmmoLand site. https://www.ammoland.com/2024/10/open-l ... -shooters/

I have known John Sigler for well over 30 years. You can believe everything he has written because I too lived it.
Basically, do not vote for anyone to the NRA Board that is not/has not been a higher level competitive shooter. The way LaPierre and company maintained control was through the Board Nominating Committee.
Fact of the matter, the demise of the NRA is as much attributable to the disinterest of the membership as anything else.
The other fact is it is up to the membership to ensure this does not happen again. No more dynasties.
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Open Letter to NRA’s Community of Competitive Shooters ~ NRA Past President, John C. Sigler
Ammoland Inc. Posted on October 3, 2024 by F Riehl, Editor in Chief
Opinion

NRA Past President John C. Sigler
NRA Past President John C. Sigler
This is an open letter addressed to NRA’s Community of Competitive Shooters. I write this letter because it is time to clear the air and move forward together to restore NRA’s leadership in the world of conventional competitive shooting and beyond.

NRA is strongest when its competitive shooting programs are healthy and strong. Competitive shooters are all strong Second Amendment activists.
When you think about it, we have more to lose than other gun owners. If we lose the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, not only do we lose the ability to defend ourselves, our homes, and our families, but we also lose our sport – which, in many cases, is a lifelong endeavor passed down from generation to generation.

Like many of you, I remember the days when the NRA was “The Leader” and “The Gold Standard” in competitive shooting. Not so much anymore.

Not that long ago a police competitor could go to the NRA’s National Police Shooting Championships at the old Highway Patrol Range in Jackson, Mississippi and expect to compete against 1,000 other competitors from throughout the United States and several foreign countries– not so now.

In the early 1990s, the NRA Nationals at Camp Perry saw four completely full ranges with 100 shooters per relay and three full relays – that’s 1,200 shooters – competing for the right to be named the NRA’s National Pistol Champion. Now, NRA is lucky to draw 100 shooters for its national Precision Pistol Championship event.

Not that long ago, the NRA’s Smallbore Program was the best-attended in the world, and the same was true for High Power Rifles “OTC” and Long Range—not so anymore.

More recently, NRA abandoned the Bianchi Cup Championship, giving it to CMP, and NRA Collegiate shooting is almost non-existent – all because the NRA Competitions Division has been gutted, stripped of funding, and stripped of personnel.

When I first joined the NRA Board of Directors, I was just one of almost three dozen active or recently retired NRA Competitive shooters on the Board. Now, there is less than a handful of competitive shooters on the board.
Why? What happened, and how did it happen?

Over the years, there has been a concerted effort on the part of “The Powers That Be” to purge the Board of competitive shooters. Why did that happen?

Some might argue that it is because times change, people change, and interests change—and maybe some of that is true—but that is not the whole truth or the real reason.

The reason those things happened is that those in charge of NRA at the time and up until now failed to understand who we, NRA’s competitive shooting community, really are or the vital role we play within the NRA. And because of that and against our repeated protestations, time and again, they took money from Competitions and used that money and those assets for other things not of our choosing, and not always wisely.

They failed to understand the simple truth that NRA competitive shooters are the solid backbone of NRA and that it is the competitive shooting community that makes the rest of NRA happen – and that includes the political side of NRA at NRA-ILA.
Those people – most of whom are now gone, thank God – failed to understand that we of the competitive shooting community are the same people who run the NRA clubs, we run the ranges, and we are the instructors who bring new shooters safely into the NRA Family.

When NRA-ILA needs volunteers to attend rallies, make phone calls, knock on doors, hand out literature, work the gun shows, help with campaigns, testify at legislative hearings, and work the polls on Election Day, it is the competitive shooters who give up their precious time with their families, their precious time on the range, and take time off from work (usually without pay) to fight for our precious Right to Keep and Bear Arms – while others sit back and reap the benefits of our hard work.

We know all of this to be true – but for many years, the so-called “Powers-That-Be” at NRAHQ either did not know, did not care, or simply took us for granted.

During my six years in The Chairs, and especially during my two years as NRA’s 59th President from 2007 to 2009, I advocated for stronger support for competitive shooting and for our military and veteran members, many of whom were—or wanted to become—competitive shooters. In the process, I advocated for strengthening and supporting our system of clubs and associations. I even created a new Endowment—the Competitive Shooting Endowment.

That all went away when I left The Chairs, and I was left as a sometimes-lone voice crying in the wilderness, fighting for a cause that was easy to ignore and hard to replace.

When “The-Powers-That-Be” needed money for other things, they took it from the Competitions Division – and they did it year after year after year. This is not a new phenomenon; it has been going on for at least the past ten years and probably more.

We complained – I complained – but the louder we complained, the further back we were pushed, the more we were ignored and isolated, and the more of us were “removed” from the Board.
Not that long ago NRA’s Competitions Division boasted a robust and knowledgeable staff. Any competitor could call NRAHQ and talk to a person in the Competitions Division who not only knew the NRA Rules but was an accomplished expert in the same discipline as the caller with the question – not anymore.

It is no secret. Those of us who have been fighting this war from the “inside” have known for years that Wayne LaPierre was no friend to competitive shooting and no friend to the competitive shooter, and neither were most of his closest staff. But Wayne is no longer with us, and neither are many of the others who brought us to this point.

Now, there is good news! There is a light at the end of the tunnel. It is a new day at NRA – or so it seems.
The new Board officers, Bob Barr, Bill Bachenberg, and Mark Vaughan, are all friends of competitive shooting. Our new Executive Vice President, Doug Hamlin, tells us he has made rebuilding NRA’s Competitive Shooting Division a high priority.

These new officers seem to understand that the NRA must rebuild its clubs – clubs that are in most cases run by competitive shooters. They seem to understand that NRA’s education and training activities must be rebuilt and reinvigorated and that in most cases it is the competitive shooters who will fulfill that obligation.

These new officers know that NRA-ILA and NRA’s Grassroots Division are at the heart of NRA’s political power in defense of the Second Amendment. They also understand that NRA’s competitive shooting community is the backbone and the key to that grassroots effort and success.

The prior administration gutted NRA Competitions and, in the process, hurt NRA badly. It appears that this new administration and the new Board officers understand that if NRA is to recover and rebuild, the first step is for NRA to return to its roots and rebuild and revitalize NRA Competitions, to treat NRA competitors with the respect we have earned and deserve, and to give all NRA members a good solid reason to recruit other new members.

It seems to be a new day at the NRA – let us hope and pray that it continues.

John C. Sigler

Mr. John C. Sigler is Chair of NRA’s F-Class High Power Rifle Committee. John was a member of the United States F-Class (Open) Rifle Teams that won the 2023 World Championship (Gold Medal) in South Africa and the Third Place Bronze Medal at the 2017 World Championships in Canada. Mr. Sigler holds NRA Distinguished International Rifleman Badge #67.

[JonnyV]

Thanks for posting the letter. It sounds hopeful, but as always, the proof will be in the pudding. I'll wait and see what happens before I take any decision to resume donating.

[desert deuce]

The inescapable truth is that there is strength in UNITY.

Division was their game and we were easily divided.

[SSShooter]

Until the big money (Ruger & other corporations) no longer rule at the NRA, nothing will change. Very much like our gov't. Bought & paid for.

[buffalocannon]

Great letter by Mr Sigler, and so true.

[RB1Shooter]

I disagree with SSShooter. It does not make sense that, "Ruger and other big corporations" would rule the NRA and cast the shooters aside. What does Ruger or Vista or Browning or any of these companies have to gain by not supporting shooters and shooting competitions? The fact of the matter, their generous donations are there to support the shooting community. HOW those donations are handled by the NRA is another matter. A matter that many have found undesirable and much to the NRA members credit, have applied enough pressure to get those folks fired or ushered out.

Now it's time for the NRA membership to come together and support a new NRA, one where our membership matters, concerns heard and actions taken. Mr. Seigler pointed this out well in his letter and DD's comment in unity are right on sight!

So I would encourage everyone to not take a wait and see attitude. Rather, renew your membership, get back involved, make your voice heard! After all, "We are the NRA."

[JonnyV]

Awful hard to "make your voice heard" when the only NRA "employee" you ever talk to is a fund raiser.

[desert deuce]

Understand that we here on the Shiloh Forum were actively involved in the NRA Fleeing from and disassociating from Competitive Shooting as a whole, not just Black Powder. That was a huge red flag indicating trouble within NRA.

A part, not all, of the enabling process was stacking the Board of Directors with LaPierre loyalists through the Nominating Committee over time. It did prove, however, that it was the critical destructive factor. The voting membership in voting blindly for those presented on the Nominating Committee list and not targeting competition active nominees and petitioners enabled the move by leadership to consolidate power.

However, as outlined on the pages of Black Powder Cartridge News Issue #88 page 3 the October 16, 2013, Resolution by the Board of Directors in support of competitive shooting, clearly shows by subsequent inactions of the NRA Board that leadership acts with impunity with regard to the Board of Directors and designated committees by blatantly ignoring their resolutions and input. This was a clear clarion call to membership that the Board either would not or could not influence actions by leadership which, by the way, is their primary function in a checks and balances system. Which appeared to be manufactured mutually assured deconstruction yet was ignored.

Does this need to be fixed? Yes, or course. Question is, can it be fixed? The answer is: Maybe.

PS - Patched up is not the same as fixed.

[Don McDowell]

There's a ton of problems associated with getting the NRA back to it's original intent and function.
First thing, that will help is voting members need to quit blindly voting for country music stars and actors that may have at least once owned or saw a bb gun for the board, and vote for only those who's resume includes competitive shooting and hunting. Much like our government change only begins to happen when you put the good people in on the back page bottom of the ballot and then we can work up and bring good people in on the top eventually.
There's some real problems in the competitions division in NRAHQ.
There are also some real problems out here in the shooters level.
The High-power and various shotgun sports get huge turnout.
I doubt that even if we could get every BPTR and BPCRS shooter together in one spot at one time the numbers would match the cutoff number of entries for a national palma or F class, or sporting clays match. Size matters and if you can't get enough shooters together to cover the basic cost of the match there's a real problem going forward with future matches especially in today's economy and corporate/business survivability.
So basically if "we" want NRA state, regional, and national matches to happen again, match directors in the bpcr arena need to follow the lead of the Tappan Hill bunch, grab the bull by the horns and make it work. It won't be easy, and it won't come quick but it can happen.

[RB1Shooter]

Don M. is right on target, well stated.

However, it's interesting to note that in BPCR Silhouette shooting, I attend at least 2 NRA fun matches (OR/GA), 2 NRA State matches (ID/MT), 2 NRA regional matches (OR/MT) every year & 1 NRA national match (Raton), every other year. So I don't think Tappen Hills is the only club supporting NRA registered matches.

NOTE: All but one of those events I mentioned offer; 4-5 days of shooting which includes lunches, a pot luck dinner and target setters.

That said, I do know, loading costs (primers, powder, lead/tin & personal time), travel (fuel / lodging / meals) are huge factors in our game attendance. Even pulling a camp trailer and staying at the range incurs substantial costs. With the number of days shooting at each of the aformentioned events, it does make the travel more palitable. However, unless your retired, independently wealthy and don't work or simply have a monthly match range close by, it's not something that happens on a regular basis.

Another aspect of these matches is the work the match director puts forth. As far as I know, it's an unpaid position, manned by a very unselfish individual(s) who have a true love and commitment to the sport. Like anything to be successful, it takes time & work and add the availability of range time and range costs, all factors in declining attendance.

Don M's post got me thinking about this and I simply wanted to say; there are far more factors involved in the decline of our game(s) other than the perceived lack of NRA registered matches (remember the match director?) or not having "the books" to keep our scores (remember the match director who used to mark all the books?). The BPCR game is a commitment of passion with a deep love of a sport we shooters enjoy playing. Whether you can only attend a monthly match or an occasional state/regional event, do so to enjoy the fun of competition in the comradery of like minded folks from all walks of life. It's an unselfish game that we make and participate in. If it dies, it's our own damn fault.

I'll get off my soapbox and thanks for the post Don.

[Kenny Wasserburger]

Just exactly do we get with a NRA approved or registered match?

I don’t blame them for the sport’s downturn in numbers. A lot of shooters have quit, a good many have simply died. Even more have aged beyond being able to shoot prone, and the inflexibility of the NRA rules on a bench or table class, are keeping multiple shooters out of Silhouette.

Clubs and match directors are the glue that holds these matches together. BPTR has taken a hard hit on the chin multiple times since the last national championships held in 2018. The NRA was going to put on a nationals in 2019. To be run by two of the most toxic cancerous individuals of the sport. The response to the match in lack of entries was the death knell.

The BPTRA was born and it too has went the way of the dodo bird. Several intrepid individuals working with the CRC, have salvaged a National Championship match at CRC for Creedmoor. Forming a new Federation to host these matches at Byers. Nary a hint of offer from the NRA.

This year also saw Tappan Hill come together and host a NRA Silhouette Nationals at Raton. No one from the NRA was in attendance at this match. Just the hard working individuals of the Tappan Hill club. It went off splendidly I for one was glad I attended.
KW

[JonnyV]

If the NRA truly intends to try and get back in with competitive shooters, it would stand to reason that they would start with the highest participation sports first. Modern precision, shotgun sports, action pistol, cowboy action (maybe?), all these will get effort towards them long before any BPCR sport. My vote would be to proceed assuming that there will be no help forthcoming from the NRA for the foreseeable future. These wheels are already in motion and even if the NRA jumped in to "help", a lot of that might result in unintended consequences.

Would we like to have our shooting stick options restricted to what's in the NRA rules? What about not allowing shooters to use a bench if they need it? I think that match directors should try and make the sport as accessible as possible for all shooters as a lot of our participants are carrying around injury riddled backs, legs, hips, what have you. Plus, everyone here is aging out. I'm a young guy at 57. Most of the other guys are a bit older than me. Our sport needs to allow for that.

[bpcr shooter]

I attended 1 of the 2 Creedmoor matches this year, at the one I attended, there was nothing/no one from the NRA (shooting USA did). Even after 150yrs of keeping a shooting sport alive we are still looked upon as the bastard children of shooting sports to the NRA. If the NRA couldnt support either match, I highly doubt they will do anything in the future to support our sport.

I for one couldnt give a rats azz what the NRA wants us to do as match directors. I will try and keep shooters who are willing to pay, show up, help, etc to be able continue shooting. If that mean shooting off a bench, using a chair, I dont care. As long as you do not get an advantage over the next guy, Im good.


matt

[desert deuce]

If you will take the NRA Rule Book and compare it to the Match Bulletin for the Desert International you will see that the best interests of the shooter trump some, if not all, of the restrictive rules in the NRA rule book. Simple, we promote the sport for the benefit of the shooter. If it does not benefit the shooter it will be assigned to the round file. Basically, how the match shall be run is stated in the Match Bulletin for that particular event. Any ancillary issues or questions shall be resolved by the Match Coordinator for that event. The idea is to improve shooting skills while participating in a fun and meaningful shooting event.

[JonnyV]

If you will take the NRA Rule Book and compare it to the Match Bulletin for the Desert International you will see that the best interests of the shooter trump some, if not all, of the restrictive rules in the NRA rule book. Simple, we promote the sport for the benefit of the shooter. If it does not benefit the shooter it will be assigned to the round file. Basically, how the match shall be run is stated in the Match Bulletin for that particular event. Any ancillary issues or questions shall be resolved by the Match Coordinator for that event. The idea is to improve shooting skills while participating in a fun and meaningful shooting event.

HALLELUJAH!!!!