Competitive Shooting Discussion Group

Am here listening to the presentations on competitive shoting, which I don't believe are not being streamed on the Internet. I'm probably going to make an ass of myself here to make sure our specific comments are on the record. The panel includes Cindy Delana of NSSF's First Shots, Harper Creigh/Judge Roy Bean of SASS, Dave Thomas of USPSA, Robert Ray of IDPA, Chris Edwards of GSSF and Paul Erhardt.

Judge R. Bean, SASS#1: "We're in the entertainment business...with cowboy action shooting, we've found that instant gratification isn't fast enough...the most important things a new shooter can here is , 'Ding, ding, ding, ding.' After those first hits on steel, they're hooked...the only negative press w've ever had was from the Sierra Club...give the people what they want and let them pay for it..."

Chris Edwards, GSSF: "Original intent of the program was to show a sporting purpose for and to market the Glock pistol...over the years we've had 70,000 participants...our primary concern must always be safety..safety in the sense of not that it's just a safe match, but that the customer, the competitor, perceives the match to be safe, and that's not the same thing...we ask that our competitors, if they're wearing a gun in the holster, to have the magazine removed and the slide locked to the rear...it allows the participants and the range officers to see the gun is unloaded and not cocked...do anything you can do to brighten up or make the environment easier for the participants...important to have a professional and trained staff...prior to the match and during the match we have absolute adherence to the four rules of gun safety..."