TargetTalk

Dave C. wrote:The club that runs the match can make any rules they like.
I can choose to follow those rules or to not shoot at that club.
Simple as that.

Dave C.

Absolutely true Dave, but this situation was a bit different than a club having a rule, which must be published in the match bulletin (like an ammo restriction) which many clubs have.

This was a case, of another competitor who happened to be a board member, effectively making up rules as the match went along. Some people have a lot of trouble recognizing that their role as a board member is completely different from their role as a competitor.

One of the men I regularly shoot with got banned from his own club for six months for telling a board member that he didn't like a very stupid rule the board established for building security. At the next board election, the guy who had banned him, for expressing his opinion, was gone. Some organizations self police, and others self destruct. It is in the interest of not only the club members, but also the people who shoot matches there, to not let petty tyrants get out of control. They can ruin it for everyone.

The bottom line is, if this happens to a shooter, the best thing to do is,
Ask for a cease fire,
Find the match director,
Explain what is happening,
Let him make the decision.
In any case, if the match director disagrees with you, just do as they say.
If you fight it, they could throw you out of the range, and not let you back in.
Then I would take it up with the NRA rules committee.
It is very rare to have an NRA judge at any registered match, any longer.
What happened to you is more common than most shooters realize.
Most people will do whatever they are told, and let it go.
But it is not wrong to ask the match director.