Sounds like a 200 hour pilot to me.
I'm sure you're quite experienced, but how do we (the executive that is) know? And in what disciplines? I shot competitively in the lower lakes skeet league for years before joining an indoor pistol club...should that count for anything?
To be fair I have far more flight hours logged than 200.. but that's another story
You don't.. however if/when someone comes along that does know why should they automatically be treated like some 12 yr old that is still wet behind the ears? In your case you have experience from elsewhere... anyone with experience could watch your work and in under 5 min have a pretty good idea if you either know your s**t or not.
As for me.. I learned target shooting & close combat shooting with handgun and rifle as per my Mil training. Anything else I have very little if any exp in. Skeet for example I have zero... last time I fired a shotgun I was literally 12.. Anyone with common sense (insert rarity emote here) knows damn well if it is a gun they are not familiar with or a shooting style that is new. Best to ask and get instruction from those that do have exp.
Basically for anyone with prior exp I'd say that should be taken into account. Those completely full of s**t are very easy to spot as a rule.
Its not enough to take someone's word. If we had the resources, we could do individual testing/challenges/exemptions, but we don't. Its a challenge for all of the clubs, and each club will implement different rules based on their local needs and risk assessments. I wouldn't expect a club composed of 48 guys and a farmers field to have the same requirements as a club composed of 1,600 and an enclosed range. The smaller club doesn't care if people shoot holes in their walls....because there aren't any walls. The pistol club doesn't care about prior skeet shooting experience and the skeet club doesn't care about prior pistol shooting experience.
I wouldn't take anyone's word either right off.. but what is the # of ppl that are newbies and are full of crap spewing "I know this.. I know that"
Most newbies I've met usually want to learn and show it... and those that are full of crap usually won't be the ones with the confidence to stand up and state their real experience. Now granted I'm no expert at teaching either so I can only speak from my own exp.
As for shooting up the club etc.. I've seen experienced shooters be complete morons as well sadly.. esp in that regard.
The reality is, the "vast majority" of "shooters" that join
our club (and other clubs may be different, I'll concede that) are complete newbies, and the training program is tailored as such. Additionally, credentials and histories can be faked. You'd not believe the number of "hush hush JTF2, I can't tell you I'd have to kill you" types that join our club, and then don't know which end the bullets come out of come safety course day.
Indeed they could be faked.. but what % of those wannabe leathal weapons would not only know how but would have the resources to do so....?
I somehow have my doubts there are many faking a RPAL and a black badge for example. It won't let the younglings buy booze after all
Its a due diligence exercise, nothing more. It proves that on that date and time, they knew the rules. Ignorance of the rules is not an allowable excuse if there is a serious safety infraction on the range.
Sorry but on that I really beg to differ. That makes as much sense as the insane section on black powder guns in the PAL/RPAL books.. which then end with telling the reader to seek a qualified professional before attempting to use such.
How many people don't want to shoot skeet? Or targets with pistols? Not everyone has an interest in all aspects of shooting.. including myself.
Knowing the rules (printed copy) is the members responsibility.. but having to know / read rules for an area they don't care about is quite different that forcing them to attend each area.
For the experienced shooter, I would agree. But again, we run 80/20 newbies to experienced shooters. And surprisingly, the feedback from new shooters is quite good. Its been a barrier to voting down this questionable probationary process at the BoD meetings.
How much feedback has the club tried to get from those whom have checked out the clubs rules and passed because of it?
My closest club for example has some very stupid rules and then has mostly FUDDS as well... so even though they are only a few min from me I skipped them completely.
Sadly I would have to assume that most clubs do not get that sort of feedback enough since most that pass won't bother to tell them or tell them why.
Given that our club is one of the few (if not the only) to be experiencing double digit growth per year in the GTA, your argument may be baseless.
Maybe without the requirement our growth would be triple digit? Who knows?
I have no base for such nor any requirement of specific numbers. It was more of a simple "you don't know" how many choose to pass on the club due to the requirements for membership.
Burlington is a private club too, so its not a private/public thing. Personally, I think its a club vs for-profit business thing. The governance rules and risks are completely different; as are the cost structures.
I agree there completely... and some private are good.. same as some fro profits I'm sure are as well. However both types can be bad.. and it would seem the majority of those with insane rules tend to be private.
Most of the clubs quoted in this thread cost 2-4x times per year what BRRC charges for an annual membership. Some would argue we are giving it away....we are hardly raping our members.
I wasn't referring to Burlington in regards to raping the members actually... that was more in reference to some of the GTA clubs that are beyond insane cost for virtually nothing in return. In that regard I'd say BRRC is actually very good and should be commended for such.
We could use a few more pugnacious types like you on our BoD. Ironically, to do that, you have to join the club.
LMAO... Now calling me pugnacious is accurate.. but hardly a word most people will know. Hell.. I'm well educated with a respectable vocabulary and I actually just Googled that one to be sure
Better to be blunt and straight to the point like my wife:
"You are an arrogant stubborn determined son of a ##### a**hole that's full of s**t.... but i love you anyway."
Then again being such does tend to get me results more often than not
I say one of these days we need to have a
