Dues Increase Discussion

[260 Striker]

In the recent IHMSA News was a letter to the editor about the recent dues increase and the negative impact to MI shooters. I also read the response to the letter provided by the IHMSA President. I live in OH and have heard the horror stories about the impacts on my northern neighbors due to the recent downturn in the economy. I'm sure the impacts are not just affecting MI. The MI MDs suggested having an electronic version of the IHMSA News on the website to reduce the dues and charge members if they wanted a printed copy. Excellent idea. Apparently a survey was taken and the idea was rejected. Now I must have been asleep when that survey was taken since I would have supported that idea. Another negative was some shooters don't want people to know they have guns and don't want match info on the website. What would they say if they knew their local MDs were posting match results on the website? A comment was also made about printing costs and we have been discussing the option of electronic score cards in another topic so there is another option to reduce costs. Comments were made that many ideas had been presented and discussed to save money. Can we please hear what those ideas were? It might just stimulate other ideas from the general membership. I know all IHMSA members do not have pcs. I'm guessing that number would be less than the ones who do own pcs. All IHMSA members should be getting the website information with each membership renewal to remind them this is THEIR website and they should be using it. I believe we have some of the IHMSA directors logging in on a regular basis but we should be having ALL directors logging in to hear what the membership is discussing and to pick up any new ideas that may come up on the forum. Grumbling is always going to happen and even that may have some merit. I still wish the IHMSA News would publish the discussions of each committee each month so we know what is going on within the organization. I still have the feeling one needs to know the secret handshake before we can be privvy to the daily workings of our organization. I too feel the bite of the new dues increase might have been too much at one time. Other avenues of cost cutting should have been explored before the general membership is made to pay. We all want to keep IHMSA going. In my case, I want to know what the Board has been discussing, ideas presented and rejected and what each committee is doing to support us. I have a great fear that we are hurting ourselves with this increase. If the grass roots shooters start dropping out, will the dues need to increase to $100 the next year?

[gibar]

Excellent idea but will probably fall on death ears. I hope not as I do not want this game to go away.

[Robert Becherer]

At our previous match I was talking to a few shooters and have dropped the IHMSA membership because of the dues increase and the information in the Newletter.They kind of same-0 same-0 stuff

[wheelgun7360]

although i won't be going to the internationals in ok. if anyone has any ideas that would save IHMSA some $ let me know and i'll pass the info on. i have started printing my own scorecards that i'll use when the few i have left from headquarters run out. i know that won't save much, but it's a start. allen

[19 Turkeys]

If you really care to learn the depth of the problem, go back and pull out your March 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 issues of the IHMSA News and simply compare cash on hand at the end of each year. Then you will truly understand how serious the problem is. The membership is not paying attention, and apathy will kill the sport.

As to Tonedaddy's suggestion to reduce dues to $25 and raise sanction fees, there would theoretically be a small increase in revenue. We would loose approximately $10,000 in dues and pick up approximately $12,000 in sanction fees based on last year's financial statement. $2,000 is certainly better than $0, but not enough to solve the problem.

Now, there is light at the end of the tunnel and it does not have to be a freight train. Hypothetically, assume that IHMSA as a sanctioning body folds in 2 or 3 years. That does not mean that the sport has to die. The clubs are still there. Here are two examples, Field Target and Air Rifle Benchrest. These 2 organizations have volunteer officials that govern the sport. These people are either elected or simply volunteered. Each organization has a board like this one, and the Benchrest folks also have a website where results are posted. Match results are posted on the web. Questions are asked and answered, rule changes discussed, etc. Both organizations seem to be doing well even though their membership is not huge. The Air Rifle Benchrest guys have their forum at Benchrest Central, and the Field Target people are in the Yellow Forum if you care to take a look. The Benchrest guys even host postal matches. I shoot both these sports and enjoy them.

Regardless of the future of IHMSA as an organization, the Josephine County Sportsman Association will continue to shoot silhouette matches, and we will continue to run the West Coast Championship.

The bottom line is that the future of handgun silhouette rests in each of our hands. We can band together and continue shooting regardless of the status of IHMSA, or we can just abandon the sport. Unfortunately, I have seen more clubs close because the match director was burned out or moved and no one wanted to do the work and replace him/her. People, apathy is not an option here.

Steve W.

[ole95]

in Alabama it's call "level head"
got my vote,
like Steve I hope it does not come to
that

[35isit]

(quote)The bottom line is that the future of handgun silhouette rests in each of our hands. We can band together and continue shooting regardless of the status of IHMSA, or we can just abandon the sport. Unfortunately, I have seen more clubs close because the match director was burned out or moved and no one wanted to do the work and replace him/her. People, apathy is not an option here. (end quote)

Steve is correct, apathy is not an option. Lawrenceburg has a 1st class range. All targets that IHMSA offers is on a mechanical reset. We can not get people to come out. We struggle along shooting 20 guns a month. Simply put we need shooters. There has been 3 match directors since 1987 myself, W Curlin and our current director D Bemis. If Mr. Bemis stops we will probably close. I still assist every month setting up and tearing down the range. I post the scores here and on our club's website. We arrived at 8:30 on May 6th and welded targets, set up the range, shot all day then sprayed weed killer on the berms till 7:00 that night.

I remember the good old days when going to a match was a happening. There used to be 20+ shooters at a the matches around here. There would be 40-60 guns fired and everyone would have a good time. Now don't get me wrong that still happens at some ranges.

I feel other than the economy, cost of equipment and membership dues our rules hurt us also. Many of our rules are written in shades of gray. They should be written in black and white. Our decision makers who volunteered to represent us should be more forthcoming. If a member of the board gets a question on a rule it should be discussed by the board and the determination should be posted here and e-mailed to all state and local directors. It does no good for potential members to see us debate the rules.

Sorry to ramble so

[19 Turkeys]

but how many memberships would we gain because of the reduced cost and make up that difference?

As of 12/31/2011, the hole that needs filled is $35,000. You would need 700 new members who would have to shoot a total of 13 entries/year to fill it. And, you would need those 700 new members as of January 1, 2012, which is already past. This assumes $25/year dues plus $2/gun sanction fee.

Steve W.

[kg4tyr]

Now, there is light at the end of the tunnel and it does not have to be a freight train. Hypothetically, assume that IHMSA as a sanctioning body folds in 2 or 3 years. That does not mean that the sport has to die. The clubs are still there. Here are two examples, Field Target and Air Rifle Benchrest. These 2 organizations have volunteer officials that govern the sport. These people are either elected or simply volunteered. Each organization has a board like this one, and the Benchrest folks also have a website where results are posted. Match results are posted on the web. Questions are asked and answered, rule changes discussed, etc. Both organizations seem to be doing well even though their membership is not huge. The Air Rifle Benchrest guys have their forum at Benchrest Central, and the Field Target people are in the Yellow Forum if you care to take a look. The Benchrest guys even host postal matches. I shoot both these sports and enjoy them.

Regardless of the future of IHMSA as an organization, the Josephine County Sportsman Association will continue to shoot silhouette matches, and we will continue to run the West Coast Championship.

The bottom line is that the future of handgun silhouette rests in each of our hands. We can band together and continue shooting regardless of the status of IHMSA, or we can just abandon the sport. Unfortunately, I have seen more clubs close because the match director was burned out or moved and no one wanted to do the work and replace him/her. People, apathy is not an option here.

Steve W.

I don't want to see the organization fold, but I am leaning towards that happening. I just sent in my renewal last week which was due today, so I am committed for another year. I haven't really done anything at this point, and don't claim to be any type of organizer, but would like to be prepared. I see an organization modeled after the early days of IHMSA. With a few tweaks in the rules, so they are black and white. Input from shooters as to what classes, disciplines, etc should be included. A website and forum to post on and any business matters that require a vote would be posted for all members to vote on. Lower yearly dues, all paperwork (scorecards, match packages, etc.) can be downloaded. Match reports, etc uploaded, with pictures to post in the online "monthly paper". Articles, letters to the editor, UPDATED calender, any type of news, maybe even get a few advertisers to pitch in. The only bump would be sanction fees from matches would still have to be mailed, unless a PayPal account was set up for the organization. I know, PayPal is anti gun, but it sure makes it easy to do business. A board could be set up to just oversee everything and if a meeting needed to be held a conference call or even a small discussion could be held in a chat room. I hope I don't get slapped on the wrist for this post, but this seems to be where we're headed. I even made up a logo and gave it a name just playing around

[Justin Cider]

If that many people are willing to leave over an increase of $15, then we don't need 'em. Must be a bunch of democrat libs waiting for Obama to come bail them out.