Volume: 17, Issue: 1 (1st Quarter 2013) - IDPA.com

A Message from Joyce Wilson,
IDPA Executive Director
I feel like these words from
former Swedish Prime Minister
Göran Persson speak directly to me
as I take stock of IDPA in 2012 and
plan for our future. The last quarter
of the year presented us with some
challenges as individuals and as
an organization. Political winds
change quickly, and the recent
heartbreaking spate of shootings,
perpetrated by madmen, have
made towns like Newtown, CT and
Webster, NY, part of our daily
lexicon. Every firearm owner
in our country faces a challenge
from proposed legislation that
threatens our rights and our
sport. We must gird up for the
battle, and remember who is
behind these proposals. Now
is not the time to argue or cast
aspersions on the character of
other members or other shooting
sports; we must stand together,
as I fear we underestimate the
lengths to which our foes will go to
separate us from our firearms.
also perform that service. Most
importantly, on a grass roots level,
take a new shooter to the range
and introduce them to the joys of
shooting. “Let us be there for one
another…in the finest sense of the
word.”
A supporting goal in this
effort is one that is close to my
heart, and that is to increase the
participation of women in our
sport. Toward that end, I will be
speaking at the inaugural National
Conference of A Girl & A Gun
Women’s Shooting League:
Breaking Barriers. I encourage all
of our female shooters to consider
attending this March 22-24 event
in Waco, TX, which will include
live-fire classes and classroom
sessions from speakers on relevant
topics such as self defense and
competition. For more information,
see the sign up page at http://
www.agirlandagunclub.com/
conference-2013.
An exciting announcement, made
shortly before Christmas, was the
location and dates for our 2013
and 2014 IDPA Nationals. We are
happy to be returning to the USSA
range in Tulsa, OK, for the next
two years. I hope to see many of
you there in September of this
year!
Our Tiger Teams continue their
work and are seeing light at the
end of the tunnel. Many thanks
to those members and teams
who continued to meet through
the holidays to get us closer to
our goal of a new rulebook. Our
Match Administration Team
completed their work Christmas
week. The SO Education
(SOE) Team continues to meet;
they are creating the curriculum
that will be used for previous
Safety Officer recertification and
new SO certification; they have
also selected and will be deploying
an on-line testing software that will
be used for SO testing purposes.
Their work will continue through
the better part of Q1.
As IDPA members, how can
we fight back? I encourage you
to renew your membership and
participation in our sport, and
other shooting sports that feed
your passion. Remember that the
NRA has a legal entity whose sole
purpose is to represent us, and
The HQ Team, Robert Ray,
Terry Burba, Kitty Richards and
I look forward to seeing many
of our members in February for
other organizations, like the GOA,
the Smith & (Continued on page 28)
IDPA Tactical Journal First Quarter 2013 11