Things I'd like to see in 2018

[powerpress] I’d like to see ALL of the major shooting sports stop fudging around with the rules all the time. We’ve been playing around with provisional divisions in USPSA for a couple years now, just make them official divisions. The USPSA part isn’t really a big deal, so lets talk about IDPA for a second. OMG. I literally can’t keep up. It’s like every couple months there’s either another rulebook, or another update, or something posted on a random blog at idpa.tech (that I’m still not sure is an official IDPA website, or if it’s just someone who’s a big fan that started a website?) but seriously, the rules have changed just too much in the last year. It was right around January 1, 2017 when the “new rulebook” came out, and it’s been a steady flow of new rules, and changes and clarifications since then. Then there’s 3-Gun. As someone who takes a LOT of questions from people who are interested in getting in all sorts of competitive shooting, not just IDPA and USPSA. The trouble in my opinion with the 3-gun world is the lack of a central governing body. Now, some folks will say that there are some matches that couldn’t happen under the rules of a central body, and that's fine, we have specialty matches in the pistol world too, but the issue here is that it’s hard to give new shooters good advice about what to expect at a local 3-gun match in their part of the world. In 2018 I’d like to see more ranges make the procedures for new shooters VERY obvious on their websites. This is one of those things that I run into from time to time that annoys the absolute crap out of me. I talk to a lot of people about getting started in competitive shooting. I get a lot of emails and messages with questions about getting started, and one thing that never really makes sense to me is that a certain range will have a specific procedure for new shooters (like, requiring a class that’s not at the time of the match, or having the buddy system where they pair up new shooters with someone experienced, etc) but THERE'S NOTHING ON THEIR WEBSITE ABOUT IT! It’s 2018. If it’s not on your website, it doesn’t exist. Put the millennial's in your club to work, make them write it up for the website if you don’t know how. Was your website made in 1998, and doesn't have the capability to add this sort of stuff easily? Get one of the millennial's to toss together a Wordpress site for next to nothing, and bam, you're in business. I want to see ALL the shooting sports make it easier to become a range officer. I really think asking people to pay for the class with their own money, stay in a hotel out of town, etc, etc just for the opportunity to volunteer MORE is the wrong model. I think this is an issue within all of the major shooting sports, not just one in particular. I’ve got more thoughts on it, but I’m not ready to talk about them just yet. Basically though, the system for getting people to become an RO just seems broken. Plug of the Week: #GUNGOSSIP https://youtu.be/MecoIijsvVE Fantastic YouTube channel. I'm a fan. 2018 Goals: Now's the time to lay out your competitive shooting goals for 2018 if you haven't already. I screwed up (or rather, setup a goal for 2017 that was a copout) and I have no idea if I was successful or not. Here in 2018 I have a very measurable goal: Make USPSA Production Master. I found this blog post about effective goal setting really good. Check it out.