• If you enjoy the forum please consider supporting it by signing up for a NES Membership  The benefits pay for the membership many times over.

Bad News from New Bedford

Very disappointing news. I just started shooting USPSA matches last year and was hoping to branch out to matches at other clubs this upcoming season, with New Bedford being one of them. Hopefully the BOD comes to realize their error.
 
goodlife30 said:
Sounds like the same fuddery that goes on there
Click to expand...

Huh?

Many clubs just don't have the land and/or money required to build 1/2 a dozen action shooting pits.

The idea that you can just easily move an action shooting program to any club is just not correct, even if they aren't fudds.
 
M1911 said:
Do you really think it is that easy? Do you have $1M+ to buy the land? Another $100k+ to pay for legal fees to fight the neighbors who will try to prevent a new gun club from opening up?
Click to expand...

Pretty much. This would need to be a long term plan where you stacked a town counsel/zoning board, got zoning in place to allow such and activity, then buy the land and execute.

I can't even imagine the amount of frustration trying to open a club and any town could grind it to a halt.
 
Very sad day indeed. Thank you to all the dedicated folks who worked their asses off to put together these great matches.
 
Holy cow, that is really sad news. A large part of my learning to shoot action pistol and to RO was thanks to New Bedford. You had some of the most fun matches I have ever shot. Action Pistol over all made me change from a shoot once a year person to a once a week shooter.

I wanted to thank you Scott, Dave, and everyone at NB that put on those matches. I am really sorry to hear that this has happened.
 
I am shocked. I did not expect that level of retardation from NB!

I shot my first match at NB, and for several years I visited NB, shooting with friendliest crowd of great guys.
Scott, Dave, everyone at NB -- I want to thank you all for your time and effort.

What bothers me is growing fuddery at the clubs, and how easily the clubs succumb to local mini-dictators...
 
M1911 said:
Huh?

Many clubs just don't have the land and/or money required to build 1/2 a dozen action shooting pits.

The idea that you can just easily move an action shooting program to any club is just not correct, even if they aren't fudds.
Click to expand...

Who said anything about that? Seems that the board canned something that was already occurring. And to be honest most clubs out here have plenty of land for additional ranges if they choose to pursue some new shooting pits. What I see is usually entrenched old timers who hate change. Or the barroom supporters who want no funds allocated away from the clubhouse.
 
Scott -
Sad to hear! You, Fred, and Dave have built a good shooting area and always produce good safe matches that are a credit to your club. Any one of the clubs can easily go that road when members and committee people are pushed aside and the problem isn't quickly identified, and rectified. Pogo said it best: we have met the enemy and he is us! Catch up with you guys on a range, at a match some place. Maybe about .40 minutes north on 495.
Cheers
 
Wow, that just sucks. Yup, sportsman's clubs are just there for old folks to get out of the house to drink beer. I was think another F' word not FUDS.
 
o.k. that sucks.

One of the big reasons I joined NB was the action pistol program. (did some steel challenges....was impressed).

Sure wish I knew all this stuff Before I re-uped my dues this year.
 
hedgehound said:
What bothers me is growing fuddery at the clubs, and how easily the clubs succumb to local mini-dictators...
Click to expand...
It all comes down to a lack of respect for diversity (a term I liberated from IPSCDRL).

When board members take it upon them selves to value only "their kind" of shooting, things go downhill.

Hopkinton Sportsmens turned around about 12 years or so ago, and welcomed action shooting. Funny thing is that our strongest supporters were two board members in their 80's (RIP to both of them).
 
Shot my first IDPA match at NB in 2012. Dave b and crew made it a fun and memorable experience. So much so that we started an IDPA Program at Old Colony. My sincere thanks to the action shooters at NB for broadening my shooting experience. It really is sad that a BoD has that much absolute power. Hopefully the club feels the effects and comes to their senses. Did someone say recall election?

Truly a lesson to other clubs to keep their eye on the ball ER, I mean Board.
 
I didn't shoot at NB except for the shotgun and carbine match but it will be missed. Same story different club, Bunch of old bullseyes shooters that still think shooting is about holes in paper sitting around an old card table with a beer reminiscing about the old days. It's sad that some people fail to see the need to grow and expand into different areas and disciplines. Many thanks to Dave Bold and his crew that went above and beyond every month to bring the best in shooting to everybody that could show up. Thankfully Dave and his crew will be welcome at any club if they go looking for a new home for USPSA on their rep alone and I will be happy to follow.
Dave
 
As someone who has been through numerous changes to what I am able to set up at my own club, I feel really bad for the predicament Scott has been put into, and what has become of the action shooting discipline at New Bedford. It saddens me to see any club go this way. I will miss the matches at New Bedford, as I believe they had become the most challenging of the monthly matches that I attended, with the most complex stage set ups, and an extremely high level of competition, and well run, smooth running matches. It is a shame that after such a short period, the matches are no more. The Action Shooting program there, and I imagine together with the support of their board of directors, truly made New Bedford one of the premier shooting facilities in southern new england. It's a shame it will go unused to the level it was in the past few years, and probably will be for the foreseeable future.
It really puzzles me why clubs have begun mandating no side berm shooting. I truly believe it is just purely out of the lack of understanding what the sport entails. Same dirt in the back of the range as on the sides, no special stopping power back there. If the targets are set up safely, which is towards the base of the side berms to minimize any chance of someone shooting over the top of one, there isn't a problem. I've been all over the country shooting, this doesn't seem to be a problem much anywhere but New England for some strange reason. Possibly it's just old habits, everything goes one way, and no one is willing to be open to change. We are a stubborn crew, us shooting people, and sadly, it is a fact that we turn on our own. Divided we fall, and eventually we will, through our own faults and stubborness, there will be no where left to shoot for the majority of us.

That being said, I would like to thank everyone who ever volunteered at New Bedford, and everyone who ever had a say or hand in helping that range become what it is. I first shot there when I started shooting probably 18 or 20 years ago, it has come so far.
Regardless of what happened the other night, I'd encourage all the shooting community to continue to support anyone who may one day pick up the tools and try to resurrect that club for shooting events. I hope some events will still be held there that we may have a chance to compete in, and support that club, because it's really a great range and the people who I met throughout the years there are excellent people who have given much to the shooting community.

So for now, I'll miss New Bedford, and look forward optimistically to one day shooting there again.
Thanks for the memories
Matt Joe
 
Matt,
A very well thought out and expressed response.
A long time ago, a very good friend of mine said that shooters were their own worst enemies. What happened at New Bedford and indeed other clubs simply reinforce Mike's comment.
 
Wow, this is terrible news. NB was always a favorite match of mine when in Ma and was worth the long drive up because I knew the stages would be great and the match would be run smoothly and safely. Hopefully the BOD will have a change of heart and realize that USPSA has an excellent safety record and there is no safety issue shooting side berms. As 38supermatt said, it is done all over the country and in densely populated place.

Thank you to everyone that worked tirelessly running matches at NB.
 
Matt, I couldn't have said it any better. New Bedford is a great club with great facilities and I've enjoyed the matches there over the years. I haven't been shooting as long as you but I've seen tremendous growth in the years that I have been shooting there. It's too bad that some type of compromise couldn't have been made to appease both sides. Maybe that can still happen. I also, don't understand the 'no side berm' shooting rule. Unless there is a specific incident that has happened, I tend to think some people are misguided on that issue as being about safety. Safety is inherently built in to USPSA shooting with their rules, trained r.o's and courses of fire designed with safety as the first requirement. Maybe those that made the decision think we are a bunch of crazy people running around with guns and randomly shooting at thing, and they aren't familiar with the USPSA rules and it's excellent safety record? Maybe we could somehow show them?

This is a sad day......
 
It really puzzles me why clubs have begun mandating no side berm shooting. I truly believe it is just purely out of the lack of understanding what the sport entails.
Click to expand...
There is a mode of thinking that goes something like "If I can condemn some others as unsafe, that makes me the expert and God's gift to range safety". Add in a bit of authoritah and that individual also becomes important.
 
Last edited:
I recognize many of the quality folks who have responded to this post and many have said it better than I could. Like many I have witnessed the growth of USPSA at New Bedford. In my opinion this growth is directly related to two things, the very dedicated folks such as Scott B and Dave B along with many, many, others; as well as, the inherent safety record of the shooting sports such as USPSA. The matches at New Bedford are run by some of the most dedicated and enthusiastic shooters I know. It is obvious to me that the membership at New Bedford has decided to make a substantial investment in the shooting sports and this investment has paid off. I am not talking about just the obvious financial impact on the club; but more importantly, by providing a venue to introduce new shooters to a variety of shooting disciplines in an organized and safe manner. This is the life blood of the shooting sports. A few years ago, I decided to learn more about USPSA by becoming a certified Range Officer and help at matches when needed. The controls and safety protocols are second to none. I have seen more folks turn the wrong way on a trap field and have unsafe gun handling procedures on static ranges than you can imagine. This simply DOES NOT occur at USPSA matches. The level of control though the enforced rules of USPSA far exceed what can be expected of an individual on a static range. In my opinion it is brutally obvious that more is going on behind the scenes at this club than we are aware and it is at the expense of the membership. How does breaking the 180 Rule become any more dangerous whether you are shooting any of the three berms? I am not a club member; however, I would urge the membership at New Bedford to re-examine how and by whom this decision was made and seriously question the validity of the reason for the decision.
 
We can analyze this from every side and point given and in the end it is going to come down to the old guard that is entrenched in the 1 hand bullseye days doesn't want to grow with something they don't understand or like so they throw up the roadblocks to maintain control. Screaming safety issues is just as good as yelling cease fire, plus it lasts longer and gets the attention of the rest of the Geritol bullseye crowd to pile on to maintain statis quo control at an election. Have been thru same issues at my club with change where the old guard dug up members that hadn't been around in so long we had to check IDs to make sure they were actually voting members.
 

Similar threads

New Steel Challenge World Record - <shrug> <spit>
Replies
12
Views
733
allen-1
allen-1
Rod & Gun Club of New Bedford- Action Steel Match for August 21st
Replies
8
Views
436
Leezway
Leezway
Rod & Gun Club of New Bedford - Action Steel Matches..
Replies
0
Views
416
Leezway
Leezway
New to competition shooting
Replies
4
Views
487
paul73
paul73
03/28/2022 IDPA SO class, New England
Replies
0
Views
356
allen-1
allen-1
Back
Top Bottom