The new IDPA rulebook, which has been a work in progress for the past couple of years through the use of anonymous “tiger teams” set to task on various aspects of the sport, is being released for comment to IDPA members today on IDPA’s website.
Joyce Wilson, Executive Director of IDPA, gave an interview to ShootingUSA during the NRA Annual Meeting in Houston. You can listen to the entire podcast on the ShootingUSA website.
In particular, Joyce spelled out the 4-step method by which potential rule changes were evaluated:
- What was the purpose or history behind the current rule?
- Is the rule still valid today?
- Does the rule support the founders’ principles and values?
- Does the rule require the Safety Officer to make a judgment call?
Those last two questions are the key ones.
Joyce’s comments during the podcast make it clear that IDPA is looking to move towards the founding principles of the game. As someone who’s been an IDPA member since 1997 I can certainly appreciate how much the sport has changed in that time. While some competitors have pushed to make matches more “gamey,” it sounds like the tiger teams and Board of Directors want to remain true to the original intent behind IDPA as a way for people to focus on realistic concealed carry skills.
But it’s the judgment call question and Joyce’s comment that IDPA wants to “take some subjectivity out of the officiating at matches” that really grabbed my attention. Anyone who has competed at multiple major IDPA matches around the country, if he’s honest, will tell you that rule interpretations vary wildly from match to match and sometimes from stage to stage depending on who is running the show. Stage walkthroughs are normally followed by a long (and often tedious) process of asking the SOs for permission to shoot the stage certain ways. Whatever steps IDPA is taking to alleviate this problem will be welcome. One can only assume that the much-hated dumping rule will also be deleted or at least more clearly defined as part of this shift toward objectivity.
A few other previews Joyce offered during the ShootingUSA interview:
- After a long and confusing period of banishment, the Springfield XD line of pistols will finally be allowed to compete head to head against similar striker-fired guns such as the Glock and M&P in Stock Service Pistol Division.
- The current rulebook will be split into two separate items: a simple statement of the rules for competitors and an explanatory description of concepts and intent for Safety Officers, Match Directors, and Area Coordinators. In addition, there will be a new online recertification program for SOs.
- IDPA will be instituting a “Code of Conduct” for its members. The podcast made it sound like this would revolve primarily around range safety but one can but hope it will also address the unsportsmanlike behavior that has become the norm in some corners of the action shooting sports.
It’s also worth mentioning that the rulebook as it is presented today is not finalized. IDPA intends to have a three week comment period for members to voice their opinions. The Board of Directors did a very similar thing before IDPA went “live” back in 1997 and I still remember some of the changes we were able to push through (like giving ESP the same front & backstrap checkering rules as CDP).
More on the new rules once I’ve had a chance to read the proposed changes…
Train hard & stay safe! ToddG
Going there to read it now. I was having a discussion with someone the other day that a lot of the tactics they teach are really case dependent so it was frustrating that they are broad rules that apply all the time.
One I can think of is reloading from behind cover. Ideally I would like to be behind cover if I am involved in a shooting but there are many situations I can imagine where cover is not available or cover is far away and if during my encounter I happen to run dry or want to do a mag change I might not get to wait until I get to cover to do so.