Initial Thoughts on New IDPA Rulebook

I’ve only read through it once and scratched some very rough notes but here are some of the issues that particularly stood out to me:

Safety. The new book has some rather complicated and sometimes contradictory rules about safety. Section F1(B) states that “unsafe gunhandling will result in immediate disqualification (DQ).” Then we get S5 which allows a shooter to violate the finger placement rule three times before getting DQ’d. The first incident gets a warning, the second a 3-second penalty, and the third a 20-second penalty. (Rule S7, on the other hand, goes from a warning straight to the 20-second penalty and then DQ) I’ve always maintained that this is a bad practice. Safe gun handling should not be part of the shooter’s score. Either he’s safe enough to shoot the match or he should be DQ’d.

Round Dumping. (edited 2106 7-May-13) Joyce Wilson responded to my email from earlier today asking for clarification and stated in no uncertain terms that “the ‘dumping rule’ is gone.” Halle-kitten-lujah!

Appendix Carry. Still disallowed. While I cannot begrudge them the decision I do wish they’d gone the other way. I wonder if we started a big mail-in campaign whether we could change their minds. I suppose we’d have to mail them our appendixes, though. That may not be legal. Or healthy.

Cover. IDPA has now clearly stated that shooters aren’t required to hug the barricade when shooting from behind cover. While this seems obvious to most folks it actually became a problem at some clubs and even some big matches because someone with no real training or understanding of realistic cover principles decided that you had to be close to the wall in order for it to stop bullets… no, seriously. Good change on IDPA’s part.

Malfunctions & Cover. Rule R9.3 was written hastily and without much forethought. The rules states that if you have an out of battery gun after trying to reload, you have to try pulling the trigger before you can clear the malfunction. That’s simply dangerous not to mention pretty silly from a tactical standpoint. I’ll be amazed if that’s not changed, and quickly.

Reloads on the Move. For a while IDPA had an absolutely ridiculous rule that if your gun went dry in the middle of an open field you were required to sprint (safely and with your muzzle downrange) to the nearest point of cover before you could do anything about it. Now they allow you to begin your reload as soon as the gun goes dry. However, you cannot engage any targets until you’re behind cover. I’m of two minds on this. On the one hand, it’s stupid from a realistic/combat standpoint; if the gun is ready to fire and there are targets to be shot, why wait? On the other hand, I do see the problem from a competition standpoint; if you allow people to reload and re-enage out in the open, they’ll take baby steps so they can engage the targets easily and quickly before getting to cover. The new rule probably isn’t what I would have suggested but thinking it through, it makes sense to me.

Video. The rules explicitly state that there will be no “instant replay” through the use of video. One of the things that makes IDPA so great is that most officials and competitors are honest and sincere sportsmen. Getting each ruling mired down in “but look, Bubba done video’d it!” would become tiresome. I imagine it was a tough decision, but I think they made the right one.

Round Count. Stages no longer have to make an attempt at being revolver- or CDP-neutral. As someone who’s designed a lot of stages over the years, the old limitation was frustrating.

Equipment Rules. The rules are a lot easier to follow and standardized more appropriately between the different semiauto divisions. While there will still be people complaining that their favorite mod isn’t allowed in SSP, there aren’t too many things that will keep most people from competing as long as they’re willing to do so in ESP or CDP, depending on caliber. There will also be complaints that 10mm still isn’t allowed in CDP… complaints from the same six people who think 10mm is still popular and wish that Smith, HK, and every other handgun manufacturer would make guns in 10mm.

There are other little things I like or don’t like but those were the major points for me.