As your Rio Salado Club Territorial Governor, I am here to gather comments, criticisms, needs and your proposed rule changes and communicate them to SASS Headquarters. I will also keep the Club updated on rule changes from SASS. Your RSCASS staff will continue to encourage the growth of Cowboy Action Shooting and our great Club through monthly practices and New Shooter Orientations.
As members, you also represent SASS and our Club. So please encourage your shooting friends to give Cowboy Shooting a try. All the info required to start is on our website. I encourage every club member to read the new Shooters Handbook, which was updated in January 2020. It contains past rule changes and a new format which is easier to follow. You will find rule clarifications by the ROC at http://www.oowss.com/ROCornerIndex.htm.
If you have any questions on rules in the SASS Shooters Handbook, please ask me. If I don’t have the immediate answer, I can find it for you.
Territorial Governor Update:
Happy Easter to all my cowboy and cowgirl friends! I hope everyone is hunkering down with family and staying safe. If you're like me, you have reloaded every piece of brass in sight and waiting patiently for the day you can fire that lead down range.
Even if we can't meet in person, everyone should keep up to date on rules so we can be ready for the next match. With that in mind, I recently participated in a Zoom interactive video Rules Refresher Course with other ROs and TGs from AZ and other parts of the country. The class was hosted by Shamrock Sadie and was a test run to see how it works. It was a great class and the video interaction was just like being in a classroom. Shamrock hopes to include many others in the future for more refresher classes.
One item we discussed was the often used but misunderstood phrase "A miss can't cause a P". Here is how that came about. Let us start with the definition of a Miss from the Handbook: " a failure to hit the appropriate target type using the appropriate firearm type". For example, a stage has 5 targets in a row - instructions say use the rifle to double tap sweep all 5 targets. Then with pistols, shoot a 3-4-3 sweep using only the middle 3 targets (targets 2, 3 and 4). The shooter correctly shoots the targets with the rifle. Then, with pistols, puts the first round on target 1, then realizes the mistake, and shoots the middle 3 targets in a 2-4-3 sweep with his remaining rounds. This would not be a "P", only a miss. The reason is this: Targets 1 and 5 do not exist when shooting the pistols. Only the 3 middle targets are used to determine if a "Procedure happened.
Same result even if the rifle and pistols use separate targets, widely spaced apart. If I shoot a pistol target with the rifle, it would only be a miss because the pistol targets do not exist when shooting the rifle. A "P" however can still happen if the hits on the rifle target are done in the wrong sequence.
One more item we discussed: Who is allowed to make penalty calls against a shooter? Not the scorekeeper, not even the Posse Marshal or anyone in the crowd. ONLY the TO and spotters (and the TO has the final say). This is because only the shooter may protest a call made by the TO (who is the Chief Range Officer when holding the timer). Everyone else must stay out of the decision making process. The Timer Operator has the most important job on the posse and must be alert and know the rules! That way every shooter is judged fairly and equally.
Be safe and I will see you at the next match!