Shooting Range, Minnesota Itasca Gun Club Newsletter February 2007

    Check right now for your new membership card. If you are a life member or if your dues are paid for 2007, your new card is enclosed. If not, there’s still time to renew.

    There are a significant number of members who haven’t updated since 2006 so please be sure to check your payment status. The current gate combination will be good until March 20^th 2007 when it will be re-set to the new combination for the 2007 season.

    Every year there are a few folks who ask for clarification about the Volunteer Service Policy at IGC so here’s a brief re-cap.

    IGC strives to keep the cost of membership low. This is accomplished in large part by utilizing the talents of members who voluntarily provide services that the club would otherwise need to pay for. We ask that all members choose to either provide 5 hours of service during a year or provide an "in kind" payment of $25.00 to help defray maintenance costs. But even that is voluntary! If you choose not to pay the $25.00 nor do you wish to provide voluntary service at the range, your membership remains in tact and you are just as welcome as any other member.

    Here’s something to help put the policy in perspective. Virtually anything a member does for the club qualifies as volunteer service and many, if not most of the services can easily be performed at home or away from the range. Selling raffle tickets, writing for the newsletter, making phone calls, contributing items for the web site, taking pictures, promoting events and even record keeping. Of course there are plenty of obvious duties like maintenance, building projects, sight in days, planning and hosting events, even just coming to monthly meetings qualifies.

    Bottom-line, help if can, pay if you can, do whatever you can to help make a visit to our range a great experience.

    The Itasca Gun Club annual meeting for 2007 was a rather nice, relaxing event for the 50 or so club members who attended. The Eagles Club in Grand Rapids was welcoming to us in every way, the food was good and the mood was cheerful.

    After the completion last year of our new Clubhouse at the range, members seized the opportunity to celebrate the accomplishment by keeping new business to a minimum. We did act on one proposal to adopt an official position in support of the introduction of legislation that would propose allowing the use of non-magnifying optics for hunting with muzzleloaders in Minnesota. Russ Heavirland agreed to prepare a rough draft, to be refined and adopted officially. This document will be available to any club member who requests it.

The roster of elected IGC Club Officers remains unchanged, as there were no new nominations. A motion to vote on a "White Ballot" carried. A complete roster is printed at the end of this letter.

    For those of you who didn’t know Jerry or weren’t around at the time, Jerry Jolicoeur was one of the driving forces behind developing the indoor range at IGC and without his influence, there may have never been indoor pistol shooting at IGC. The first "Jolicoeur Match" was held in April 2000 and it’s only fitting that we do everything we can to support this event and strive to keep it an annual event.

    The IGC Bullseye Pistol League is humming right along. We have about 5 weeks left in the season and so far Pete Meyers is leading the way, but just barely. Joel Adamson is hot on Pete’s tail and it just might end up a race down to the wire. We have 10 shooters in the league this year and from what I see, most of the competitors are carrying a higher raw average this year than they did last year. It just goes to show you that practice and repetition pays off. The most dramatic improvement I’ve seen is by Carol Oliver who had her gun re-gripped and enjoyed an immediate improvement. Carol had been averaging around the high 300s to the low 400s and went to shooting in the 470s and 480s. It’s not just the gun though, Carol does a lot of practicing and it’s paying off. Way to go Carol!

    Pistols and coffee on Wednesdays has been popular as well. Members and non-members can use the indoor range. Cost is $3.00 per session for non-members and $1.00 per session for members. Season passes can be purchased that cover you for both Monday evenings and Wednesdays. Contact Conley Janssen for more info about Wednesday midday open shooting.

    There are currently three IDPA matches scheduled for this summer. There will be more details in the match programs, but for now pencil in these dates: June 2^nd, August 11^th, and September 8^th, 2007. Watch the next newsletter for details or contact Taylor Bunes.

    Attention all IGC Firearm instructors! Minnesota State Law requires that all certified instructors receive ongoing training on at least an annual basis. These requirements supersede any other training credentials you may have. In other words, if you don’t attend the annual training sessions, you can’t teach "Carry Permit Classes" in Minnesota. The next official IGC Instructor Training Sessions are scheduled for May 5^th, 2007. There will likely be another workshop this fall, but that’s it. It is critical that you contact Taylor Bunes to sign up for one of these sessions to avoid losing your status as an instructor.

    IGC has a large staff of Certified instructors for basic home firearm safety; personal protection and many other firearms related classes. As a part of becoming a certified instructor, we accept certain responsibilities including the active pursuit of opportunities to provide instruction in our area. You are encouraged to organize your own class offerings or to become involved with other instructors who can use the help.

If anyone is interested they should contact one of the listed instructors by visiting www.itascagunclub.org and exploring opportunities for putting together a class.

    4H has plans for a shooting camp on April 14 – 15, 2007 and could use some volunteers to help out. Coaching experience is a bonus, but not required. If you will help out, contact Jean Lane or Conley Janssen.

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    House File 498, "Castle Doctrine" legislation, sponsored by State Representative Tony Cornish (R-24B) would allow a person to use deadly force in and outside of their home and vehicle and removes duty to retreat when outside of the home. This legislation provides criminal immunity when someone is justified in using deadly force. The House Public Safety and Civil Justice Committee, which currently has the bill, may not even hear it because of anti-gun members. Please contact your State Representative at (651) 296-2146 and respectfully ask him or her to demand House File 498 go before the House Public Safety and Civil Justice Committee. Senate File 446, sponsored by State Senator Pat Pariseau (R-36), is the companion legislation to House File 498 - "Castle Doctrine." This legislation is facing the same opposition as its companion - not being heard by the committee. Please contact your State Senator at (651) 296-0504 and respectfully ask him or her to demand the Senate Judiciary Committee hold hearings on Senate File 446 to allow law-abiding citizens to protect themselves.

    NRA MEMBERS! Don’t forget. When it’s time to renew your NRA membership, you can get a $10 discount off the usual dues rate by renewing through IGC. Just send your check (payable to NRA) for $25 along with your name, address, choice of magazine and NRA membership # to: IGC/NRA, P.O.201, Grand Rapids, MN. 55744. It’s just that easy! If you’re one of those who haven’t gotten around to joining NRA yet, you can get the same deal! Remember, either way the club will receive a commission on your membership dues payment.

    It is never too early to plan ahead, so anyone interested in Helping out for Sight-in days should contact Conley Janssen. We need more than just coaches, People to help with target stands and getting things ready for the event are always needed.