Chunter,
You wrote, "Now I know that I don't want anything to do with an organization that has people in it like this."
I respectfully disagree. I, personally, would not want to be associated with an organization that did not have people like this. By that, I mean an organization that did not tolerate dissent or argument. Perhaps the perfect organization would have a Board of Directors who would be willing to, purely in the interest of the other members and the sport as a whole, suspend or revoke the membership of an individual for political reasons. We have been there, and I was there when a new Board publicly apologized to this individual, who is now a State Director.
Imagine the organization where you have to get on the internet and gather individual members from all over this continent in order to have a discussion of ideas. The IHMSA, nor its politics, does not impact my local matches, in a negative way. In my state, 80% of the active shooters will not travel a few (4 1/4 hours at most) to attend one of the largest silhouette championships in the nation, while others came in from Kentucky, Mississippi, and Nebraska. Nationwide, 95% of the active shooters will not attend the Internationals. Why we would get ourselves so wrapped up in the politics of an international organization, when most of us will not travel to shoot another range, let alone another state or country, puzzles me.
When I travel, I do try to visit other ranges. Last April, I visited a neighboring state and shot in two of their matches, in hopes to get some of those shooters over to Oregon for our big match a couple of weeks ago, and none of them came. They have great matches with strong local attendance, but I was disappointed in their willingness to support our match. At my local match, IHMSA shooters must follow IHMSA rules, but we allow rifles and non-sanctioned handgunners to shoot as well.
I have had several discussions with Kelly, both online and via email, in the past. My reference to not wanting to shoot in Alaska, has to do with an attitude which I perceive is developing up there. As it is unlikely that any of those shooters up there will be attending major championships out of their own state, I do not have any problem with what they want to do at their own matches. If they want to outlaw freestyle positions and only allow standing in Alaska, that would be fine with me. If GZ and IHMSA 80X80 want to outlaw Standing and only allow Freestyle in their own states, that would be fine with me, but I would not make the 13 hour drive to LA to shoot with GZ on Labor Day. Although we allow rifle shooters at our matches, I would never try to convince the IHMSA that we should take our local concerns and force their acceptance nationwide.
Kelly, I only possess one handgun which would qualify for your standard handgun criteria. It is a Colt Mustang Pocketlite in .380 ACP. This is the only reason I would not compete in your new organization. I would have to spend more money than I already have invested in my silhouette guns, just to be able to compete in the new organization. I have tried the .380 in FP once. I shot a 3x40! Compare that to the 39x40 I shot in FP - P with my Contender and guess which one gets my vote.
Chunter - Keep it local, and you will have no problems. If you do not like to shoot silhouette with handguns, then that is fine. If you let folks in KY, LA, CA, AK, AZ, or myself in Oregon scare you away, then you do not want to shoot handgun silhouette to begin with, and you should spend your time and money in pursuits which you do enjoy. I will be the last one who will say that this sport is for everyone. I try not to get emotionally involved. The IHMSA is what it is. If a shooter decides to go elsewhere, then another organization may be getting a great asset. If you want to shoot handgun silhouette, do it, but do not say that someone else in a far away state has ruined it for you.
Larry H.