Officer and Board of Director's Elections: Branch Valley FGFA, Perkasie PA

I am writing to the members of the Branch Valley Fish, Game and Forestry Association who may also be members of this board. I am seeking your vote in the upcoming board of director’s election which will be held in December. I am running against the current chairman of the outdoor range committee.

I am seeking this position due to the new rules that have been implemented by the board and officers of the club that include firearms cannot be loaded with more than ten rounds and there must be at least one second between shots. I am opposed to these rule changes because I cannot believe that an NRA affiliated club would impose range rules which contain the parts of the worst gun control law that our great country has ever been subjected to, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, otherwise known as the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB). I am tired of the conscientious and safe members of the club being punished for the negligence or ignorance of others. More importantly, I am opposed to the way these rules were implemented. These rules changes were not communicated to the membership at large and were implemented with no input from the members.

It appears that our current leadership has held their positions too long and is no longer running the club for the benefit of the general members. The board of directors and officers at Branch Valley seem to have forgotten that their position in our organization is to serve all the members of the club and not just those that share their individual interests in the shooting sports. By enacting the current rules, it appears that the current leadership believes that the members of this club are not capable of safely using firearms and that our intent is to destroy club property while using the club facilities.

I have been an avid shooter and hunter for the last 21 years. I am a life member of the NRA and have been an NRA certified instructor for the last 15 years. I am certified to teach home firearms safety, basic pistol and personal protection inside the home. I have taught between two and five courses per year since I have been certified. I have competed in IDPA and GSSF matches as well as a few local NRA High Power Rifle and bullseye pistol matches. I hunt just about every big and small game species that is legal to hunt here in Pennsylvania with almost all means of equipment including archery, centerfire rifle and pistol, and flintlock for big game and shotgun, and rimfire rifle and pistol for small game. I have also hunted in Maine and South Carolina and I am a lifelong fisherman.

If elected to the board, I will do my best to ensure that the interests of all members are represented when leadership decisions are made. I believe I can do this because, unlike our current leadership, I use all the club facilities and participate in all the disciplines that are available to club members.

I do realize that I will not be able to turn the club around single handedly. If there are other members out there that feel the same way I do, please consider coming to the membership meeting this Tuesday, November 3rd at 7:30 PM and nominating others to run against the current leadership. You may nominate yourself for a position. All nominations are closed after the November meeting is concluded. Also, please attend the December membership meeting and encourage as many others that you know to attend and vote for me and others running against the incumbent leadership. As of right now, I am the only person nominated to run for any board member or officer position.

I would be happy to discuss any thoughts or concerns in this thread or via PM. I look forward to meeting you and thank you for your support.

Finally. I would consider rejoining if the current leadership is removed.
Thank you for running.

Unfortunately you are not alone. These rule changes and the way they were done was the straw that broke the camel's back for me.

Please put the word out to any members you know.

Thanks for any support.

I just returned from the membership meeting. There were no other nominations to run against the incumbent officers or board members.

Please note since the first Tuesday in December falls on the second day of buck season, the December meeting has been moved to December 8th. Please come out and vote.

Just a reminder that elections for club officers and board of directors will be held tomorrow night at 7:30 PM.

Please come out and vote.

Greetings,

I realize this is an older thread that died out, but I just notices it. I wanted to add some comments to better describe the reasons for the updated regulations for those who may not be aware of them.

The current reality is that virtually all gun clubs are an endangered species. Between new neighbors, the EPA, general anti gun sentiment, noise complaints, safety concerns, new housing and business development around the clubs, etc. it's a near constant fight that we are up against, just to maintain what we have.

I was 100% opposed to these new directives and spoke up against them at the meetings when they were discussed. However, one board member made a point that I feel best described the situation. That being (to paraphrase) that the main responsibility of the board was to ensure the clubs' continuing existence. Please consider we may be ONE stray round away from losing our club!

Unfortunately the actions of a few who irresponsibly shoot up the infrastructure, allow shots to exit the range, do un-aimed mag dumps, etc. are what has caused these changes. I also noted at the meeting that punishing the entire membership for the actions of the few was wrong, but on reflection I don't see alternatives until those specific members are identified and removed from the club.

We (many members and the board) have gone to great lengths to attempt to find those who are causing these problems and get rid of them. Also, the new regulations are not necessarily permanent, but will be revisited as time goes on.

I ask any member who would like to see what we're up against to meet with me personally at the club so I can show them the constant damage and other issues that are causing these problems. Please PM me and I'll be glad to do this.

BTW, I am NOT on the board; I'm just an active member trying to help make the club a better place and ensure it remains there for future generations of shooters to enjoy.

Regards, Jim

Well Jim,

That's all fine and good but there are bigger issues going on here.

This is the very first time I've heard that the leadership is that concerned about losing the range, and that's my biggest complaint about this whole situation. There was no communication with the members about these rule changes, unless you consider telling the 60 or so guys that are friends of the officers that show up to the meetings as communication. The members as a whole were not informed of these changes and that's wrong.

I wish it was not the case but Branch Valley is going to be history. What's going to happen is these rules are going to drive away the good and safe shooters like myself that truly care about the club and all that's going to be left are the knuckleheads and morons that are shooting the place up. What you're going to find is these people are going to do even more damage now just to spite the leadership that is trying to control them with an iron fist. A round is going to leave the range and something bad is going to happen and POOF! Branch Valley will be no more.

So I have washed my hands of that place. Interestingly, I just joined two other clubs within a short drive of Branch Valley that allow their members to train for self defense and they don't have any mag capacity or speed restrictions. They have the same problems that BV and every other club in Bucks county has with encroaching neighbors and the dangers associated with a round leaving the range. How is it that these two other clubs that have the same problems do not have to enact draconian gun control rules? It's because these clubs communicate with their members and engage their neighbors, instead of treating the members like children and keeping their neighbors in the dark. It's been said before that gun control is about control and we certainly have gun control at Branch Valley now, don't we? You, me, every member of Branch Valley and every member of this board knows that a 10 round mag limit and one second between shots is not going to stop anyone from doing un-aimed mag dumps or shooting the place up if that's what they decide to do. Every single round I've ever fired at Branch Valley has hit the paper target and impacted the berm as it should have and I've never done an un-aimed mag dump. Hell, I've never done an AIMED mag dump. That's not behavior that I would ever do myself at any range. Why am I being punished? I am being punished because the leadership of Branch Valley sees no need to ever fire more than ten rounds any faster than one per second. Well, unless you're a board member that just loves to shoot his super tricked out M1 and AR in NRA hi-power, then it's OK, right? Can you say rules for thee, but not for me?

I have heard other officers at BV say that these rule changes are not permanent, but if you believe that the regular members are ever going to be allowed to load their normal-capacity polymer framed pistol or AR mags to full capacity again, then I have some beautiful swamp land in Arizona to sell you.

So thanks but no thanks. I wish you the best of luck and I hope you enjoy shooting your bolt action and flintlock from the bench and your M1 Garand from the prone position. Soon enough, that's all you'll be allowed to do and those are the only guns you'll be allowed to shoot because those are the only things that the leadership is interested in doing themselves. Don't worry though, if some terrorist or psycho decides to shoot up the Wal-Mart, and you're there, I'll use every bit of my training with my fully loaded, high capacity, polymer framed pistol to stop the threat and save your life or the lives of any of the Branch Valley "leadership" that happens to be there.

Speaking as a 20yr member , I'd like to see a 5-shot limit. Too many rapid-fire yahoos have joined the club , ruin the structures , target holders , etc. They have no regard for where bullets are going. They seem to want to empty a 20-30-60rd mag as fast as they can and see how much damage they can do. We have to keep peace with the neighbors. They expressed their displeasure when the club allowed the State Police to use the range and they broke the 'no rapid or full auto' agreement. We also have the airport that has been trying to close the range , and with the feds help , can.
This was a club and range built by and for sportsmen and hunters , and semi-autos are not for hunting. But I am also a collector and shooter of historic military arms. And I usually shoot 5-shot strings.

Glad we don't have these issues on our side of the state. Psssst... we even have bars at almost all of our gun clubs!!

Yeah, we have bars in some of our clubs on this side of the state too.

I think it's time for this thread to die again. This time permanently.

I have no ill feelings towards anyone at Branch Valley and I am content to just walk away and let them do their thing. I've found places that are a better fit for me where I can do my thing and I'll just leave it at that.