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Affiliation -
It is important that we maintain affiliation with the World Body :
- We maintain our status as a member of the international practical
shooting community.
- If USPSA doesn't maintain affiliation with the World Body, it is
virtually certain that another US based organization would emerge as
an IPSC affiliate. No one would be served by the resulting
fragmentation of the sport, and competition for market share, within
our region.
- "IPSC" is part of our identity within the general
(non-specialty) shooting community. If USPSA separates from
the World Body, it is a certainty that we will not be permitted
to use IPSC in our marketing, publicity, or attempts to garner
the attention of the industry press.
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Approach -
The US and the World Body leadership will at times disagree. For
example, the 14th edition rulebook adopted by the World General
Assembly has been found to be unacceptable by the USPSA Board of
directors and NROI. We should deal with the World Body from a
perspective of mutual respect, while simultaneously recognizing that the final
authority as to the rules used with our domestic matches rests with USPSA.
It would be reasonable for specific International Matches run
in the US (such as Continental and World Shoot events) to be run
under international rules, provided USPSA safety standards are
maintained.
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Representation -
The US region is under-represented at the World General Assembly, Our
14,000 members receive the same vote as regions containing only a few
members. I have proposed that the World Body adopt a "virtual bicameral assembly" which would assure
proper representation for both large and small regions, by requiring
that assembly action be approved by both a majority of regions and a
majority of IPSC shooters. As Area 7 Director, I would encourage the
board to support this proposal.
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The Board's Role -
The USPSA Board of Directors should take an active role in directing
the vote of our representative to the World General Assembly. The
General Assembly agenda is published in advance, so it is reasonable
to expect our BOD to discuss the issues and instruct our president to
vote accordingly.
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USPSA's Vote -
The USPSA delegate should vote for what is right, at the World General
Assembly. This sounds obvious, however, our past behavior has often
been to "vote for what is going to pass even if we disagree with
it." A clear example was the rules vote taken at the General Assembly
in Cebu. Our regional delegate voted for the rules proposed by the
World Body president, and upon return the US reported that they
were unacceptable for use by USPSA. As the largest region, we should
have the fortitude to vote our collective conscience, even if we are
not assured that our every vote will be in the majority.
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