NRA General Council Elections - Vote for me please

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Dark Skies
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Re: NRA General Council Elections - Vote for me please

#41 Post by Dark Skies »

I can't say that I've ever really taken to the NRA - I'm a member because our handguns were taken from us and at that time Bisley was the nearest viable place to shoot rifles that I was aware of. Rather ironic given, in my view, the NRA's lacklustre performance in '96 / '97
I can't say I've had any issues with the Range Office - they've always been competent if not exactly over-friendly.
And the various membership staff seem nice enough over the phone. However, I'm only a member because I have to be as Oxfordshire is a poor place to be for anything other than BP pistols and pistol calibre rifles.

I have witnessed numerous 'off' behaviour from ground staff though. Staff pulling my Shoot 'n' See' targets and dumping them in the bin whilst I was still shooting. And an ugly incident where one of the ground staff deliberately rammed a parked car with his Land Rover outside the Range Office. The car belonged to one of the NRA shooting club's instructors - he stopped to return a heavy quantity of club rifles. The owner was very hacked off about that. I don't know if the car was damaged but if they'd done it to me I'd have reported it as criminal damage. It stuck with me though. I don't know if the guy was sacked but he should have been.
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Ovenpaa
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Re: NRA General Council Elections - Vote for me please

#42 Post by Ovenpaa »

There have been good sides to the range office as well.

I remember shoot on Stickledown on the old electronic targetry and the box was flaky, someone from the range office came down and did his utmost to get it working, eventually replaced the box and apologised profusely to the degree I was embarrassed. On another date I was on doing load development on the right hand bench of Short Siberia, a club turned up to shoot the next point prone, kicked off big time to me about safety (Good point but I was here first!) After a real rant the club secretary demanded a rep from the range office come down and move me. A chap duly turned up, told the club not to be so stupid and move one point up. I got a wink on that occasion. I don't think you can beat driving into Bisley on a cool summers morning knowing it is going to be scorchingly hot and you are going to get some superb shooting with good friends.
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Pete
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Re: NRA General Council Elections - Vote for me please

#43 Post by Pete »

Driving into Bisley on a cool summers morning knowing it's going to stay around 20C all day is better......................I can take or leave the company.

Pete
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hitchphil
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Re: NRA General Council Elections - Vote for me please

#44 Post by hitchphil »

So there is a full time Regional ranges manager, (Nic Couldray) who helps negotiate access to & manage issues with ranges & MoD ranges.
There is (was!) a substantial fund to buy a regional range & expand access - its failed to be the buyer twice now :-( but there is intention to buy ranges & run them as NRA regional ranges.
RCO courses are run regionally for much less then at Bisley & those generate the mandatory qualified people to access & run MoD Ranges.
NRA allow clubs to self qualify Safe Shooter Cert cards & are the only organisation that can issue them & on MoD ranges they are mandatory. Their cost ~~£10 makes no profit thats the cost of admin management issue & post etc of them.
The Club & member insurance is recognised by all shooting bodies & MoD.
Its implemented electronic voting to make things easier to have your say.
Comms are recognised as in need of more..... but the AGM is a VC this year!

What else could it do to improve the lot of the Regional shooters, distant affiliated clubs & members?

.... (apart for Foxtrot & Die, or lose its charitable status thus all its assets & ranges & all your access to the regional ones too etc).
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MistAgain
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Re: NRA General Council Elections - Vote for me please

#45 Post by MistAgain »

I just have to wonder , with the best will in the world , can hitchphil achieve anything ?

Reading back through several years general meeting minutes , its hard to figure out if anything has changed .

This is from the general meeting in 2015..........First of all on regional shooting, we have appointed a Regional Ranges Manager who has just started – his name is xxxxxx- and he is charged with providing to Council what I have described as the ‘state of the nation’ of regional shooting around the UK by the year end .

Does anyone know what the results were ?

And then we have the club house rentals or leases . Every year the Chairman or the CEO trots out the standard "the lease is based on market value" .
But its never said how market value is worked out when the NRA has terms and conditions in the lease that decrease market value .

I wonder if the Sit Perp Lodge has been let out as offers were supposed to be in by April .

So good luck if you get voted in . I think you will need it .
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Re: NRA General Council Elections - Vote for me please

#46 Post by dromia »

"So there is a full time Regional ranges manager, (Nic Couldray) who helps negotiate access to & manage issues with ranges & MoD ranges.
There is (was!) a substantial fund to buy a regional range & expand access - its failed to be the buyer twice now :-( but there is intention to buy ranges & run them as NRA regional ranges."

That would be fine if it was actually making a difference nationally. One role to cover the whole of the country doesn't show much commitment when you consider the scale of the task nationally. Even with this resource the lot of the shooters using MoD ranges in my region is not improving it is getting worse. I suspect that the relationship 'tween the NRA and the MOD/Landmark is not of the best. You have just trotted out the NRA line about what it is supposed to be doing regionally with obviously no clue as to its effectiveness. As per the previous post has the national status/need been rigorously quantified? What is the regional plan, what are its goals and time scales?

Everything MOD related seem to be reactive when are the NRA going to get ahead and be more proactive in improving the lot of MoD dependant range users?

Insurance is good but as my previous posts shooters need to be in multiple clubs to have any hope of getting any regular range time so are paying for multiple insurances.

Do the RCO courses still have the duplicate pre course necessary to do the actual course?
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Re: NRA General Council Elections - Vote for me please

#47 Post by RDC »

dromia wrote:"So there is a full time Regional ranges manager, (Nic Couldray) who helps negotiate access to & manage issues with ranges & MoD ranges.
There is (was!) a substantial fund to buy a regional range & expand access - its failed to be the buyer twice now :-( but there is intention to buy ranges & run them as NRA regional ranges."

That would be fine if it was actually making a difference nationally. One role to cover the whole of the country doesn't show much commitment when you consider the scale of the task nationally. Even with this resource the lot of the shooters using MoD ranges in my region is not improving it is getting worse. I suspect that the relationship 'tween the NRA and the MOD/Landmark is not of the best. You have just trotted out the NRA line about what it is supposed to be doing regionally with obviously no clue as to its effectiveness. As per the previous post has the national status/need been rigorously quantified? What is the regional plan, what are its goals and time scales?

Everything MOD related seem to be reactive when are the NRA going to get ahead and be more proactive in improving the lot of MoD dependant range users?

Insurance is good but as my previous posts shooters need to be in multiple clubs to have any hope of getting any regular range time so are paying for multiple insurances.

Do the RCO courses still have the duplicate pre course necessary to do the actual course?
Pretty much sums it up.

As for the regional RCO courses requiring people to do the RSO course first, yes this is still the case.

I'm also intrigued what two ranges the NRA tried to buy. I suspect one they are claiming is the 25m barracks range at West Raynham, however those actually involved speak of nothing but frustration with the NRA on that score. They had every opportunity but turned up too late.
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RDC
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Re: NRA General Council Elections - Vote for me please

#48 Post by RDC »

I suspect one they are claiming is the 25m barracks range at West Raynham, however those actually involved speak of nothing but frustration with the NRA on that score. They had every opportunity but turned up too late.
Or so I've been told by two separate individuals. No doubt other versions of events exist...
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Re: NRA General Council Elections - Vote for me please

#49 Post by MistAgain »

There is (was!) a substantial fund to buy a regional range & expand access .

I would have thought that such an important and substantial fund would have been listed in the accounts that will be presented at the AGM .

Strange that there is no mention of it . ?
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Re: NRA General Council Elections - Vote for me please

#50 Post by GeeRam »

I joined the NRA as a 'back-up' to my club membership, just in case things ever went pearshaped with my home club, being a small one with at the time I joined, most people being over retirement age.

I also now live only 15-20mins away from the place, but, I have seen enough 'NRA attitude' directed at others to understand what others have said, and I have to say, the lack of the National, bit of the National Rifle Association does leave a bad taste in the mouth. Even though I'm very local, I'd happily go elsewhere! Especially as my interest is not 'modern' rifles, only old milsurp battle-sticks.

However, my experience of other similar bodies, is that the only way to change them or their attitude to many things, is from within the inner circle of the organisation, and that means people from the regions trying to stand for election to effect that change from within.
Far from an easy task, but its clear its not going happen otherwise IMHO.

And yes, as mentioned above, if there was any sitting fund for the purchase a regional range somewhere, it would be shown in the accounts?

With the amount of old MOD ranges that have disappeared over the years, you would think the NRA could have achieved something in the past with at least one site somewhere else?
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