Attention to Details
by
Gary W. Burris

How many of us have screwed up at least one scenario in a major match? I’m not talking about equipment malfunctions that everyone experiences from time to time. I’m talking about those things we call brain fade or mental malfunctions that make us look and feel stupid.

I have a routine that I’ve established to help prevent those unwanted mental malfunctions. First, I prepare my equipment. I make sure that all my magazines are loaded to capacity and I’ve refilled my magazine pouch. This I do before even thinking about the upcoming scenario. I’ve seen way too may shooters forget to reload after shooting a scenario and go to the next with half loaded magazines and magazine pouches.

I listen very carefully to the instructions given by the Safety Officer during the walkthrough. Pay particular attention to anything out of the ordinary like the number of shots required per target and strong or weak hand shooting. Also, if a scenario calls for magazines to be downloaded, I empty the magazine and count the rounds as I reload them. I don’t depend on the witness holes on the magazine to tell me how many are loaded. Ask for clarification if you are not 100% sure that you understand the course of fire.

Map the scenario in your mind. Plan how you will shoot and where a reload is likely to occur. Try to map scenarios to take advantage of your strengths. By this I mean that if you shoot better from the right side of a barricade and you have a choice then map the scenario so you shoot from your best shooting position. Usually things work out as planned. But on occasion you’ll need to shoot extra shots or you’ll have an equipment malfunction that will blow your plan out of the water. Therefore, don’t spend too much effort in planning the stage. Simply map it out. And if something happens to spoil your plan then you will not stand there with a stupid look on your face wondering what to do next.

I like to help tape targets on a stage that I’m preparing to shoot. This gives me the opportunity to walk through the scenario while I’m formulating my plan. However, I make it a point to remove any stray strips of tape from my clothing prior to shooting. I do this because I’ve seen this stuff become jammed in guns and render them useless.

It is my preference to wear long pants at a match. I know a lot of shooters wear shorts due to hot weather. And I see a lot of them with bloody knees that I’m sure distract their attention during the match.

In the minutes before and immediately following a scenario I try to focus my attention on the job at hand. I mentally treat each scenario as if it were the only one standing between me and a trophy. It’s good to renew old friendships and I enjoy the fellowship of other shooters. But it can be very distracting and you need to put this aside when preparing to shoot the scenario.

2006 Italian IDPA Nationals
by
Gary W. Burris A01202

Giorgio Acerboni, Area Coordinator for Italy, asked me to be the Chief Safety Officer for the Italian IDPA Nationals that was held July 28, 29 & 30 at the Futura Shooting Club located near Nepi, Italy. I first met Giorgio at the 2004 IDPA Nationals in Little Rock, Arkansas, and he has attended several Texas State IDPA matches. He was appointed Area Coordinator for Italy just after the 2005 IDPA Nationals and has worked directly with IDPA Headquarters in Berryville, Arkansas, to expand the IDPA shooting sport in Italy from four clubs to fourteen in just the past year.

Nepi , Italy is located about 30 miles north of Rome. Nepi is a small town of perhaps 6,000 residents known as “The door of Etruria”. The town was established during the Roman expansion and was their first colony in the territory of the Falisco. Passing through the town is the well preserved remains of a Roman aqueduct that was built to transport water from the mountains to Rome. Today Nepi is famous for its mineral water and cathedral full of archeological remains.

Girogio arranged the loan a gun for me to use at the match. Because, when I made the decision to attend I didn’t have enough time to process the paperwork necessary to import a gun into Italy. Importing firearms and ammunition into Italy is fairly easy. You need to carry with you copies of your invitation to the match and your entry form. In order to comply with the Italian gun law you must be in possession of a Temporary Firearms Importation Form completely filled out by the shooter and stamped by Border Police when crossing the Italian border whether by car, plane or train. This form allows you to import and transport a maximum of 3 guns and 1,000 rounds of ammunition for a period of 90 days from the importing date. The importation form is not a license to carry in Italy and no matter what other kind of permit you have you are not allowed to carry firearms concealed or in open view in Italy. For this reason keep ammunition and firearms in locked cases separated from one another. Also note that 9x19mm (a.k.a. 9mm Parabellum) caliber guns and ammunition are NOT allowed in Italy. 9mm is considered a military round and is restricted.

The Futura Shooting Club is without a doubt a world class facility. The range was built in an old rock quarry and has 20 large pistol bays and 100, 200 & 300 meter rifle ranges. My understanding is that many of the shooting ranges in Italy are built in old rock quarries.

The match consisted of 12 scenarios. Some courses of fire were copied from various state matches as well as last year’s IDPA Nationals match. They even managed to include stage 3 of the classifier.

A side match was offered for those who wanted to have some fun with bowling pins and house clearing. In addition, a man-on-man match with steel poppers was available for those who wanted to test their skill against another shooter.

I want to extend my compliments to the safety officers and staff for their hard work. Those of you who have been involved with putting together a state or national level match can appreciate all the work that goes into making the match run smoothly. On Saturday evening they had an Italian version of a barbequed pig dinner, reminded me of nationals a couple of years back at CASA in Little Rock.

I hope to be able to attend the Italy Nationals again next year. And I would like to see many of my American friends there as well. If you are able to attend, you will find no better hosts than the Italians. Everyone I came into contact with was friendly and went out of their way to insure that all my needs were met. You will enjoy authentic Italian food, see stuff you’ve only read about in history books and make many wonderful new friends.

Arrivederci, Ciao.