A recent NROI Question of the Month, stemming from an occurrence at a level III match, created a fair amount of confusion due to the answer to the question being “no penalty”. In this unusual scenario, by process of elimination and a careful read of 10.2.2 and 10.2.2.1, there logically was no reason to apply a penalty for firing more than the “only” shots specified in the stage briefing for a classifier, CM 99-11, El Presidente. Due to a fair amount of pushback on this answer, the RMI corps decided to re-examine this rule and see if we could look into its history, because the language in 10.2.2.1 appeared to prevent the procedural penalty for not following the “only” language in the WSB. In this case the competitor did not fire any shots in excess of the 12 total specified in the WSB. He also reloaded when indicated, and per the definition of stacking, did not stack. See this follow up post.
In 2008, the “Double Jeopardy” rule was proposed and debated by the board, eventually passing and becoming 10.2.2.1, designed to prevent double penalties, i.e., a procedural AND an extra shot for firing a shot in excess of the total allowed in Virginia Count. There should only be one penalty there, specifically for the extra shot. We learned from a former board member that the original wording and intent was supposed to apply to total shots for the stage or string, but that language was inadvertently left out. Since then, scenarios of this type have been extremely uncommon.
Even though we repeatedly noted that NROI QOTM results are not rulings, interpretations, or clarifications, there were several statements made to the effect of shooting this particular classifier and other Virginia Count classifiers in the same fashion, without penalty, using this blog post as reference. While it was a simple Q&A exercise, the unintended consequences could be significant.
The RMI corps, while in agreement on the original answer, learned that this rule, 10.2.2.1, was originally intended to refer to the total number of shots fired for a stage, to prevent “double jeopardy” when competitors fired too many or too few shots, actions which, in Virginia Count, are penalized by either extra shot penalties or misses, not general procedurals. The language here is intended to call out the exceptions, yet still allow for a procedural penalty to be applied when no other rule violations have occurred, despite the fact that the number of shots fired were not in excess of the total allowed.
So, because of these two rulings covering 10.2.2 and 10.2.2.1, now incorporated into the March 1, 2023 rules, only means ONLY and then means THEN, and 10.2.2 will apply to violations of these stipulations providing no other rules preempt that penalty.