If you can complete the movie quote, bonus points to you. But I chose that as the title because I suspect many of you will be saying that after reading the answer for this Question of the Month that deals with Virginia Count scoring.
Stage Procedure: On the audible start signal, from within the shooting area, engage T1-T3 with only two rounds per target, make a mandatory reload, then engage T1-T3 with only two rounds per target.
What happened: Virginia Count scoring, 12 rounds. Competitor fired 2 shots each at T1 and T2 and then engaged T3 with 3 shots. He then performed the mandatory reload and engaged T1 and T2 with 2 shots each and T3 with 1 shot. How many procedurals?
Okay, first let’s talk about the stage procedure wording and some rules. The procedure states that targets are to be engaged with 2 rounds each, then perform a mandatory reload, and engage the targets with 2 rounds each again. The procedure does not say that the reload comes after 6 shots. It comes after engaging all the targets once. If you look at the definition of ‘engaging’ in Appendix A3, it doesn’t say anything about the number of shots, only that a competitor is actively aiming at the target. And remember that 10.2.2.1 states that “penalties for firing insufficient or additional shots are addressed in other rules” and can’t be penalized via 10.2.2 for failing to comply with the stage procedure. And since it is Virginia Count, there possibly can be penalties for extra shots if more than 12 shots are taken.
So the competitor took an extra shot at T3 on the first engagement, probably to make up a miss, before the mandatory reload. As a result, each target was engaged before the mandatory reload was made, and engaged again after the reload. No penalty for failing to make the mandatory reload at the right time. And 10.2.2.1 says we can’t assess a procedural penalty for failing to follow the stage procedure for shooting too many shots at T3 before the reload. The total number of shots taken was 12, so there were no extra shots per 9.4.5.1. The competitor actually was thinking on his feet and didn’t take a second shot on T3 after the reload to avoid the extra shot penalty.
So what is the penalty? There is no penalty! Yes, I know it seems like there should be a penalty, but in this case there is not a penalty to apply per the rules. I know some of you are probably saying this is why we should get rid of Virginia Count. But we just need to work through more examples of when competitors shoot the stages contrary to the stage procedure and if there are penalties and which rules apply. There are some examples already on the blog.
In this situation, most competitors don’t think quick enough and shoot 2 shots at T3 after the reload and earn the extra shot penalty and possibly an extra hit penalty. But this competitor knew the rules and wisely avoided a penalty. Rules knowledge is not just for range officials.
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