Our rulebook has a whole section that deals with disqualifications from accidental discharges, but when is it an AD and when is it not? Let’s take a closer look in this Question of the Month.
A competitor is shooting a course of fire and as she is moving towards the next position, she has the firearm pointed in the direction of the next target to be engaged. As she is planting her feet, the pistol fires and impacts the berm 3 feet to the left of the target which is about 25 feet away. As the RO, what do you do?
I am pleased to say that almost 89% of you got this correct! Of course I did work to make sure the situation in the question had a clear answer per the rules. And a majority of you obviously know the rules very well!
Okay, let’s walk through the question and the rules to get to the correct answer of not doing anything to stop the competitor. The relevant section of the Competition Rulebook is 10.4. Here you will find a list of seven rules that describe when an AD is an AD. If the AD is not described in these rules, then it isn’t a DQ, provided no other gun handling safety rules have been broken.
The first rule (10.4.1) is a shot that travels over a backstop or berm or any other direction specified as unsafe in the WSB. The shot from the competitor in the question impacted into the berm, so this rule doesn’t apply. And note that if a competitor legitimately fires at a target and the bullet then travels in an unsafe direction, it isn’t a DQ but the RM for the match should be notified because that is a stage setup issue that might need addressed for safety depending on the range layout.
10.4.2 deals with shots that impact the ground within 10 feet of the competitor. Again, this doesn’t apply to our question. Neither does 10.4.3 which deals with ADs that occur during loading, reloading, or unloading a firearm. Nor does a shot that occurs during a remedial action (clearing a malfunction) or adjusting a part on the firearm as in 10.4.4. And the competitor was not transferring the firearm between hands so 10.4.5 doesn’t apply either. And since the firearm was not being retrieved from a table or barrel, 10.4.7 doesn’t apply.
That leaves 10.4.6, a shot that occurs during movement except while actually shooting at targets. I suspect the votes for a DQ might be using this rule, but was the competitor actually moving when the shot occurred? The question says the shot occurred as she was planting her feet, so ending movement. But the rule also has an exception for shots that occur when actually shooting at targets and the shot was in the direction of a target. It was an early, poorly aimed shot, but still in the direction of a target and not a DQ.
I know some of you are probably saying it was still an AD and should be a DQ, but we always stress to our ROs that you need to have a rule to support your call. In this case, there is no rule to support a DQ.
Remember to vote in the current Question of the Month poll!