We often get questions related to certification and renewal exams or even about calls made at matches and why a certain rule applies versus another. Or why one can’t cite a general section of the rulebook and use that to support the penalty or scoring call being made. The short answer is that you need to use the best rule to address the situation. The long answer is all the reasons below.
The most important reason is because you need to support your call to the competitor. It is hard to say an action is a penalty if there isn’t a rule to support it. Yeah, the competitor may have done something unexpected or unusual or something you just don’t think is right, but if as a range official you are using a rule that doesn’t support the call, a smart competitor will question it. And a super smart competitor asks you to show them the rule or pulls out their own rulebook and shows you the rule. We sometimes call those folks range lawyers, but sometimes it is needed.
Let’s look at an example. Let’s say a competitor is moving downrange and after just completing a reload takes a very early shot in the direction of a target. The shot hits the berm off to the side of the target and the competitor was obviously surprised. As the RO you stop the competitor and issue a DQ for an accidental discharge. Okay, but which specific AD rule? Citing 10.4 is not going to cut it. Let’s say you choose 10.4.6: A shot which occurs during movement, except while actually shooting at targets. That is a good one to choose. The competitor was moving. But what about that last part of the sentence? The shot was in the direction of a target. Yes, it was not a well aimed shot but it was at a target. And the action doesn’t violate any other safety rules either (not over the berm, not within 10 feet of the competitor, it was after reloading was complete). So the correct thing to do is to reverse the call and have the competitor reshoot the stage. Not a big deal and if you need to take the time to look at the rulebook, that is good too. The whole goal is to make sure the right call is made.
As to specificity of rules citations for exams or even the Question of the Month, I just want to remind folks to look at all possible matches versus the first rule that comes up when you do a word search. Some folks think we are just being picky, but we are also all competitors. How happy would you as a competitor be to get penalized, bumped to Open, or whatever because the wrong rule was cited? Or, have a fellow competitor you are neck-to-neck with in the the standings not get the penalties he earned because the appropriate rule was not applied?
For example, we had quite a few comments about the last Question of the Month concerning the legality of knock over plates at Level III matches. The comments were that Appendix B3 didn’t say they were not allowed. Yes, that is true. But that isn’t the only place that plates are talked about in the rules. And we also have App. B1 which describes cardboard targets, but does not spell out any prohibitions for their use either. Same for App. B2 which describes poppers. It gives their dimensions, but no rules about match use or calibration. Basically Appendix B describes the targets, their dimensions, and scoring values. To find out the match levels they are legal at and how they can be used, you have to look in Chapter 4, Range Equipment. Why do we have the rulebook laid out this way? Honestly because the IPSC rulebook was laid out that way and we just kept the format when USPSA formed it’s own ruleset. Most of the layout makes sense. There are a few rules that seem to be in the wrong spot (6.2.5.1 I am looking at you!), but having appendices which are basically reference materials and nitty gritty details like target dimensions and all the division equipment rules in the back of the rulebook makes sense.
In closing, I will reiterate what I tell all my RO classes at the end of the seminar when giving pointers about the exam. Use the whole rulebook! Don’t use the first rule that has your keyword, look at all of them and choose the best rule. And, for those of you who are having rule discussions at matches, take the few minutes to pull out a rulebook and make sure the correct call is made versus having a 20 minute spirited discussion about what the rule may be. And the best way to get better at using the rulebook is with practice and familiarity with the chapters. And if you need help understanding test questions or want to see if the correct call was made at the match, please email us at rules@uspsa.org.