NRA State Affilate Clarification

Recently the RIRRA met with the NRA State Affiliate to request authorization of three
smallbore rifle state championships.

The NRA State Affiliate, as is its right, has established criteria for match authorization.

Its application for "Competitive Shooting Program Approval" requires that:

1. The association hosting (organizing) the event, the club or sportsmen's association
providing the facilities for the state championship, and all contestants/participants
have a current valid membership in the NRA State Affiliate.

2. Any contestants/participants with an out of state association membership must be
pre-approved by the NRA State Affiliate prior to competition.

3. The club or sportsmen's group hosting (organizing) the event have a current valid
membership in the National Rifle Association.

The negotiations collapsed for the following reasons:

We unsuccessfully argued that, while it is their right to compel membership in the NRA
State Affiliate, smallbore matches have never had this requirement and we saw no
reason to begin now. They disagreed.
The two clubs who have hosted our events for years are not members of the NRA State
Affiliate. It is not known how the NRA State Affiliate annual club membership fee of
$250.00 impacts the club’s decision to join the NRA State Affiliate. The National Rifle
Association annual club member fee is $35.00. To the best of our knowledge, no club
that is a member of the NRA State Affiliate has the facilities, or expertise, to run
smallbore state championships.

Pre-approval of out of state participants would prevent any post entries for those who
are not Rhode Island residents.

It is regrettable and discouraging the NRA State Affiliate was unwilling to work with us
on this matter.

However, New England smallbore shooters will not lose these prestigious matches.
These long time RIRRA conducted events have been authorized by the National Rifle
Association; one as a registered tournament and the remainder as NRA Regionals. We
will continue to award the traditional trophies, which used to represent state
championships, to the winners of these events to keep the tradition alive in the hopes
that one day they will, again, represent state champions.

The RIRRA continues to honor our commitment to provide quality NRA sanctioned
competition to the competitors in New England.