MPL By-Laws

Revised 1 Sept 2016

 

ARTICLE I – NAME

The name of this organization will be the Metropolitan Pistol League. The League will be a non­profit organization in the state of Virginia. It will be affiliated with the National Rifle Association.

 

ARTICLE II – PURPOSE

The purpose of the League will be to promote and sponsor pistol competition in the metropolitan area of Washington, DC. The League will sponsor weekly pistol matches during the indoor season (roughly September-May). The League will instill the safe handling of firearms and will encourage training in the use of firearms to promote marksmanship, and will foster a spirit of good sportsmanship.

 

ARTICLE III – MEMBERSHIP

Membership in the League will be open to:

 

a. Any club or organization interested in participating in a team pistol competition.

 

b. All individual members of the National Rifle Association and any other persons desiring to shoot in the league. Membership in the NRA is not required, but highly encouraged.

 

c. Individuals must take the NRA Range Safety test and obtain an NRA Range Card.

 

ARTICLE IV – VOTING

Each club or team will be represented at League meetings. The Representative will be the responsible club officer or team captain, or co-captain, or designated alternate. Each club or team will elect or appoint a Representative prior to the December Annual Meeting. Only one Representative from each team will be allowed to cast a vote at League Meetings.

 

ARTICLE V – OFFICERS

The routine management of the League will be vested in the Officers of the League. The MPL Officers will consist of a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer.  Each of the League Officers will be elected by a majority vote of the representatives of the clubs or teams present at the December Annual Meeting.

 

The President will direct the operations of the League. The President will determine, with the assistance of the other Officers, the date, time, and location of the Annual Meeting, and direct the Secretary to so notify the clubs, team captains, and co-captains, and the other Club Officers. The President will solicit candidates for the League Officers for presentation to the League at the Annual Meeting. The President will prepare an agenda and preside at the Annual Meeting. The President will oversee the functions of the other league officers, and assist them in the performance of their duties.

 

The Vice President will assume the duties of the President when the President is not available. In addition, the Vice President will serve as the Chairman of the Protest Committee, and maintain the membership roles of the MPL. Vice President will be responsible for preparing new member information packets, insuring copies are available in all team notebooks, providing copies to new members, obtaining contact information from the new members and providing this information for entering into the MPL member database. In addition, they will coordinate with the team captains on maintaining the accuracy of the team rosters.

 

The Secretary will send notices of all meetings and activities of the League. The Secretary will prepare minutes of meetings as required. The Secretary will prepare schedules for the indoor pistol matches, and lists of the team captains and co-captains, and mail them to the same before the beginning of the indoor season. The Secretary will determine the weekly handicap team winners and individual winners and prepare and post weekly results. The Secretary will prepare season summary for distribution to the Team Captains.

 

The Treasurer will collect all fees weekly, maintain the League account, pay all expenses, and will order target supplies and awards as requested by the League Officers and pay for same.

 

The Team Captains will be responsible to insure they have sufficient Team Members to set up, run the match, and clean up and secure the range on the nights the Team has Range Duty.  They will also present reports of their team’s status at the Annual Meeting. Team Officers are responsible for informing the MPL of the status of their team members and insuring that the MPL membership database is maintained current. In addition, Team Captains are responsible for passing pertinent information about the league to their team members.

 

ARTICLE VI – MEETINGS

ANNUAL MEETING

 

The annual meeting will be held in early December of each year for the purpose of, receiving the report from the treasurer, discussion of rules and/or rule changes, any other matters of concern to league members, and finally, elections of officers for the up-coming season. All teams are encouraged to submit member nominations for MPL office holders. Nominations for the four offices will be accepted from the floor or in writing. The Annual Meeting of the League will be held at a time and place to be determined by the League Officers. The Secretary will send notice of the Annual Meeting to all present and prospective team captains and co-captains at least ten days prior to the meeting.

 

The order of business at the Annual Meeting will be as follows:

Roll call.

Determination of a quorum.

Secretary's Report.

Treasurer's Report

Membership Report

Reports of Team Captains

President's Report.

Election of Officers for the following year.

Transaction of other business as required.

Adjournment.

 

SPECIAL MEETINGS

 

Any team, through its captain, may request a league meeting. The purpose of the meeting must be stated. The Officers of the MPL will then discuss and vote on the request. If the request is approved by a majority of the officers, all team captains will be notified of the meeting and its’ purpose at least 10 calendar days in advance of the scheduled date of the meeting.  Special meetings of the League may be called at any time by the President, or on the written request of any two team captains or officers of the MPL, stating the cause for such meeting. A 10-calendar day written notice will be given to all Team Captains and MPL Officers.

 

A quorum of the League -will consists of the Representatives from two-thirds of the affiliated clubs or teams. A quorum of the Officers will consist of any three members. In the absence of the President the Vice President will preside.

 

ARTICLE VII - SHOOTING RULES

All League competitions will be governed by the rules of the National Rifle Association, which were in effect at the time the League schedule was approved by the Board for the current season. MPL. Regulations will also apply. Additional rules for the conduct of the League may be adopted by a majority vote of the Representatives at the Annual Meeting or a special meeting of the League.

 

FEES

 

a. Dues for each individual are based on the following: NRA Range fee plus a small amount for League expenses (targets, target hangers, awards, etc.). The League Officers at the start of each Fall Season will set the exact fee. All shooters will put the appropriate fee for the night in the zippered bag and record the amount that they paid on the relay sign-up sheet.  Team captains will insure that each shooter pays the correct fee. The League Treasurer will collect the monies and pay the NRA upon completion of each night’s match. All personal checks must be made payable to the NRA.

 

b. Juniors as defined by the NRA, as a person under the age of 20 will be assessed one half of the NRA range fee plus $1 for MPL expenses.

 

TEAMS

 

a. Any group of members may band together to compete in the Metro Pistol League (MPL) as a team.

 

b. Teams may add members during the season by providing the League Officers with a completed data sheet identifying the new members name, address, and NRA number.

 

c. A shooter may not transfer from one team to another during the season without approval of the League. Transfers during the off-season are allowed without approval or restriction.

 

ARMS

 

Any .22 caliber pistol or revolver permitted in accordance with current NRA rule 3.4.

 

SAFETY

 

a. Eye and ear protection is required at all times while on the firing line.

b. Each shooter is responsible for match safety and is required to immediately identify any safety hazard to MPL officials and/or the Range Officer.

 

MATCH RULES

 

a. Current official NRA conventional pistol rules and specific rules of the MPL will govern all matches. MPL league rules will have priority over NRA rules. The MPL will maintain a copy of the current NRA rules for reference by Team Captains and/or individual members as desired.

 

b. The duty team captain, or his designated representative, is the chief range officer of the match, and is responsible for providing range officers, scheduling relays, and following proper match procedures.

 

c. During the firing of a re-fire string of fire, or upon completion of the slow fire stage of the match, all shooters not firing must step back from the line and remain quiet.

 

d. There will be no handling of firearms, except when the shooter is on the firing line and the range officer has indicated that the line is “Hot” and it is permissible to handle firearms.

 

COURSE OF FIRE

 

Targets: Current NRA official targets B-6 and B-8, to be furnished by the MPL.

 

Course: Slow Fire-20 shots fired in two 10 shot strings in 10 minutes per string on NRA Official 50 yard Slow Fire target (B-6).

 

Timed Fire- 20 shots in four 5 shot strings, 20 seconds per string on NRA Official Timed and Rapid Fire Target (B-8).

 

Rapid Fire- 20 shots in four 5 shot strings, 10 seconds per string on NRA Official 25 Yard Timed and Rapid Fire Target (B-8).

 

A relay will fire the entire course of fire before leaving the line.

 

SCORING

 

a. Each individual shooter will be responsible for prompt and correct scoring of targets on the honor system and posting his results in the Team Notebook on the Team Score Sheet pages.

 

b. Team Captains should ensure that the Team Score sheet contains a complete record of each team member firing in each weeks match.

 

c. Scoring plugs may only be inserted in a target once, and it is the responsibility of the SHOOTER TO DETERMINE THE VALUE OF THE SHOT OR SHOTS IN QUESTION.

 

d. Members shooting Probationary Pistol (i.e. Two Handed) will NOT BE ELIGIBLE for participation in the Team competitions.

 

e. Matches won based on the Team's Handicapped score will be used to determine overall team standings.

 

f. End of season ties will be settled by one of the following tie breakers in sequence, until the tie is broken:

 1) The won-lost record in competition against each other

 2) The top 4 handicapped scores fired on the last match of the season

 3) The top four “raw” scores fired on the last match of the season.

 

g. All Team score sheets will be collected by the League at the conclusion of each weekly match.

 

h. The secretary will distribute/post match results on a weekly basis.

 

HANDICAP SCORING

 

The minimum index is 280. The minimum raw aggregate score that can be used to calculate an index is 200.

 

A shooter's average for the purpose of the handicapped scoring will be determined as follows:

Average for 1st Match of the season will be the score fired on the first night. Average for 2nd Match of the season will again be the score fired in the first match. Average for 3rd Match of the season will be the average of the first two scores fired. Average for 4th and all following matches will be the average of the three (3) scores fired in the previous three matches provided the handicapped score is 280.000 or greater, with the minimum raw score for each match being 200.

 

c. Calculated averages of the previous three scores used for handicap score determination will have all fractions of a point dropped.

 

d. Shooters whose raw score is below 200 shall be considered a "SUB" score and will not be used for team handicaps or individual averages. Shooters whose raw score is above 200, but their handicapped score is below 280, will also be considered a "SUB" score and will not be used for the determination of averages for handicapped scoring. Sub scores must be posted on team and individual score sheets with "SUB" indicated in the handicapped score column.

 

e. The average for all shooters must be kept current by updating the average of the last three (3) scores used to calculate the index after each match. SUB scores are excluded for the purposes of determining the three-week average.

 

f. Teams that do not have the minimum number of four (4) Conventional shooters will take a dummy 280.000 handicapped score for each missing shooter in order to arrive at the high four (4) shooters for the team score.

 

g. Teams that have a large numbers of members will compute their Team Score as follows:

 

# Shooters	# Of Handicapped Scores Averaged	Multiply Handicapped Score Total by %	Multiply Handicapped Score Total by Fraction
1 to 12	4	N/A	N/A
13 or 14	5	0.8	4/5
15 to 17	6	0.667	2/3
18 or 19	7	0.571	4/7
20 to 22	8	0.5	½
23 or 24	9	0.444	4/9
25	10	0.4	2/5

 

 

FORFEITS

 

When any team has NO firing members present by 8:00 P.M. at a scheduled regular match, a forfeit will be declared.

 

When the team that has range duty does not properly staff the range to set up, with a minimum on 2 people, run, and clean up and secure the range at the end of the night of shooting, that team will be awarded a “loss”.

 

STARTING TIME

 

a. League matches will start at 6:00 P.M and number of shooters and the number of relays that are required to accommodate them will determine the ending time.

 

b. The Duty Team will post the Relay Sign Up sheet not later than 15 minutes prior to the start of the first relay. Shooters must be physically present at the range in order to be entered on the relay sign-up sheet. Relays are on a first come - first served basis.

 

c. The Range Officer shall determine the start of each relay and may delay the start of the next relay a reasonable time as required to fill the line.

 

d. Competitors intending to fire at a given match must be at the range by 8:00 P.M. ALL COMPETITORS WHO ARRIVED AND SIGN UP FOR A RELAY BY 8:00 P.M. WILL BE ALLOWED TO SHOOT. Any competitors arriving after 8:00 P.M. will be allowed to shoot only if space is available on an existing scheduled relay.

 

RECORD FIRING

 

a. All shots fired for record by league competitors will be recorded by the secretary in the league records.

 

b. The league will operate as an "Official NRA Sanctioned League". The NRA Sanctioned League Fee will be paid by the MPL at the end of the league. At the end of the season, the secretary will issue a check payable to the NRA and submit a summary of scores fired for all MPL members who participated in at least six (6) matches during the season to the NRA for classification purposes.

 

c. Shooters may shoot for "practice" under the following conditions: 1) the shooter has already fired for record AND 2) there are no shooters waiting to shoot for record AND 3) there is a firing position open on the relay in question.  Shooters desiring to fire a second time are to not sign up on the Relay sheet, but are to stand by to fill in once the signed up shooters have taken the firing line and there are un-used positions.

 

RANGE RESTRICTIONS

 

All NRA Range rules, regulations, and restrictions will be followed by all members of the MPL.

This includes having an NRA Range Card.

b. Shooters must wear eye and hearing protection.

c. No firearms will be loaded until the competitor is on the firing line and the Range Officer has given the “Load” command.

d. All targets will be uniformly hung on the MPL provided target hangers. Exceptions will only be made in the case of a NRA approved physical handicap that prevents the shooter from using the normal target placement.

 

PROTESTS

 

The league Protest Committee will consist of the Vice President of the MPL and one (1) member from each team, excluding the teams involved in the protest.

 

Any protest MUST be made to Duty Range Officer before the conclusion of the match. The protest may be settled by the two team captains. If no settlement can be reached, the protest must be WRITTEN down at the match and signed by both team captains. The protest should specify what rule or procedure is involved and what competitor or competitors were affected. The written protest MUST BE SUBMITTED to the League President within 5 days from the date of the incident. The chief range officer must see that this procedure is followed as to allow the league Protest Committee an opportunity to review the protest discuss with the affected parties and rule on the protest.

 

TEAM WITHDRAWAL

 

a. If a team is forced to withdraw from the league, the results of matches fired against that team will be removed from the standings. Individual scores fired at those matches will be retained in the record and will count as matches fired if any individuals on the withdrawn team are transferred to another team. Those individual scores will count toward that shooters average with the new team.

 

AWARDS

 

b. Funding for Individual and Team Awards for the season will be based on available funding and the number of teams participating and number of matches scheduled.  The MPL Officers and Team Captains will determine what type and number of awards if any will be awarded.

 

c.  Only those competitors who fired one-half or more of the scheduled matches are eligible to receive awards

 

TEAM RECONITIONS

 

LEAGUE CHAMPION - awarded to the team with the most wins accumulated at the end of the season. Any decision to award team awards for "places" will be made at the annual meeting.

 

INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITIONS

 

High "Raw" Score Male (Conventional and Probationary)

High "Raw" Score Female (Conventional and Probationary)

High "Raw" Score Junior (Conventional and Probationary)

MOST IMPROVED - awarded to a shooter on each team who has shown the most improvement from their average during the season or from the preceding season. To be eligible for this you must have shot one-half or more of the matches. The respective Team captains shall make this determination.

 

ARTICLE VIII – DISCIPLINE

A club or team may be suspended or expelled from the League by the action of the Board, after presentation of written charges and a proper hearing. Such charges must be delivered in person, or by first class registered mail, to the Secretary. Charges may be submitted by any League official, or by an officer of any club or team. They will be in duplicate, and the Secretary will deliver the duplicate to the secretary or team captain of the accused organization in person, or by registered mail.

 

The charges will be heard at a special meeting of the League, held not less than 10 calendar days after the copy of the charges has been mailed to the accused. The accused may answer the charges in writing, or in person before the League. The vote will be on a motion to suspend, or a motion to expel. A vote of two-thirds of the Officers and Team Captains of the MPL will be required for suspension or expulsion.

 

Any member of a club or team who has competed in the League program may be suspended or expelled from League competition by following the procedure outlined above, provided that when charges are filed against an individual, they will be filed in triplicate, the duplicate being delivered to the individual, and the triplicate delivered to his team captain. The answer in writing, if any, will be made by the accused individual, and he will be privileged to answer in person before the League, or to be represented by any officer of his club or team.

 

Any individual who stands disbarred from competition by the N.R.A. will automatically stand disbarred from competition in the League.

 

ARTICLE IX – AMENDMENTS

These Bylaws may be amended or repealed by a two-thirds vote of the Representatives of the League present at the Annual Meeting, or at any special meeting called for the purpose, provided that notice of any proposed amendment will have been communicated to each club or team captain at least 10 calendar days prior to the meeting, and provided that any amendment adopted at such meeting will have the approval of the N.R.A. before becoming effective.

 

ARTICLE IX - DISSOLUTION

The League will use its funds only for the purposes specified in the Bylaws, and no part of said funds will inure, or be distributed to the members of the League. Should it be found necessary to dissolve the League, a two-thirds vote of the members present at an annual or special meeting of the League will be required for dissolution.

 

Upon dissolution, after payment of all outstanding obligations, any funds remaining will be donated to the National Rifle Association or to the Virginia State Sportsman Association (VSSA).