Bylaws of a shooting club.

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rbernie, I thought it had relevance as this forum has a great diversity of experience, intellect, and foresight about the passion of shooting. Twofifty's remark, " your club membership ought to hold a discussion about what the club's overall aims are", and, "Once these are pegged down and prioritized, then discuss how best to achieve these aims. Then structure yourselves and adopt bylaws and membership rules accordingly." is exactly the type of guidance I needed.

By asking this questions at the next meeting we can get back on track, and get focused on shooting, competitions, having clinics for novice shooters and educating the rest of undecided people who could easily be swayed to the other side of the fence supported by the Brady Bill.

By asking this question here I may be able to save the club from itself and keep it a shooting club, not a religious one. Mr. rbernie you have the power to let it go or let it stand. Either way I support your decision, but at least now I have some direction.
 
I wouldn't want to be a member of a shooting club that excludes any group of people, no matter what the type of exclusion they are embracing. I find this particularly offensive. I can say one thing that you will find is true, if you start excluding people one day you will become one of the excluded group. I think a persons character is far more important, than his religion or citizenship. If I joined a club I would want it to be a club of like thinking individuals, if this was the way they think, no thanks.

Thanx, Russ
 
Are we, as a movement, in a position where we can afford to start becoming hyphenated?
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The more we include as shooters, the better. IMO, we need to be as inclusive as possible. Black, white, young, old, thin, fat, people with disabilities, Christians, Jews, straight, gay, wealthy, poor, etc etc.

To get the laws passed that we want, we need as many people on board as possible, regardless of any types of divisions that may be present. Excluding people is certainly not the way to do that.
 
So, what happens after they succeed in driving the non-Christians (by the way, how are they on LDS?) away and forcing everyone to say the Pledge? Does the suggestion that EBR's be procured, camo and body armor? Instead of range time, you get FTX's? Classes on stockpiling food and ammo?

Time to find another club. Talk it over with some of the older members and see if they are interested in forming a club that's just about SHOOTING!

As Barney Fife would have said, "Nip it! Nip it in the bud!"

ed
 
I would try and make a case for its relevancy by saying that it does support the RKBA in the way that the propagating the "individual rights" culture and extending it as far as we can, does in fact support the RKBA.

It's the consensus of many of the posters in the thread that allowing the isolation in this particular case would be counter-productive and that the OP has a chance to speak up against it. The consensus of Christian shooters in particular speaking up against the merit of following through could not have been gained without introducing at least some amount of religion into the topic.

Should he/she get the information that they need to convince enough people it's a bad idea, there's a chance, albeit a small one, that the outcome of this thread could have some bearing (again, small, but can we really afford to give anything up?) on the shooting community as a whole.

This is of course speaking only on behalf of the topic itself and not the posts that have or will be posted. That's my case anyway :uhoh:

Ultimately it's your call, and I wish the OP good luck.

My advise to the OP is this; if your efforts fail and they insist on this change, leave and find another range. If you are truly willing and able to help others get into shooting, you'd be sacrificing the impact that you could make if you stayed there.

they cling to guns or religion
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Personally, I wouldn't think that anyone who is exercising a right under the 1A should exclude anyone else's right under the 2A, because they're backs are up against a wall too and they CANNOT afford to be on an island either.

just my .02
 
As a private club it would be fine with me if it was done by a membership vote. I guess as an Agnostic Atheist lapsed Catholic I would not feel very welcome, but heck, I would not want to be a member of any club that would have the likes of me anyhow.

In a culture under strong pressure to limit members to only those who think or look like 'US' is foolish. There are a lot of reasons I may wish the guy shooting next to me was not a member, but the color of his skin or religion or 'orientation' don't enter into that feeling. I even enjoy shooting with the Glock Fellas... even they can be saved.
 
I'd leave the club if either rule is passed.

I might be OK on change #1 if the pledge is changed to loyalty to the Constitution.
 
I think that when I see this thread, an announcement for the JFPO appears. That should answer the question for club members who don't want to engage in primitive tribalism.

If the club wants to be a religious/political club that goes shooting - that's a different game. I'll tell you that if you changed my club and said you would grandfather me - so I was one of the "OK" ones - you could ....
 
If they are a private organization, and do not recieve Federal or State funding, then they can do whatever they want. If they give you an opportunity to express yourself then do so. After that, if the outcome is not to your liking, either suck it up or walk.
 
I will get my 2 cents worth in before the lock.
1. I wouldn't want to associated with such a group of bigots.
2. If such a rule is passed I feel that the club should pay back all past fees and dues to any current member that will be excluded. (Grandfathering them just shows more bigotry.)
 
deadin said:
I will get my 2 cents worth in before the lock.
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I think it would be absurd to lock this thread.

My take on this might be different than some others. Before I started to label the club with PC borne type of names, I'd like to know what the reason for the proposal is :confused:
Stipulating the Pledge of Allegiance be said shows they only want supporters of our country. Most people would not have a problem with such a provision even though it has no bearing on the ability to enjoy shooting at the club. However stipulating that only one religion be allowed to be a member must be based on something, but has anyone said why? Many religious people believe in the right to bear arms and support our countries constitution.
Based on the current atmosphere, I suspect this proposed rule is anti-Muslim/Islamic more than pro-Christian. Maybe several of the board members thought an Islamic radical might come in one day pretending to be "one of the guys" and open fire on everyone. While I think something like that is far fetched, I suspect that might be the motivation.
However all we can do is speculate, so I'd suggest the OP get a definitive answer from whoever proposed the rule to see what their reasoning is.
 
A couple points: adding the pledge doesn't require the by-laws to be changed unless the by-laws are already pretty crappy. It's a simple procedural call that should be covered in your clubs rules of procedure--that should be at least one document separated from the by-laws. Changing the membership, likewise, is not a by-laws change but a Charter or Constitution change-another separate document(s).

The first-the pledge is no big deal from any standpoint. It's like adding a potty break to the way a meeting is run. The second is a deal breaker as it materially affects the way your club deals with both the public (government) and it's membership. In general, general consideration of such a change is so far down the line of proper procedure as to make the whole notion COMPLETELY out of order-in the very real technical sense-they way you present the facts in your initial post. Unless, of course, your catch all by-laws are so crappy as to be meaningless.

There are ulterior motives at work in your club and it's time to run for the hills.

This club needs two things: a parliamentarian to show them how to prepare proper club/organization documents and a lawyer to insure these documents conform to local, state and federal laws.

There may be a saving 'grace' in play. If your club filed paperwork with the state corporation commission concerning it's tax status, and/or filed a tax return for 2009/2010 (required if the first step is completed and income is above a certain level) and/or it opened a bank account with any proper bank and subsequently delivered a copy of organizational documents to that bank,

then

it may add the pledge on a simple majority vote but it MAY NOT change the clubs membership requirements without redoing all those steps just outlined with all new documents.




BTW, does this club have any assets? Me and some friends just love busting-stuff-up. We could be interested, if the money is right.
 
Nobody's business what believe or don't believe.
Personally I'd walkaway after I had told them why.
 
Would a "Christian-only" shooting club be allowed to shoot weapons designed or manufactured only by individuals they also deemed "Christian?" Or ammo?

Keep the club, like the THR threads, simple and focused on gun-related stuff, and leave the rest for other forums.
 
A question not asked so far... Is the "club" being discussed leaning toward organizing a militia?
 
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This is among the worst things a shooting club can do.

Making religious preference a requirement for a shooting club is bigotry. Plain and simple. There are no two ways about it.

Even if the shooting club were officially part of a church, financed and housed by the church, you better believe they wouldn't exclude people based on their religion. Every church I've ever been to welcomed those of other faiths, with open arms.

Let me also note:
While your club only technically represents its members, to most people it represents the firearms enthusiast community at large. Your club's bigoted policy would be generalized by the community and media as the attitude of firearms owners altogether.

Please take an open, vocal, LOUD stand against this.

p.s. These are the viewpoints of a fellow Christian.
 
I think the club members should ask the member wanting the changes made his reasons for doing so. This would shed a lot of light on the discussion at his club and on this forum.
 
Unistat said:
As a Christian, I have a problem with "Christian-only" anything. The social atmosphere of a shooting club is a perfect place to display Christian ethics, practices, and beliefs with out being an obnoxious turn-off. Christian only stuff is a lost opportunity, IMO.

I say, "Don't hide your light under a bushell."
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That's exactly right. The idea of a Christian only club is in itself not a Christian way of living.
 
As gun owners this would be a step backwards. If we would like to move forward in gun rights, everything except firearms needs to be put aside for another time. Power is in numbers.
 
We are priveledged to have the freedom of association protected in the COTUS and I have no problem with a group of people that want to start a Christian shooting club.

Changing in mid. stream, potentially alienating/excluding a group of members, upon whose membership dues and volunteer labor the club was supported and maybe even built, doesn't quite seem like the Christian thing to do, imho.

Personally, when I consider private ranges/clubs, I look more at good facilities, light traffic, low fees, amiable people, and most importantly high standards for safety.

I'm really lucky to have found all of these, just 4 miles down the road.
 
I respect the right of a private club making such exclusionary rules but morally I am deeply disturbed. I have no problem with religion but I do have a problem with discrimination and in todays modern age I think that we are better than that. Also remember that Christianity first spread because of its message of acceptance and tolerance. What kind of message would it send if you excluded others from your club? That being said I respect the right to create such rules but I would not support any such organization myself. On the issue of the pledge of allegiance I don't think its necessary but it is a nice tradition and a small gesture showing support for your country. Just my $.02
 
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