IDPA and Wheelchairs

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Folks,


I have a question I'd like to throw out there. We are starting an IDPA club out here in Southern Maine and we have had a request by someone in a wheelchair who wants to shoot.

I am at a loss as to how this would work. Has anyone run into this before?

Looking for some advice...


Thanks,

- Gabe
 
By all means encourage them to come out and shoot! Obviously they won't be going prone, or kneel, but they can shoot from cover, etc. The SO will have to let them holster a "hot" gun so they can manuver their wheelchair. Physicaly Handicapped people who participate in various sports are extremly motivated, and will surprise you with their ability.

best, RG
 
We want him to shoot with us, I'm just having a hard time figuring this out.

Stages with shooting ports (windows) are going to be an issue...as will barricades with a shooting box.

How do you get a classification? What about the shooting on the move sections?

- Gabe
 
Bolt a holster to his chair frame, he can either reholster or place the gun in his lap while moving between positions.

If it has to be concealed he can toss a blanket over it and his lap, pretending to be a poor defenseless cripple.

If needed he can be pushed between stages or shooting positions, face it, he'll never take out a championship so why worry about the fine points?

Set up stages with prone or a low port so he can shoot around the obstacle to the side, set the ports at 'squat height' so he can shoot through them. If he can exit his chair, make prone the last shooting position. Be creative with stage design.

We had this discussion in Australia in our IPSC forum, as I had a wheelchair member joining. After due discussion with the international secretary, myself as the section secretary, the NROI chief and our national legal counsel, it was decided that he would be allowed to shoot in whatever way he could and that anyone who objected would be beaten up and thrown off of the range.
BTW, my wheelie mate hoons around in a V8 street car, gets to shoot MP5s as a prison guard, and is a military rifle shooter as well, when he's finished with prone we help him up again. His legs don't want to work, but his heart makes up for the rest of it.
 
Just for a single data point, the IDPA match I shot yesterday had no stage that could not have been negotiated by someone in a wheelchair. He can handle it.

Specifically, shooting ports should not be naval portholes, they should be at normal residential window height. Shooting boxes should not be used for anybody. Barricades can be built supported from the downrange side only and sandbagged to keep them from tipping back on the shooter. Hanged if I would not assign him a pusher so he could shoot on the move.

The idea is to let him shoot with the minimum of adaptation and accomodation, both for consideration of the walking shooters and for his self esteem, but where accomodation is necessary, DO IT.
 
Great ideas! It's good to know people are doing this - now I'm confident we'll have no problem. Time to rebuild those barricades...

Thanks for the help, and any more advice or experience anyone might want to share is welcome.

- Gabe
 
We shoot at the Scarborough Fish & Game Association in...Scarborough. :)

You in Maine?

- Gabe
 
Thanks for that link, rwmangus.

- Gabe

PS: Welcome to THR!
 
What ever your club does, please make him feel welcomed (I know your club will). It takes grapefruit sized nuts to even think about participating in such an event being chair bound. My heart goes out to folks like him who overcome their disablilty and return to being a productive member of society. I think his abilities and "will" will suprise the hell outta the club and I really doubt they'd have to make too many changes to a normal course. Be sure to keep us posted ;)
 
The shoot went great, and the contestant in the wheelchair kicked some serious arse. The only accomodation we did for the classifier was had him shoot the moving sections of the second stage both from the 10 yard line stationary. Other than that, for the movement in the third stage he just reholstered hot and boogied on up there.

Thanks for the advice everyone, THR has been a great help getting this up and running.

- Gabe
 
Jhaislet,

You're right about being surprised by Scott. I shot with him over this past weekend and he handled his firearm safely, not an easy task when you knees are 18" in front of your draw and you draw is constrained by armrests. He shot around barricades, bending only from the waist. He moved very well on the uneven rock strewn hard packed ground. And I think he out shot me while doing it! There is no "Handicap" in that young man!

Respectfully

jkelly
 
That is just great.

Some pictures and a writeup would be a wonderful article for the Tactical Journal. If your guy is comfortable with the publicity, maybe you could draw a writer for one of the newsstand slicks or the NRA Competitor or American Rifleman.

This would be valuable publicity for all shooters not just the chairbound.
 
That's a great idea, Jim. I'll ask Scott if that's something he'd be interested in and see where it goes.

- Gabe
 
We have a “no cameras” stipulation in our range sign in form, but we do have a fellow (IDPA) shooter that shoots from a wheel chair. Some stages have to be modified, to keep bullets from going too high, but other than that we have a good time. He would have a more difficult time in our USPSA club though (too much movement). Two hose clamps and a heat gun are all it takes, for everyone to have fun.
 
As a physical therapist, I am really interested in the topic of a person with a disability shooting IDPA. Our club has a member with an above the knee amputation who occasionally participates in matches. I think that reasonable adaptations (that maintain safety) are a good thing and can help provide a broader appeal for our sport. Just as we (in our club) make accommodations for older participants (i.e. not getting into a crouched or prone position due to bad knees/back), I see no problem with making a few changes for a wheelchair-bound shooter. As was previsouly mentioned, mounting a holster to the w/c frame may help, as would having someone push the w/c (especially on scenerios with a lot of movement). I would be curious to know what type of w/c this individual is using. I assume it is a manual chair? Standard w/c, lightweight sports chair? Powered wheelchairs are not normally used by individuals who do not need them, but it might be interesting for IDPA so as to allow moving and shooting at the same time. Please keep us all updated as to how things go with this individual.
 
We have a couple physically challenged people who shoot with us at our IDPA club. They shoot the COF's to the best of their ability and do very well. One of the guys uses a cane, and looks like every step is painful but he shoots every COF, is a SO, and loves it. His scores may not be the best, but he doesn't care, he's having fun. All that matters in my opinion.
 
I have seen a chair bound man shoot a couple USPSA matches local to me, The answer to 'what does it take' is 'whatever it takes' to the local group. If it takes 3 of us to manuever the chair somewhere quickly that is what is done. He is included just as much as the hotshots that win week in and week out, and truth be told he gets a lot more help making sure he is able to participate and has fun. This guy can shoot too, get him on two good legs and a lot of us would feel the heat. By all means do what it takes to include handicapped people, even if it means piddling on the proper rules in the book. I can't even imagine the feeling of freedom shooting a stage would present if I was in a chair involuntarily for all of my waking hours..
 
My mate was in a standard folding wheel chair, hand powered with a holster attached on his strong side.

Unfortunately he's no longer with us. Road racing in his custom V8 on the way back from the summer hot rod nationals, he lost control at high speed and collected a tree. With a broken neck he would have been a quad, so the paramedics repected his wishes and let him go.

Born a paraplegic, he still lead a good life. Competitive service rifle shooter, IPSC shooter, full time job as a prison guard, husband and father, good friend, not so responsible driver. .
 
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