Greetings Arlington members,
President Dell Cockey started off the meeting by reporting the rental property at 11660 Marriottsville Road as been rented but the tenants will not move in until the end of the month. Ken Brown’s Vice President’s report noted that we have increased the rent on both of the rental properties which will increase the AGC’s revenue by 13% ($2600/month is the current rent). The new tenants brought two of their own refrigerators so the AGC is looking for a home for the two old refrigerators which were in the AGC property. Also, the accounting review has come back for a cost to the AGC of less than $5000. This is about what the AGC budgeted for the review so this is good news.
Bryant Cramer (Executive Vice President) reported that the target carriages on the 200 yard range were lubricated, trees were trimmed along the north side of the range (next to lane #10), lumber was added along the north end of the pits to shield exposed sheet metal, ten new target frames and five small club frames were built for use on the 200 yard line and the area in front of the target frames (permanent) was regraded to allow shooters to see low shots impacting the berm. The rental property at 11660 was cleaned and the deck was painted. He continues to work with the trap committee to develop a trap SOP and he is getting a quote to add a counter to the Wobble trap. Grass was cut for the first time this year and a Hughes satellite system was installed to improve internet access. A depository safe was ordered for the Upper Range House Office (in Memorial Hall) and two new portable toilets were delivered for summer use. Bryant reports he is still gathering info to purchase a 60 inch zero turn mower.
The largest part of Bryant’s report involved a “Range Rules Infraction Report” which he will start to compile on a monthly basis. All RSOs are required to note the date, the type of offense and the badge number for each violation they feel needs to be documented. Bryant will continue to develop this report with the RSOs and the results will be reported at each trustee’s meeting. The trustees will then decide if the individual clubs need to take further action. Bryant then noted the range needs another part-time RSO so the trustees voted to approve the hiring of a new part-time RSO. A lengthy discussion then took place about Maryland State Rifle & Pistol Association’s use of the AGC facilities. The question was to determine whether or note they should be charged a fee for using AGC property just as if they were a FTO. Bryant made the argument that the membership of the Maryland State Rifle & Pistol Association consists of several AGC badge-holders, but after he was reminded of the time spent on determining user fees for the FTOs, the matter was put to a roll call vote of the trustees. By a vote of 7 to 8, it was decided that the Maryland State Rifle & Pistol Association shall be charged the same fee as an FTO if they choose to use AGC property.
Tom D’Asto’s (Secretary) reported we have sold nearly 2000 range badges so far this year and we will most likely need to order more. A voice vote was taken among the trustess and approval was granted for the board to purchase an additional 300 badges.
Gordon Nahas (Treasurer) advised he was not quite finished by the March treasurer’s report but would have it completed within a few days of the AGC meeting. At this point the AGC has $294,000 in PNC Bank and has a mortgage balance of $542,000. The AGC earned about $59,000 in the month of March alone. The tenant in 11670 Marriottsville Road is consistently late with her rent. There was a discussion about whether to terminate her lease or not. Ken Brown advised we can move forward with an eviction when we are ready. The new office computer is up and running and Gordon transferred ownership of the computer from himself to the AGC. Gordon went on to say he will give the computer password to a select number of people. The trustees brought up the subject of eventually being able to purchase range badges off of the AGC website. Gordon felt this would be possible but a few more details will need to be worked out and the members wil still need to show proof of membership in an AGC club.
John Josselyn (Legislative) advised the 2012 session of the Maryland General Assembly is now over. We were able to stop HB 618 which was a task force to study the impact of firearms ownership on the mentally ill. John felt this was another attempt at more firearmes restrictions and did not support it. SB 911 is a proposal to let local jurisdictions make their own gun laws. John felt this was not good for the state overall as it would create a “patchwork” of firearms laws which would be difficult to enforce and would only create more problems for supporters of the Second Amendment. Paul Dembrowski resigned as President of Maryland Shall Issue. As for the Woolard case the State of Maryland officially notified the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (Federal) that the State will appeal the Woolard decision. John advised that at this point nothing will change in the application process for a concealed carry permit. Applicants will still be turned down but at least the State is returning checks with the applications. The bad news is that when you reapply you will need to get a new set of fingerprint cards. For more details on John’s legislative report I strongly encourage all Arlington members to sign up for his monthly legislative report. It will provide more detail that what his contained monthly column.
Ed Hall (Trap committee) advised he is still working with the RS-SOP committee and the AGC Treasurer to iron out the money-handling procedures. His goal is to limit the chain of custody of cash and have fewer people handling the money. He has established a chain of custody which includes the trapper placing the trap proceeds into a safe just inside a wall in Memorial Hall (mail slot), then one person (Dell or Gordon) will remove that money from the safe and take it to the bank. There was some discussion as to what forms will be used (Gordon wanted to use forms which were different than what Ed had proposed) and Ed also requested each club name a liason from their membership to make contact with the Trap committee. Ed wants to instruct the liason in how to fill out the new trap forms and to review the money handling procedures.
The Machine gun committee reported they have qualified 9 out of 10 shooters so far this year and 104 out of 121 shooters qualified since the committee’s inception. The next machine gun qualification date is 5/18/11. The Archery committee reported they are getting ready for the spring turkey season and the committee chair has asked for volunteers to help with the bow range.
The Blackpowder committee reported they had a ham shoot the weekend of 4/28 and that a meat shoot was scheduled for this past weekend (5/5). The committee announced they will host a muzzleloading clinic (roundball) on 5/26/12 at the Barnes House at 2:00 p.m. Anyone interested in learning the fundamentals of muzzleloading his encouraged to attend – it is free to all AGC members. The Smallbore committee reported all juniors teams are now outdoor and that they have been having great turnouts for the teams. The Pistol commmittee reported the winter league has concluded and the spring league is starting. The High Power committee had 25 people show up for the workday and ten target frames were repaired/rebuilt. Also, ten club high power teams have been formed.
The RS-SOP committee proposed a range rule change for the trap range. The rule addition states all shotguns must be fired from the shoulder and all folding/collapsable stocks must be extended for use on the trap range. This proposal was put to a voice vote and the trustees voted unanimously to adopt the new rule. This range rule has now gone into effect so please look to the AGC website for the updated range rules. Last month there was a discussion about letting the MD Department of Natural Resources host a hunting open house at the AGC. The AGC board has reported that at this point they are waiting to hear back from the DNR for details on the open house.
Under old business a proposal was made to hold an AGC-wide raffle. The raffle will consist of several prizes which will include firearms as well as gift certificates for clothing retailers, food companies (Safeway) and retail gasoline. A total of 3000 tickets will be sold over a period of 75 days this fall. The tickets will cost $20/each and the drawing will be held on 11/17/12. By voice vote the trustees voted to accept the proposal and to hold an AGC raffle. Additional details will be provided as the year progresses.
There was discussion of holding a managed deer hunt on AGC property which will coincide with the state hunting season. Nothing was officially approved but since there was enough interest in the hunt a committee will be formed to look into the matter further.
Our own Rob Cowan made a special request of the AGC to allow Arlington to shoot at steel targets at 50 yards on the pistol range. This will coincide with our scheduled shoot on 6/10/12, the day after the Libby Match. There was little discussion and the trustees voted to approve Arlington’s request. Look for steel at our next pistol shoot! We had average turnouts for our last two events (100 yard shoot on 4/21 and the Libby wobble on 4/28) but the weather was good both days. Our next event is a frame build this Saturday in the Barnes lower classroom. The next shoot is a Bust Fest on Saturday, 5/19 and then a 100 yard shoot on Sunday, 5/27.
I also want to remind all Arlington members that the Libby Match is almost upon us. We will need as many volunteers as possible on Saturday, 6/9/12 to run the Libby.
See you at the range,
Dave
Arlington Rifle & Pistol Club, Inc. was chartered by the NRA in 1943. We are a charter member of the Associated Gun Clubs of Baltimore, Inc (AGC). Arlington Rifle & Pistol Club is also affiliated with the Civilian Marksmanship Program. Cost for club membership is currently $40 per year.
