IDPA Rule Chat

[RickB]

When I look at rules and rules changes, I'm always at least as interested in them from the perspective of enforcement as from that of the competitor. One of the rules that needs reworking, or maybe rewording, is the one that concerns deactivated or disabled "safety devices". Is "safety device" defined? Is a magazine disconnector a safety device? If a company makes versions of a gun both with and without magazine disconnectors (S&W M&P, Browning High Power), are both legal? What about a firing pin block? Guns with and without are legal, but removing the firing pin block from a gun that is otherwise identical to one without isn't legal? As a match official, how do I know if a gun is supposed to have one? Since holstering a Glock or Springfield XD is mechanically the same as holstering a 1911 with the thumb safety OFF, why do 1911s have to also have the grip safety active? Two safeties for the 1911, but none for the others? Since a grip safety can be deactivated with no external modifications, I'd need to test every gun for compliance. What if a certain brand or model has a "safety" that I don't know about?
Let's change the rule to read that if the gun has an external, manual safety, it must be engaged at the start if the gun starts cocked. Easy to comply with - since everyone is doing it already - and it's easy for staff to verify.
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A07876

[RobMoore]

It would be easier if we defined it by whether or not the word "Safety" appears in the nomenclature of the part.

Magazine Disconnect = not a safety

Firing Pin block = not a safety

Grip safety = safety

Thumb safety = safety

This would be better than trying to articulate that the device makes the weapon more safe through its use, and is less safe with its deactivation, just call a spade a spade.
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A28264

[RickB]

So if one maker calls their firing pin block a "safety", guns from only that maker have to have the FPB active? That would still make the rule very difficult to enforce, which was most of what I'd like to see accomplished with a rule change.
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A07876