A letter to a disgruntled MSSA member.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - A letter to a disgruntled MSSA member.

Posted: 2/18/2006 1:44:27 PM EDT

Evidently, there has been a dustup at one of the last Missouri Sport Shooting Association meetings. I don't attend, but a letter was fwd'ed to me by by a Missouri gun rights organization that wants to incite some dissent.

First I will print the letter that circulated. I've removed last names and the name of Dale's gun right's group to protect identies to a reasonable extent. But remember, the original message was sent by a bulk email and is in the public domain now. The next post is my reply.

Letter that was sent:

-----Original Message-----
From: Dale
Sent: Friday, February 17, 2006 21:54
To: All
Subject: FW: Fw: Letter (MSSA)

To All:

Since the event which is the subject of this forwarded letter is so telling, revealing and so important to the gun rights movement in Missouri, I am instructing {Dales organization} bulk e-mail specialist to forward it to our list.

This is forwarded, FYI, and is only done so as a service to you. {Dales organization} had NO involvement in this event in any way, shape or form other than to have had, since we were a member at the time, one of our board members and one of our subscribers there as regular attendees of the meeting. The written statements of the writer, Mr. Marsillo, are factually consistent with the reports given to the {Dales organization} Board of Directors two days after the meeting, by our representative who were in attendance. I do not know Mr. Marsillo, would not recognize him if I saw him and have no contact with him in any way other than to forward this letter of his. Form your own opinion as I will withhold mine for the time being.

Dale, President, {Dales organization}

-----Original Message-----

From "Joe" 2/16/2006 10:30:11 AM >>>

To: Kevin, acting MSSA President
Gladstone, MO 64119

Words cannot express my disappointment in you and what you and your cronies have done to the MSSA. I worked hard promoting the MSSA and junior shooting for the last five years and now your hostile takeover will destroy it. You, and the rest of those involved in this despicable conspiracy should be ashamed of yourselves, you are all without honor.

After reading the new (January) MSSA newsletter, I find there is misinformation that needs to be addressed. In your column on page two titled, "New Faces" you made statements that at the very least are inaccurate. Anyone reading the newsletter, who did not attend the annual meeting would get the impression that you asked some of your friends to come to the meeting to help MSSA, and they were elected to the board. As stated in your column "I recruited some people I knew as gun activists who also did some recruiting and as a result we had twice the number of people at the December meeting as ever before." You also stated "all of these people have experience working in gun rights organizations.
And As a final result I was elected president."
I would like to correct this impression with the facts as to what really went on.

What you did was to sit on our board for a number of years, to gain our trust and confidence, while you studied our bylaws and plotted your takeover of our state shooting association for your self-centered and egotistical motives. You were adept at finding the "chink in our armor" and discovered that a brand new member could not only vote but also run for the board of directors. Most of the MSSA current and former board as well as the members in attendance know that you and WMSA, GCLA, ,MPS, and Learn To Carry / Legal Defense Fund*Tim Oliver orchestrated a well organized, hostile takeover of the State Association. Why don't you state that in the newsletter, all the planning and coordination and secrecy that must have taken place. The Japanese were proud of Pearl Harbor.

At the December 2005 meeting you had "recruited" eighty to one hundred new faces, almost all new members, with an agenda, and a printed slate of candidates who all of your recruits were to vote for. When the nominations for directors were opened, your recruits were nominated, not because they could do a better job than the existing board members, but because you and your cronies have an agenda. You took over MSSA to turn it from a state shooting organization into your political activist movement. Four of the six new board members, not only were new toMSSA, none of them have ever been to a board meeting!

The election itself was illegal. Our former Secretary Harold Miederhoff received a flood of new memberships from WMSA, GCLA, and other gun activist groups just prior to the annual meeting and did notnotify anyone on the board of this occurrence. Had he done so perhaps some precautionary steps could have been taken to prevent your hostile takeover. At the meeting Mr. Miederhoff declared that he was not going to check the membership credentials of those in attendance, but he was going to run the election by the "Honor System" Therefore the election was in violation of the MSSA bylaws and Missouri Corporate Law. A copy of this letter has been sent to the State Attorney General requesting investigation of your actions and reversal of the election results. In practice it was the Dishonor System. I suggest that there was a strong possibility that some of the people in that room were not even MSSA members, but no will ever know for sure as they were allowed to vote.

Now the Missouri Sports Shooting Association is not controlled by hunters or competitive shooters, it is controlled by three grassroots gun rights organizations that merged together to satisfy their very large egos. Your agenda is not to help the MSSA or to promote junior shooting or to be an umbrella for all the gun groups. Your goal is to seize control of the MSSA, and its assets, to try to legitimize your irrelevant grassroots groups, to try to exercise some control at the 2007 NRA convention, and to further your war with Dale Schmid and SACMO. Why don't you explain that in your next column?

I must remind you that when you came to our meeting asking for a donation to help pay the cost of litigation for the concealed carry fight, you asked for $1000. We in turn decided to give you $5000, which I believe was the largest donation given from any single organization. At the December 3, 2005 meeting, Tim Oliver, returned a check for $1500, part of the money that was recovered in the LTC lawsuit. In the next thirty minutes he was part of the group that took over our board. It would have been more appropriate had he given MSSA thirty pieces of silver.

The newsletter itself has changed for the worse, there are no longer stories and articles about guns, hunting or competitive shooting, now there are articles written by "gun activists" from one gun rights group or another, stories about the next doom and gloom bad legislation, a bad guy being shot multiple times or women being attacked at knife point. If anyone wants to read those types of articles they are probably already a member of one of your gun activist groups. I call my Senators and Congressmen to complain about anti gun bills, attended gun rallies and have given concealed carry courses, however I do not consider myself a gun rights activist. I would not try to force competitive shooting or junior training programs on anyone else, but you and your followers are forever trying to force the gun rights movement on me. You have made a big mistake trying to turn the state shooting organization into another radical gun group. I predict that after your activists finish fighting every one else, they will turn on each other and the new MSSA will implode in a fit of cannibalism.

This is not the MSSA that I signed up for, and neither did my junior shooters from the Texas County 4-H Shooting Club. These kids range in age from 8 to 16.years old and come from conservative Christian homes. It is no longer in their best interest to read the propaganda and fear being spread in the MSSA newsletter. Their parents want them to read about hunting and competitive shooting, not about the government banning our guns, shooting rapists and muggers and other such yellow journalism.

Please cancel the membership of our junior club and cancel my membership.
As a member of the board of directors of the Big Piney Sportsmen's Club, I will be urging them to drop their affiliation with the MSSA, especially since the affiliated clubs are no longer even listed in the new Newsletter.

In all fairness I would appreciate it if you would publish thisletter, unedited, in the Newsletter for all MSSA members to read and forthem to come to their own conclusions.

Joe
Former MSSA Board of Directors member.
Texas County 4-H Shooting Sports Coordinator

Posted: 2/18/2006 1:45:10 PM EDT

[#1]

I'm not a member of {Dales organization} or the last Missouri Sport Shooting Association. So i don't know what it was like "before" or what it's like now. But I got a real impressing that this Joe is a is whiner and I caught some "code phrases" from him that leads me to believe that his view of gun rights is damn narrow. So here is the reply I sent:

Dear Joe;

I have been forwarded your letter as you see at the bottom by a Missouri gun rights organization.

I draw your attention the excerpts I’ve copied from the Message from MSSA President Kevin on the Missouri State Association web page.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>”Dear MSSA Membership Body,

We have taken the first step to set in motion a powerful coalition. Competitive shooters and gun rights activist have been in two separate camps for too long. In the competitive shooters' world, every discipline is a kingdom and life unto itself, only looking after their own interest. The hi-power shooters don't have much use for the small bore shooters who have no interest in the pistol contingent.

The common thread? Competitive shooters have little interest outside their own discipline *or* in gun rights politics.

The truth of the matter is, we cannot survive without all sides working together. Young shooters are the future for both competition and for gun rights. If young people do not learn the love of the shooting sports, they will not care when our gun rights are eroded in the legislature. If we fail to secure future gun rights in the legislature, youth will not be able to participate in shooting. Failure to transfer the knowledge and love of shooting to just one generation will mean the extinction of the sport in 20-30 years.

Our mission, is to build a big tent that welcomes and encourages all shooting sports disciplines from air guns to IDPA. To have all shooters active in working to preserve gun rights. To take back ground that was lost in 1968 and indeed lost in 1934. The phrase "who needs *those* kind of guns" should not exist in any of our minds. This requires change.

In Missouri, MSSA will be that big tent. We must reach out and bring in new members. We will write articles, have match notices published, along with results posted from all disciplines. We will have members who will write letters and call their elected representatives and show up for legislative hearings and rallys supporting gun rights for all of us. *We* will make this our task and not rely on someone else to do it!

Our opponents are made up of tree huggers, PETA, the UN, institutes for peace, million misguided moms and others who all come together to fight as allies on this one issue. Now is the time for us to change old ways and form a united front. It's the only way we can win.”<<
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joe, I couldn’t agree with the statement by Kevin more. For too long, many competitive shooters and hunters have not contributed properly to the fight for our gun rights. This applies to the bolt action and shot-gunners most of all. The guys and gals who own the semi-auto rifles and pistols have had to do a yeoman’s duty to keep the anti-gunners agenda from harming all gun rights while the bench rest and shot-gunners stood by and did little or nothing.

In Internet forums where semi-auto shooters, especially military-styled gun owners gather, we are intensely angry with the lazy, unconcerned Fudd-gunners and bolt gunners that would allow incremental gun bans to be enacted because they have no use for our black rifles and question why we “need to own” our type of guns.

I’m firmly convinced that your statement >”trying to turn the state shooting organization into another radical gun group”<< is a code phrase for a tact admission that you do not see the necessity of preserving all the rights of gun owners, just the rights to shoot the guns YOU see fit for your people to own.

And yes we “activist” gun owners want to take back the ground that was lost in 1986, 1968 and indeed lost in the 1934 gun control acts. Because those acts are illegal, unconstitutional infringements that should NEVER have been allowed to pass. And yet were allowed into law by previous generations of unconcerned, self-interested types who were thinking phrases like "who needs *those* kind of guns" and didn’t give a damn about the consequences.

You are a small-minded whiner with a narrow self-serving view of the gun owning/gun rights community. I’d like to see you take your grizzled yammering to some place like AR15.com and see what kind of reception you get there. Hell, I’m willing to bet you don’t even know that AR15.com, one of the largest gun enthusiast forums even exists! And I’m sure that a considerable number of gun owners there, and locally, are going to read your screed and agree with me when I say “Good-bye and don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

Posted: 2/18/2006 2:48:29 PM EDT

[#2]

Sounds like the good old Boys in the MSSA are pissed because a couple groups where tried of "skeet shooter" mentialty, and the MSSA not looking out for the future of Firearms ownership.

I totaly agree with you reply.

As a junior shooter myself(by NRA rules) Im really turned off by how far the High Power world has gotten away from its roots in Military/Militia/Civilian marksmanship training, and is now just golf with guns. Service rifle compedtion has damn near lost all of its pratical training merit.

Posted: 2/18/2006 9:55:24 PM EDT

[#3]

I don't know anything about these organizations, who is in them, or what the issue really is. I'm not going to tack this thread or lock this thread or anything at all. What I'm seeing here is useful information and not personal attacks on anyone here on arfcom, so I'm going to let it be.

Interesting stuff but not enough info for me to formulate an intelligent opinion.

Posted: 2/21/2006 12:15:21 PM EDT

[#4]

I wonder if the "Kevin" listed is Kevin Jamison. If so, he has our (all gun owners) best interests in mind at all times and he gets my vote.

Posted: 2/21/2006 12:56:10 PM EDT

[#5]

I don't know any of the parties involved. And as much as I want to get back into competitive shooting and supporting shooting sports in the area I dunno if I care about this group so much. Seems like they left the gate open for anyone to take over their organization then whined about it.

So the first group were maybe nice guys who got bumped out, the second group have an agenda and good or bad they probably should have just started a new organization together and left the "leave us to shoot" group alone.

If any of you guys do know the score here, I'd like to know if they're sponsoring any shooting events? If so I'll probably attend just to check it out.

Justin

Posted: 2/22/2006 7:59:25 PM EDT

[#6]

If they let brand new members vote and sit on the board of directors, they're lucky they weren't taken over by a contingent of anti-gunners intent on driving the organization into the ground.

As it is, I don't know anyone involved, and haven't ever delt with any of the organizations. It just sounds like piss-poor planning in the first place.

Posted: 3/5/2006 5:34:43 PM EDT

[#7]

So did anyone attend to MSSA meeting this Saturday?
And if so, what happened?
I just got back from a weekend of training and found a quite urgent call for attendace at the meeting.

BTW, FNBrowning, what't the point of removing the "last names and the name of Dale's gun right's group to protect identies to a reasonable extent"?
I mean, they're sending out mass emails to alot of people and they're not concerned about hiding their identity. It probably doesn't matter much, as most folks can probably figure it out. Just wondering.

Posted: 3/5/2006 9:24:06 PM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:
If they let brand new members vote and sit on the board of directors, they're lucky they weren't taken over by a contingent of anti-gunners intent on driving the organization into the ground.

Hell, that's what I was thinking happened when I first started reading the manefesto! After having read the entire letter and having gone to www.safewithguns.org , I now believe it is a much better organization after this "takeover"! I think FNBrowning was dead on, in his analysis of "Joe". "Joe" said in his letter that " four of the six new board members..." Which that sentence in and of it's self would have you believe that there are only six board members. But no, only six of the EIGHTEEN board members are new. The rest are long time members of the org. So this whole coup BS, is just that BS. The new president is in fact Kevin Jamison. Who, many of you probably already know, has fought very tenaciously for our gun rights.

Posted: 3/6/2006 5:55:54 AM EDT

[#9]

Yeah, well we had better ditch this "Skeet shooter/who needs that type of gun anyway?" mentality and all band together or we WILL lose a lot faster.

BTW, Kevin Jamison IS a 100% PRO gun-rights guy and gets my vote. Heck, I might even have to join MSSA now that they may actually be a useful organization (in a defend your 2nd Ammendment rights sort of way) to join.

Posted: 3/6/2006 7:43:23 AM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:
Heck, I might even have to join MSSA now that they may actually be a useful organization (in a defend your 2nd Ammendment rights sort of way) to join.

I actually did just join. They seem like a good organization. The "coup" theory is BS. As said, Kevin is top notch. The group does sponcer events, focusing largely on junior shooters. They also have a non-profit set up to accept tax deductable contributions and are the state affiliate of the NRA. Annual dues are a lowly $15.00, so I figured WTF. The new website is www.missourisportshooting.com There is not much content, but they recently got a webmaster, so it should be growing. If interested, contact Lee Koester @ [email protected] He can give you any info you need and get you a copy of the news letter, etc.

Posted: 3/12/2006 6:18:06 PM EDT

[#11]

My name is Zachary Bauer and I'm one of the new board members being accused of a taking over. Some of these guys want to stay as far away from politics as possible and just enjoy their skeet shooting. My goal and others on the new board want to accomplish two things.

1. Create that Big Tent that Kevin mentions to help bring in new young shooters to the gun culture.

2. Immerse these new young shooters and old shooters as well into the world of gun politics so they know and understand that our shooting sports are under DIRECT attack around the world at the UN and in DC as well as our state captial in Jeff City

Gun owners need to wake up or there might not be any kind of shooting sports left in Missouri or anywhere else.

Joe is whiner and DALE is only in it for the money anyway. The real gun rights organizations in Missouri are hard at work to preserve gun rights now and in future generations. I'm proud to be a part of it.

Sincerely,
Zachary Bauer
Founder of Missouricarry.com
www.missouricarry.com
Founder of IANSASUCKS.com
www.iansasucks.com
Member of BOD Missouri Sport Shooting Association
www.missourisportshooting.org

Posted: 3/12/2006 7:51:19 PM EDT

[#12]

Duke - this has indeed been a fascinating thread. almost as good as an episode of the Sopranos w/ a bit of Big Love thrown in.

i'm not familiar with the longterm history of the MSSA, but i do know Zac, Tim, and Kevin. they are avid shooters, stand-up guys, and trustworthy people. i'd vote for them.

Posted: 3/13/2006 6:56:54 AM EDT

[#13]

Hey Zac, glad to see you on this forum. Everyone REALLY should check out missouricarry.com (Zac's site) the forum is top notch, and the people are great. I split my forum time pretty much between these two boards (oh, and SnipersHide.com)

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - A letter to a disgruntled MSSA member.

Hometown » Missouri

Warning

Confirm Action

About AR15.COM

Stay Connected

Newsletter

Contact Us