What is the reason 95% of gun clubs/sportsmans associations require sponsorship from current members in order to join the range/club??

Most clubs, I hear, have issues with active members NOT getting involved to coordinate activities. It always falls to the same 8 guys to do everything.


Law abiding American citizens move into and from across the state. How are they to get to know a member to get a foot in the door?
Also, some clubs have a 'capped' membership, which also I don't understand. Especially in light of not getting enough hands to get things done.

So, is this just in Pennsylvania? Or is it a national issue.

The club I belong to did not require sponsorship (or if they did it was signed off by the club president when we did orientation, can't remember).

Either way I doubt I'll be renewing next year as they made it abundantly clear that while they allow me to shoot my AR, they don't like it.

Most clubs I've visited, including the one I joined, do require "sponsorship".
It's mostly a formality... done to do some quick vetting of folks. Think "anti-a-hole" check.
You wouldn't want total strangers having access to your range facilities and grounds.

Most clubs hold events/shoots open to the public. Go to several. Talk with the members and get to know a few. Ask about joining. One of them will gladly sign your app. Most clubs are always looking for new members that will contribute, either by helping out with service/projects or by attending/teaching/etc.

I don't get to attend many meetings due to work, so I contribute by attending as many events as schedule permits, and helping out when I can, be it repairing target frames if the look ratty or bringing a weed whacker with me on a shooting session.

The volunteer part is a national issue in EVERY SINGLE organization.  I belong to a ton of different types of orgs.... cant get anyone to volunteer.
capped memberships are due to range pressure  mostly.
Sponsorship is a way of vetting people.

where are you trying to join?

Our club web site states you need a sponsor. true, but you can get a sig by simply showing up to any meeting.  

When i was new to the area the club I wanted to join required a sponsor. I sat outside the club a couple of nights hoping to run into someone with no luck. I then attended a couple of public shoots they had open. I actually ran into my daughters teacher there. This allowed me to meet get a sponsor and meet a couple members.  

at the orientation multiple people showed up with out a sponser. Their papers were quickly signed by a member without questions. 

I'm not needing to join a club.
I'm just bringing it up as a topic of discussion. They've been discussing it in our fudd club and more than a few of us feel it's a hold out from them olden days when you actually excluded people you didnt like in HS.

In todays day n age, people are more mobile and move into an area (mainly for work) and dont know any like minded club members to join a shooting club with a high bar.
My club has it on their application too, i say just take that nonsense off.

Our club requires a sponsor and the application is reviewed at a meeting for all of the members to hear.

While not a "popularity" contest, it has been known to keep certian less desirables out.

I have rarely heard of a new member being denied with sponsorship.

As for capping membership; it has come up but I believe nothing came of it.

When living in TX I applied to a private club near me and was wait listed for two years....then I moved back to PA where I was still a member.

The public is welcome at all of our open events and frequently we gain new members that way.

Always need more people willing to volunteer.

i say leave it on... you will end up with a bunch of no good son-of-bitches if you dont.
my club took this requirement off our application process about 10 years ago... we had nothing but trouble.  we put it back on about 5 years ago and it took till about now to be rid of the trouble makers.

now we run full background checks on everyone who joins, with their consent.

Mine doesnt require sponsorship, but they do ask at the meeting if anyone knows the applicant and has concerns before we vote to admit them.

My club in PA has the same requirement. Ten years ago, I did not know anyone when I had newly moved to Pennsylvania.  I somewhat apprehensively attended my first club meeting, introduced myself, and requested to join. A gentleman I later found to be a decent fellow stated he'd sponsor me, and another seconded this. I repaid their trust by trying to be a good member and volunteering numerous times to help in club events and do clean ups and repairs.

Thus I became a member, and witnessed the same scene 100 times since then. It is a bit of a hold-over from times past, but it does give the club some control over who joins. As our club has aged, we clearly understand the need to keep bringing new members into the sport. But we also have to deal with people that are less careful than they should be. There are bullet holes in the roof of the rifle range from negligence, and target posts recklessly shot to pieces. It is all on our volunteers to clean this up and repair things, so the club deserves to be selective.

I have paid for and myself installed new 4x4 target posts, and found that 2 weeks later, rather than staple a sheet of cardboard between 2 posts, someone would put a target right on the post itself and shoot it to pieces in one afternoon, and then leave the mess there for someone else to fix.

One negligent accident and inevitable lawsuit (however frivolous...) would deplete the clubs funds and end us in short order. So, any group that depends on the efforts of its members has the right to be selective in its membership.

This is absolutely spot on.

My club is easy to join if you follow the somewhat difficult  requirements. The above description is the reason we have had to put these requirements in place.

Times have changes but not the living in the past attitudes of the directors and club officers...

People today balance far more than in the past, so time is more critical and hours on the range raking leaves etc. are just not there. Far more people today are interested in shooting than hunting. Just look at the proliferation of successful commercial indoor ranges (Lancaster area),  shoot & go.

The gun shops have seen the change and stepped up to take advantage of it. (sure don't offer many bargains or sales )

In a large gun club I was in, I proposed hiring a Club Pro much like a golf course has, to oversee the day to day goings on at the club and tend to maintenance. And with an on site pro, we might consider a temporary membership to anyone wanting to shoot... That was met with open mouthed stares and cry's that we were a sportsmen club!

Of course the only way around that attitude is to replace directors and officers with younger thinking but who will step up to that challenge

You mean those same young guys that don't have any time to do anything around the club except shoot and take advantage of it?

The more successful clubs in my area have a very distinct membership...

There's a bunch of retirees who tend to be on the board, attend EVERY meeting, and do the brunt of the physical work maintaining the property...
And then there's a much larger bunch of folks still in the workforce, who attend maybe one meeting a year, but show up for as many events/shoots/functions as possible.
The usually bring a healthy number of non-members along for events open to the public to further the clubs earnings, and recruit new members.
The "old guard" "leads" and are the core "Doers"...
The "young guys" are the financial backbone, supporting the clubs more through activity fees, raffle tix, food/beverage purchases, new members, etc.

Clubs that understand this and embrace it, and have thought-out succession as guys age, are successful and happy.

Clubs that don't get it, and have leadership that enacts rules which discourage the younger, working, family-obligated guys, die a slow, painful death.

Just saw one club I used to visit 2-3 times a year for board shoots had folded, all of about 2 years after they made all their shoots closed to the public.
(Probably couldn't handle a few non-members outshooting their Aces...)

Spot on. 

As a transplant to PA, I agree wholeheartedly.  Moving into this state and trying to find a place to shoot it a pain in the ass.  

Clubs that need a quorum to vote in new members and can never get enough people to show to a meeting to vote.

That's for sure.  I've been to Club Meetings where there were more Club Officers in the meeting than there were members in attendance.


Luckily I've never ben a member of club that needed a quorum.

Your club experiences sound sad.