ATA has Millions of Dollars for their shooters - End the daily fees this year.

I read yearly how the ATA is taking in big money. The slush fund reportedly gets bigger each year.
According to Merlo, the gov’t recently gave them a $170,000 loan that doesn’t have to be repaid. Millions in investments and tons of money?

What is the purpose of all of that? Isn’t that for the members? Are we to be using that to promote trapshooting? Or is it to be used to buy free guns for ATA Elites?

Times are tough. Inflation and everything that came along with Joe Biden is here.

ATA……if you are listening, I suggest you do away with the daily fees this year. Let the states collect fees. Give your members a break. Just a thought.

 

We are always reading about how much money the ATA has made in investments on their (ATA members) money and about how good of shape the organization is in. A rainy day fund of money for hard times in the future, but who determines when the rainy day is here? When is the time to be a little forward looking and pull that trigger?

I have no faith in any on the EC to make the call and I doubt it would be in Gipson's personal interest (think contract bonuses here) to take a cut in ATA fiances for one year even if it would benefit shooters, gun clubs, and state associations.

Last year the ATA tried and failed to stop the bleeding with free membership renewals, your plan might he[p in the short term but the handwriting on the wall says different.

The history of the ATA's efforts to promote shooting in my lifetime has been satellite grands, shorter targets, narrower targets, take out the money shooters, give out AA points that lead to an extremely inflated number of All Americans even as the number of members crashed, move the organization away from it's base to the most anti gun state it could find, I almost forgot Kiner's idea of two yards off once that the ATA doubled down on and did it twice.

I'm sure I've missed some but it is early in the morning and I'm still groggy from the weekend. I grew up in Farm Country on a farm and I've ran my own business for 27 years and one thing that my upbringing taught me is have a plan for good times or bad times. I know enough not to buy a horse after the barn has burnt down.

I don't know what per cent of a drop in shooting the cost of shells or more importantly the availability of shells will have for 2022 and beyond but I'm sure it will be great. Some state associations have to be on the brink after the last two years already and with the costs of everything, Biden's Stagnation, going up at about a true 15% and shortages ATA shooting is in for the shits this year.

In truth the daily fees moratorium might not help out much more than for good will, but the ATA doesn't have much of that left and what is all thar investment money for anyhow?

 

Just from the monetary aspect alone, registered trapshooting will most likely drop like a rock during the remainder of this target year. To increase daily fees will ensure that. Lowering them (which is within their power to do) could actually help things.

 

If the ATA wants to put some of that grant money to good use, increase membership AND membership participation, and promote good will among shooters, they can supply the shells for all registered shooting at no cost to the shooter.
They should have enough clout to obtain the ammo from the manufacturers. It doesn't even have to be Federal Papers, STS, or AA stuff; Gun Clubs and Top Guns would do it.

 

It appears this organization needs either a few honorable delegates, which we obviously don’t have or an Attorney General to investigate how the ATA money is being used.

Any delegate could start the ball rolling on this. I am surprised none of the delegates brought this up. Let’s see which if any are capable. I don’t have much confidence in any.

 

I believe the new President just wants his new gun. He won’t ask for a vote.

 

If the ATA has income coming from investment why wouldn’t they take some type of action! Curious

 

I don't shoot registered targets any longer but from watching since my first year in 1976 it would seem that the only time the word "decrease" is used it pertains to,

Yardage
Target Angles
Target Distance
Membership
Entries at the "grand"
Delegates that will ask questions

 

Forget giving each of us 3 bucks. It truly falls into the who cares category at the moment. The price of a box of shells could go up that much between now and the next state shoot. Now, take that money and make it "money added" at EVERY ata shoot this year and you've got a reason for shooters to show up! Not just grands and state shoots, but every ata shoot, small clubs included. Not likely to happen, its still not a ton of money but it might entice a few shooters to make a couple more shoots or not hang it up all together.

 

The days of being able to shoot for a brand new American Motors Jeep for winning the Grand American Handicap are long in the past. I can't see where letting you keep $3 of your entry is going to do much one way or the other in increasing attendance or in promoting the sport. What I would rather see is the ATA award shells for each event via a lottery system. Every entry for each day gets a raffle ticket so say the days event has 500 entry's at your state shoot or other large shoot. 500 entry's times 3.00 would be $1,500 worth of flats of shell that could be given away for that day. With the ATA buying in such a large quantity's they should be able to buy direct from the manufacturer. If I knew I had a chance to win a flat of shells that would be much more of an incentive then just getting $3.00 knocked off the tab. Winning a flat of shells would be a pretty significant score and would go quite far in helping ease the financial burden of the high cost of shooting. For smaller shoots vouchers could be given and used as cash for shells .I know the give aways to me are a big draw and always an added incentive to make the drive to Ohio and other states that provide these opportunity's.

 

The President of the ATA isn’t going to risk his free gun to give a break to shooters. And the EC isn’t going to go out on a limb. How would that look? Jmho