Violating one rule will get you disqualified (DQ’d) from a match. Violating two rules could
cause significant damage, or worse. Even very seasoned shooters can get DQ’d. If it happens to
you, please remember that the Range Officer is working for everyone’s safety so treat it as a
“course correction” on a long journey of safe shooting.
MATCH DISQUALIFICATION: A competitor who commits a safety infraction or any other
prohibited activity during a match will be disqualified from the match, and will be prohibited
from attempting any remaining course of fire in the match regardless of the schedule or physical
layout of the match.
NEGLIGENT DISCHARGE: A competitor who causes a negligent discharge (Accidental
Discharge in USPSA parlance) must be stopped by a Range Officer immediately and DQ’d from
the match. This includes: 1) A shot which travels over a backstop, a berm or in any other
direction specified in the written stage briefing by the match organizer as being unsafe; 2) A shot
which strikes the ground within 10 feet of the competitor, except when shooting a target closer
than 10 feet; 3) A shot which occurs while loading, reloading, unloading, remedial action, while
transferring a firearm between hands; 4) A shot which occurs during movement, except while
actually engaging a target; and 5) A shot which occurs while retrieving a staged handgun, when
the competitor is not engaging targets, and the shot does not strike a target.
UNSAFE GUN HANDLING: A competitor can be DQ’d for any of the following:
Handling a firearm at any time except when in a designated safety area or under the direction of a Range
Officer.
If at any time during a course of fire, a competitor allows the muzzle of their firearm to point rearward, that is further than 90 degrees from the median intercept of the backstop, or in the case of no backstop allows the muzzle to point up range, whether the firearm is loaded or not.
If at any time during the course of fire, a competitor drops their firearm or causes it to fall, loaded or not *.
Allowing the muzzle of a firearm to point at any part of the competitor’s body during a course of fire (SWEEPING).
Failure to keep the finger outside of the trigger guard while clearing a malfunction where the competitor clearly moves the firearm away from aiming at target.
Failure to keep the finger outside of the trigger guard during loading, reloading, or unloading.
Failure to keep the finger outside of the trigger guard during movement unless aiming at a target.
Drawing a firearm while facing up range.