Thinking about joining Mount Airy IWLA

[Alphabrew]

Any opinions on the Mount Airy Isaac Walton League? A guy at my gym that I talk firearms with is a member and he suggested that I join. He said he’d sponsor me so I have that part taken care of if I decide to join. Is it a pretty good club?

 

[outrider58]

You should.

 

[TOWcritter]

It's great! I belong to York IWLA.

 

[MaxVO2]

Any opinions on the Mount Airy Isaac Walton League? A guy at my gym that I talk firearms with is a member and he suggested that I join. He said he’d sponsor me so I have that part taken care of if I decide to join. Is it a pretty good club?

****Personally, I would do IWLA-WAC Damascus. It is a very active chapter and has really nice ranges and events. Go check them both out as I did and decide what works best for you.

 

[dontpanic]

You will get out of it what you put in. Attend the meetings and go to the work parties. IWLA has a lot more to offer than just a shooting club.
I'm a member or York IWLA.

 

[outrider58]

Looks nice, 200 & 300 yard ranges and all.

Home - MtAiryIWLA.ORG

Welcome The Mt. Airy Chapter of the IWLA is an all-volunteer nonprofit wildlife conservation and shooting club, with 2 skeet fields, 7 trap fields, a 100-yard rim fire range, a 25, 50, 100, 200, and 300-yard big bore range, and a 25-yard pistol range, also a archery range.The rim fire, big bore...

mtairyiwla.org

 

[River02]

Used to shoot Thursday night open Trap at the Mt Airy IWLA... good crew of folks running the range and nice facilities. If you've got the time and inclination I say go for it...

 

[JohnnyE]

Any opinions on the Mount Airy Isaac Walton League? A guy at my gym that I talk firearms with is a member and he suggested that I join. He said he’d sponsor me so I have that part taken care of if I decide to join. Is it a pretty good club?

I've been a Mt. Airy IWLA member for a decade. Boy have we come a long way. I shoot mostly pistol and rifle, and occasional skeet. First rate facilities for all three. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[salopez]

I was going to myself before the pandemic, then they stopped taking new members for a while. i gues they opened back up? I will need to find a new sponsor.

 

[babalou]

****Personally, I would do IWLA-WAC Damascus. It is a very active chapter and has really nice ranges and events. Go check them both out as I did and decide what works best for you.

yup yup. The Clown is to sponsor me there.

 

[Alphabrew]

I went to the meeting last night and am going to move forward with the application process. Looking forward to having a nice place to shoot!

 

[Doctortoxic]

Izaak Walton is one of the national groups behind the push to outlaw lead ammunition. See this article about Minnesota https://news.yahoo.com/lead-ammo-ban-mn-could-015105116.html

I’ve been a member of IWLA WAC for over 10 years. But after reading that the IWLA is a bunch of Fudds looking to disarm folks by outlawing lead ammo, I won’t be renewing my membership. I’ll be heading to AGC instead. I’ll also be actively advocating against the IWLA.

 

[outrider58]

Izaak Walton is one of the national groups behind the push to outlaw lead ammunition. See this article about Minnesota https://news.yahoo.com/lead-ammo-ban-mn-could-015105116.html

I’ve been a member of IWLA WAC for over 10 years. But after reading that the IWLA is a bunch of Fudds looking to disarm folks by outlawing lead ammo, I won’t be renewing my membership. I’ll be heading to AGC instead. I’ll also be actively advocating against the IWLA.

Hey, do your own thing.

I've been a member there for over 24 years and as a 'Rockville' member before that. The IWLA has been a conservation organization since its conception. WE may be a diverse group, but I assure you, we are not all FUDDS. Take your money elsewhere if you want, that's your prerogative. We are not a 2A rights organization. We have many members who neither own nor shoot firearms. Ultimately our goal is to be good stewards of our environment:

“to conserve, maintain, protect and restore the soil, forest, water, and other natural resources of the United States and other lands; to promote means and opportunities for the education of the public with respect to such resources and their enjoyment and wholesome utilization”.

If you joined thinking you were joining a gun club, you were either misinformed or ignorant(no offense intended).

 

[Doctortoxic]

Hey, do your own thing.

I've been a member there for over 24 years and as a 'Rockville' member before that. The IWLA has been a conservation organization since its conception. WE may be a diverse group, but I assure you, we are not all FUDDS. Take your money elsewhere if you want, that's your prerogative. We are not a 2A rights organization. We have many members who neither own nor shoot firearms. Ultimately our goal is to be good stewards of our environment:


If you joined thinking you were joining a gun club, you were either misinformed or ignorant(no offense intended).

It’s pretty obvious IWLA doesn’t care about the 2A. To me, that’s the first point in the Fudd starter kit. Very disappointed in the IWLA over this. And yes I will be taking my money elsewhere. IWLA can KMA.

 

[outrider58]

It’s pretty obvious IWLA doesn’t care about the 2A. To me, that’s the first point in the Fudd starter kit. Very disappointed in the IWLA over this. And yes I will be taking my money elsewhere. IWLA can KMA.

That's fine. Like I said, IWLA is not a gun club.

 

[MaxVO2]

It’s pretty obvious IWLA doesn’t care about the 2A. To me, that’s the first point in the Fudd starter kit. Very disappointed in the IWLA over this. And yes I will be taking my money elsewhere. IWLA can KMA.

****IWLA is primarily a conservation organization. They do have rifle, pistol, and shotgun ranges at many/most of their chapters. It is quite harsh to say they don't care about the 2A when they have literally trained thousands of people pre/post Bruen to get the W&C carry permit, and several of the local chapters teach dozens of NRA courses every single year including Basic Pistol, Rifle, PPIH, PPOH, RSO and other classes that directly increase the number of people with knowledge on the safe and proper use of firearms.

Several MDS members here on this very site have gotten their HQL, and W&C training requirement through Izaak Walton's classes throughout the area (some have taken their instruction from me..as I am an instructor, and I have taught well over 1000 people over the last 10 years in mostly NRA type classes but also Hunter Qualification and numerous safety classes for Boy Scouts, etc...). Most chapters very much encourage members to join the NRA and other organizations directly involved with 2A.

I have no clue where you got the idea IWLA doesn't care about the 2A when so many of us IKE's directly contribute to the 2A by teaching, running events, Veterans Appreciation Day, Cowboy Action Shoots, Defense Pistol Shoots, Junior air rifle and .22 education programs, etc.. and we have more than several members directly involved with community outreach in addition to our conservation efforts to get more people into the shooting sports.

The Damascus Chapter alone has well over 1600 members now, and is a very active chapter with many different components, including several members directly involved with helping design new ranges throughout the country as well as being some of the officials involved in maintaining the safe operation of ALL ranges in our area which require regular inspections and approval from the County and State to remain operational.

But please, let us know what *you* have contributed to showing you care about the 2A other than posting here, and taking your $155 a year renewal membership fee "somewhere else".

 

[Doco Overboard]

****IWLA is primarily a conservation organization. They do have rifle, pistol, and shotgun ranges at many/most of their chapters. It is quite harsh to say they don't care about the 2A when they have literally trained thousands of people pre/post Bruen to get the W&C carry permit, and several of the local chapters teach dozens of NRA courses every single year including Basic Pistol, Rifle, PPIH, PPOH, RSO and other classes that directly increase the number of people with knowledge on the safe and proper use of firearms.

Several MDS members here on this very site have gotten their HQL, and W&C training requirement through Izaak Walton's classes throughout the area (some have taken their instruction from me..as I am an instructor, and I have taught well over 1000 people over the last 10 years in mostly NRA type classes but also Hunter Qualification and numerous safety classes for Boy Scouts, etc...). Most chapters very much encourage members to join the NRA and other organizations directly involved with 2A.

I have no clue where you got the idea IWLA doesn't care about the 2A when so many of us IKE's directly contribute to the 2A by teaching, running events, Veterans Appreciation Day, Cowboy Action Shoots, Defense Pistol Shoots, Junior air rifle and .22 education programs, etc.. and we have more than several members directly involved with community outreach in addition to our conservation efforts to get more people into the shooting sports.

The Damascus Chapter alone has well over 1600 members now, and is a very active chapter with many different components, including several members directly involved with helping design new ranges throughout the country as well as being some of the officials involved in maintaining the safe operation of ALL ranges in our area which require regular inspections and approval from the County and State to remain operational.

But please, let us know what *you* have contributed to showing you care about the 2A other than posting here, and taking your $155 a year renewal membership fee "somewhere else".

View attachment 457320
View attachment 457321
View attachment 457322

Does this group of conservationist support lead ammo hunting bans? Seems as if they are 2A oriented but 2A is not about hunting and supporting ammo bans if true proves it beyond doubt.
Surely this would have come up at one of the meetings so the membership would remain informed.
I think thats whats so upsetting to the concerned individual.
Maybe its working with the state to remain operational with required inspections and the surrounding politics that is concerning to some of the current membership, or potential candidates.

 

[MaxVO2]

Does this group of conservationist support lead ammo hunting bans? Seems as if they are 2A oriented but 2A is not about hunting and supporting ammo bans if true proves it beyond doubt.
Surely this would have come up at one of the meetings so the membership would remain informed.
I think thats whats so upsetting to the concerned individual.
Maybe its working with the state to remain operational with required inspections and the surrounding politics that is concerning to some of the current membership, or potential candidates.

****The short answer is officially yes as far as is my understanding at the national level. Like the United States, we are essentially individual "states" in terms of the various chapters in our organization that have rules and regulations we are bound by that the individual chapters have to deal with depending upon their local, regional and state laws.

As with any organization, it is made up of individuals with differing viewpoints but with similar overall goals. We have that here on MDS - people argue all the time, yet most of us are presumably pro 2A, even though some clearly support politicians who want to take our rights away, and God forbid a politician is only 95% pro 2A vs 110%: "I ain't voting!", or "I'm voting for my dad as a write in! That'll show them!!!", etc.. and then the other side wins... Guess ya have your values, while the other side now has the Supreme Court...

There are realities with respect to what can and cannot be done in terms of supporting the 2A while still being allowed to operate a firearm range legally. This is true in many states including very much the state of Maryland which is decidedly not pro 2A and has been trying to shut down ranges for any reason they can come up with.

A big issue most members and guests are not aware of is licensing and operating in a hostile environment and just how close several ranges, including ours have been almost shut down by overzealous anti 2A politicians and groups like Moms Demand Action, the Bloomberg Groups, the Brady organization, etc... The lead ammo ban is very much an issue many of our more informed members are aware of and does comes up - most people frankly don't care, really do nothing more than pay their membership fee and just want to go and shoot and do their thing. They will *only* care if the ranges get shut down due to the lead issue, or whatever gun grabbers and people that HATE guns can come up with. There are realities most people have little clue about, or care about as long as they can shoot what they want, when they want, and not have anyone dictating what they can and cannot do. Most of our members *never* come to meetings after they are accepted - they don't help, they don't volunteer, they pay their money and that's basically it. The average member has NO clue what is discussed at meetings because they aren't there. It HAS been discussed..

Yes yes, the 2A is an enumerated right... Good luck with just using that argument when your range gets shut down due to too much lead in the ground or being forced to pay a LOT of money for a company to remove it. Many places would just go broke and shut down. We are fighting against this along with other groups in the area.

The lead issue with respect to the environment has been frankly a very effective way for anti gun people to essentially hold conservation and other organizations that have firearms ranges to account and that issue can potentially shut us all down due to the amount of lead in our stops (dirt berms, the ground, etc..). That would be ALL ranges, public and private that are licensed to operate in the state, not just IWLA ranges... Good luck operating a business once your license is pulled and you are shut down, and fined a lot of money for not following the "rules". Covid should have shown people that the govt can do pretty much whatever they want if the general population is scared enough. Lead could be OUR Covid that shuts us down.

Discussions are ongoing at the local and regional level and no doubt nationally. Most people have *zero* clue about any of this, or how many volunteer hours and $$ it takes to keep things operational in the hostile to 2A state of Maryland, not to mention MoCo where we operate several ranges and have to deal with inspections and all manner of testing for sound, lead, etc...

There is a lot of politics involved with all of this and many outdoor ranges with dirt berms may eventually be required to re-capture all of that lead in the ground that could potentially poison groundwater, or harm some little insect or the spotted owl, or you name it. IWLA is a conservation organization first and foremost - the issue regarding lead is absolutely discussed and in the national newsletter, etc... which most members just chuck in the dumpster because they just want to shoot and let others worry about the politics of it all.

THIS is why nationally there may be "support" for something as seemingly stupid as a lead ammo ban from an organization that is very pro 2A overall. Probably more than you wanted to know, and there are plenty of people at IWLA and other organizations like it that are helping to fight against people that want our ranges shut down for ANY reason. The current reason has been environmental impact of noise pollution and lead pollution, and it IS gaining traction.

So pretty much that. I don't speak for IWLA, and am just a small pawn in the game of life who has contributed a LOT of my time to helping support the 2A through teaching, helping to run various events, political action, and helping many many people learn to shoot and enjoy the shooting sports as well as home defense, helping teach the W&C, HQL, etc..

Support whatever or whoever you like, but most people critical of organizations like IWLA, the NRA, the NRA-ILA, etc.. in general do not seem to be very well informed about what it takes to continue to operate firearm ranges in a pretty hostile to 2A environment that is Maryland and states like it, nor the reasons certain decisions as to public policy have to be made in the short run that seem ridiculous on their face, but are based on realities at the front lines to keep the gun grabbers from just outright finding a way to shut us down through an environmental legal argument.

It sucks, but it's reality.

 

[pre64hunter]

I belong to the Harford County chapter IWLA. We belong to the NRA and put on the gun show. Each chapter is different with different focuses.
I didn't know about the lead ban thing in Minnesota. Like any organization, not everyone agrees.

 

[Alphabrew]

I attended the meeting on Monday and it is enough of a gun club for me. None of those dudes seemed like tree hugging soy boys to me.