Jeff Shi for PPC President

My name is Jeff Shi, and I am running for President of the Pima Pistol Club (PPC).  In my candidate bio on the PPC website, I gave a general overview of my 2025 priorities for the club. Below are detailed explanations on those priorities:

Switch Insurance Carriers to Bring Back Youth Shooters

Unfortunately, we hit a snag earlier this year with our insurance that forced us to temporarily implement restrictions on minors shooting at PPC. While we've worked hard over the past few months to bring youth shooting groups back, the fact remains that the club and members have to jump through excessive hoops in order to be compliant with our insurance carrier. As a father of two, I highly value training our youth to become safe and proficient with firearms and to appreciate the 2nd Amendment. My immediate priority is to switch insurance carriers to one that specializes in covering shooting clubs and are more friendly to our needs.

Find creative methods to increase club revenue and balance the club budget, such as hosting more training courses and state-level matches.

Unfortunately, the club had to spend a significant amount of money to overcome numerous challenges. First, Pima County Flood Control essentially forced our hand to sell our Connex containers and replace them with mobile trailers in order to store steel targets. In addition, our payroll expenses increased significantly in order to provide adequate Range Safety Officer coverage.

I am firmly committed to balancing our club budget and setting us on a path of profitability and long-term growth, and will work with Range Management and the BoD to produce a sustainable 2025 budget plan by February. There are several ways we will do this:

• Increase match income. State-level matches can bring a significant source of income for the club. I will make it my priority to work with the sanctioned match directors to overcome roadblocks that have prevented us from hosting those matches in the past. I will also work to bring back 2-Gun and Cowboy Action matches. 

• Bring in more instructors. I will work with renown and vetted instructors to host more training at PPC, including classroom-only training such as Armorers Courses. I will also work with our Range Manager to standardize a range use fee structure for instructors that is fair and ensures profitability for the club. 

• Leverage advertising revenue. Set up a system where businesses can advertise a banner that hangs over the edge of range shade structures, as well as sponsor a range entirely. 

• Increase Day Pass shooter income by creating a more welcoming environment for youth shooters. Our RSOs unfortunately have had to turn numerous customers away because of the insurance-mandated restrictions on children. By switching to a more friendly insurance carrier, we will be able to bring those customers back so they can continue teaching their kids to shoot.

Explore practical ways to increase the availability of member-only bays. 

While I was an At-Large Director, I presented numerous common-sense ways to increase availability without degrading member experience, but most of them were rejected. As President, I will be in a much better position to work with a coalition of board members to get these ideas implemented. My proposals include:

• Critically evaluate which member-only ranges should allow rifles in addition to handguns. 

• Determine a path forward to allow members to use competitor-only bays. 

• Modify Range 1N (formerly the enclosed chrono/bullseye area) to be a members-only range. 

Drive common-sense improvements to our range rules.

Simply put, we need to review our range rules and implement common-sense improvements, such as:

• Allow Pistol-Caliber Carbines on Range 1. For example, currently you can shoot a 9mm Glock 34 with a 5-inch barrel over at Range 1, but you can't shoot a 9mm Pistol Caliber Carbine with a 4-inch barrel, despite the fact that the PCC shoots the same round at a slower velocity. Allowing PCCs on Range 1 not only makes sense, but will also help alleviate the shooting bay availability issue. In order to reduce the risk of fragmentation, we can set reasonable limits if needed.

Provide adequate support for all our matches.

As President, I will make sure that all sanctioned and outlaw matches will receive the same level of support and treatment from the club. I will explore ways to put target storage over by the North end of the range so certain matches such as Rimfire Challenge will have an easier time setting up and tearing down. By doing this, we also have a path forward to bring back Cowboy Action matches.

Ensure we hire and retain staff who vigilantly keep our members safe while demonstrating excellent professionalism and customer service.

What differentiates PPC from many other ranges is that we have a professional staff of Range Safety Officers as well as Office/Administrative staff who are not only safety-minded but also demonstrate professionalism and courtesy for our customers. I will make sure we continue hiring staff that treat our members with respect.

Expand our social media footprint.

Social media is a great way to cost-effectively advertise the club and bring in new shooters. Our current social media accounts are heavily under-leveraged. I will work with our staff to expand our footprint into other platforms besides Facebook, such as X and Instagram, and create content that advertises our club and engages with the shooting community. There are numerous social media influencers who shoot at PPC and can help us expand our reach. My goal is to establish a 5-digit following of PPC social media accounts by the end of 2025.

Build a coalition with state-level 2nd Amendment organizations and local industry partners to promote 2A awareness and education.

Arizona has become a purple/swing state, with a Governor who is hostile to the 2nd Amendment. We should seize the opportunity to build partnerships with various 2A organizations and industries to effectively defend shooting sports in this state. 

I hope to earn your vote through my accomplishments and aspirations for this club. Thank you!

Endorsements:

I proudly endorse and am endorsed by candidates TJ Kenney, Chelsi Remme, Greg Guertin, Lorin Jacobson, Chuck Philpot, Karl Hannestad (Steel Challenge Match Director), Erik Saldana (USPSA Match Director), and Mark Laster.

Additionally, I am endorsed by Steve Caffrey (Action Pistol Match Director) and Ben Anderson (PPC Member and owner of Diamondback Shooting Sports).

Service and Experience:

• 2023 PPC Board Member At Large

• 2024 PPC Vice President

• United States Air Force Veteran

• Type 03 FFL holder (Curio and Relics)

• USPSA and Steel Challenge A-Class competitor

• Rangemaster certified handgun instructor

• NRA certified Range Safety Officer & Pistol Instructor

• 12 years of experience in project management, engineering management, and operations research

• Life member of Arizona Citizens Defense League, NRA, and Second Amendment Foundation

• 9-year Pima Pistol Club member