Membership
NEW MEMBERSHIPGeneral: AAF&G welcomes new members to the organization. Any person who is not legally restricted from firearms ownership for reasons other than age, and who is 18 years of age or over, and who subscribes to the objectives of this Association without reservation, shall be eligible for consideration. All new members shall, as a condition of membership renewal, join the National Rifle Association (NRA).
Sponsor Requirement: All applicants must be sponsored by an AAF&G member in good standing. If you do not have an AAF&G member to sponsor you, you should try to cultivate one by participating in shooting activities at which non-members are welcome to participate. Please note that all AAF&G members are strongly encouraged to shoot with any potential applicants before agreeing to sponsor them. Such shooting activities include .22rf Bullseye matches conducted Sunday mornings or .22rf/centerfire pistol matches conducted every Thursday afternoon. There are also Cowboy Action shoots conducted on the 3rd Saturday of every month from 10:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M., IDPA matches, and AR15 and Vintage Military Rifle matches conducted on the 1st and 2nd Saturdays of the month respectively. For further information about these opportunities to identify a sponsor, go to Page 2 of the current club newsletter (found at the Newsletter section of the AAFG home page – scroll to the bottom of the page) and contact the Range Committee Chairman for the event you would like to participate in.
Once a sponsor has been identified, the process for applying for membership is as described below. Note that this is a new procedure. Unlike the old applicant procedure, you no longer appear at a monthly Board meeting and get voted on at the following General Membership meeting.
Procedure:
1. Download the Membership Application. Either print the blank application or fill it out online using the form filler option and then print it. This is a multipage (single-sided) application so make sure you print all pages.
2. Application. Fill out the application completely. Incomplete applications or applications received without signatures where required will not be accepted. Send the completed application along with a nonrefundable $100 Application Fee (check or money order - no cash) to: AAF&G Secretary, Attn: I&I Committee, PO Box 150, Arnold, MD 21012.
3. Background Check. When the application is received by AAF&G, the applicant's name will be made known to all members by posting in the clubhouse, letters of inquiry will be sent to any other shooting organizations listed by the applicant, and a criminal history background check will be begun.
4. Interview. Applicants will be requested to appear, along with the sponsoring AAF&G member, for a personal interview with members of the Membership Committee's Interview and Inquiry Subcommittee. Applicants will be contacted in the order the applications are received and will be offered the option of a week night or a weekend interview. Interviews are expected to take approximately 45 minutes. Only four applicants per day or eight applicants per month will be interviewed, so there may be a delay in being scheduled for an interview depending on the number of applications received.
5. Review of Interview & Background Information. Once the interview has been completed, the I&I subcommittee will review the substance of the interview, the results of the criminal history check, any responses from other organizations, and any input from current AAF&G members and will then make a determination as to whether or not to recommend to the Board of Directors acceptance of the applicant as a provisional member or to recommend non-acceptance.
6. Recommendation to Board of Directors. The applicant's name will then be forwarded to the Board of Directors with the recommendation of the I&I subcommittee and the Board will then vote at the next Board meeting whether or not to forward the applicant's name to the general membership with a recommendation for acceptance as a provisional member.
7. Recommendation to the Members. The General Membership will be presented at the next General Membership meeting with the applicant names forwarded by the Board of Directors with a recommendation for acceptance as a provisional member. The members present will then be afforded the opportunity to vote for acceptance or non-acceptance of the applicant as a provisional member.
8. If accepted as a provisional member you will be contacted by a representative of the Membership Committee and so advised. Once advised of acceptance as a provisional member and provided with the schedule for the mandatory Orientation and Safety Walk-through. For planning purposes you must advise the Membership Committee of when you will attend your Orientation and Safety Walk-through. However, until the Orientation and Safety Walkthrough is successfully completed, the new provisional member will not be issued a membership card, gate access card, or combination to the clubhouse door.
9. After Acceptance. If accepted into membership, the new provisional member must pay the $200 membership fee prior to attending an Orientation and Safety Walkthrough. If joining mid-year, the dues are prorated (for the first year) at $17/month. Members of the immediate family (over 18 and living in the same household) may join as family members for $50 per year (each family member must also fill out a separate application and go through the same interview process as the primary member). This Family member fee is prorated at $4/month for the first year. The dues & fee schedule is shown below:
Member Category |
Initiation/Application Fee |
Annual Dues |
1stYr Pro-rata dues |
Capital Assessment |
Individual |
$100 |
$200 |
$17/mo |
$50 |
Family |
Waived |
$50 |
$4/mo |
Waived |
Student |
Waived |
$100 |
$8/mo |
$50 |
Provisional Membership: The provisional member status lasts for a minimum of six months which gives the new member time to complete the appropriate level of "gunschool" as determined by the Board of Directors based on input from the I&I committee. During this period the provisional member will have to take a Firearms Safety class offered on-site at no cost to the member, and may have to participate in a shooting match that is not one of the member's primary disciplines, again, at the direction of the Board of Directors. This “gunschool" is designed to assess the provisional member's degree of firearms competency, support of the objectives of the association, and personal integrity. After the firearms safety course, the completion of any required shooting match(es), and the expiration of at least six months of provisional membership, the provisional member may petition the Board of Directors to convert the provisional membership to a full individual annual membership. The petition must be favorably endorsed by three (3) current Individual or Life Members in good standing. The Board will review all the pertinent facts and vote to recommend or not recommend approval of the petition to the general membership. The general membership will then vote to approve or disapprove the petition.
Download New Member Application
Election of Officers and Directors for 2012
The Annual/Holiday Meeting on Dec 8th was the forum for the election of the officers and directors for 2012. As a prelude to the election, at the June 2011 members’ meeting a Nominating Committee was elected and charged with soliciting potential candidates and, after a review and study of those biographies, putting forth a slate of candidates for the officer and vacant director positions. The Nominating Committee consisted of the Bill Palk, John Michelli, and Jim Gay. There would be 5 vacant Director positions due to the normal expiration of terms for four directors and an unexpired term for Jim Tisack who was unable to finish his term of office.
The Nominating Committee announced the proposed slate at the September 09 meeting. The slate was as follows:
- For President - Steve Love
- For Vice President - Debbie Gay
- For Secretary - Jennifer Martin
- For Treasurer - Jason Krywicki
- For Director
Ray Allen,. Sr
Steve Allen
Mike McGrath
Brad Quintal
Brian SwiftThe chairman of the Nominating Committee then called for any additional nominations from the floor. James Gay was nominated from the floor.
At the Annual/Holiday meeting there were over 80 members in attendance, so immediately prior to the election a final call for nominations from the floor was issued by the chairman of the Nominating Committee. And there were none. The Officer positions were uncontested so the officers shown above were elected.
The results of the election for Directors is as follows:
- Brian Swift - 75 (3 yr term)
- Mike McGrath - 67 (3 yr term)
- Ray Allen, Sr. - 61 (3 yr term)
- Steve Allen - 61 (3 yr term)
- Brad Quintal - 59 (1 yr term)
- Jim Gay - 37
There being five vacancies for the position of Director, the candidates with the four highest vote counts would fill the three-year vacancies and the fifth candidate would fill the unexpired term (1 yr remaining) of Jim Tisack.
Congratulations to them all, and since none of them are new to AAF&G, we anticipate that they will continue to work hard to bring to fruition many of the initiatives now underway.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
The SCORE will no longer be mailed out. We will post it on the Web site (www.aafg.org), and we will notify you by e-mail, providing the hyperlink to each issue as they become available. I know that there are a few luddites out there who absolutely, positively have to get a paper copy in their mailbox. I will charge you with the responsibility of notifying us that you wish to continue receiving a paper copy (coming to a meeting might be a good way of doing this). Also, it is incumbent upon each of you to make sure that we have your current e-mail address. Please send an e-mail to William J. Palk at wpalk@verizon.net. Please put “E-mail Address for SCORE” in the subject line.
Newsletters will be posted as they become available
Each MEMBER (Regular, Life, Family, Provisional, Student) must complete and submit this form with his/her dues and capital assessment.
Membership Dues for 2012 are due by January 31st. Annual Dues for Regular and Provisional Members are $200, for Family Members $50, for Student Members $100. Dues are not required from Life Members but a completed form and Capital Assessment are required. The Capital Assessment is $50 for each member except Family Members. All members in arrears of their dues as of February 1, 2012 will be dropped from membership and their proximity card access will be disabled until their membership status is resolved as required under the then current by laws. Members who joined AFTER AUGUST 1999 must maintain a current NRA membership and include a copy of their current NRA card or magazine cover as proof with their dues and form BEFORE receiving a 2012 membership card.
Please forward payment as soon as possible. Dues and the completed form(s) may be mailed to the Membership Chairmen, Anne Arundel Fish & Game, P.O. Box 150, Arnold, MD 21012. Do NOT leave dues and/or forms in the club house. If your dues have already been paid you must still complete this form each year. The information is essential to maintaining accurate club records. Additional copies are available from the Membership Chairman.
Please complete the 2012 Membership Renewal form and send it with your dues and capital assessment to AAF&G, PO Box 150, Arnold MD 21012. Highlights of the process are as follows:
- EVERY MEMBER completes and signs a form.
- Dues are $200 for Regular and Provisional Members, $50 for Family Members and $100 for Student Members.
- EVERY MEMBER (except a Family Member) pays the Capital Assessment of $50.
- Life Members complete a form and pay the Capital Assessment.
- Dues are due by January 31st. If your dues are not received by the 31st you will be dropped from the membership for non-payment and will have to go through the current new member process - including finding a sponsor, appearing before the I&I Committee, approval by the Board of Directors and the General Membership, attending the Orientation and Safety Walk-thru, demonstrating gun safety in 3 separate discipline activities, attending AAF&G “Gun School” and then petitioning the Board for acceptance as Regular Members after the minimum 6 month provisional period.
- Proximity cards for non-renewing members will be disabled on February 1st.
- Student Members (full time students, less than 25 years old) must submit a copy of their schedule with their forms and money. • Members who joined after August 1999 are required to maintain a current NRA membership and include a copy of their current NRA card or copy of their magazine cover with their dues before receiving a new membership card.
- The Capital Assessment is used to pay for the environmental enhancements necessary to maintain our shooting activities. Currently, the bulk of our efforts are going to restore full shotgun activities.
- The form is available online by clicking here and at Board and General Membership meetings.
If you are interested in joining AAF&G or if you have additional questions, contact us.
