The Alberta Tactical Handgun League is an affiliated club of the International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA). We conduct monthly IDPA matches. Our members come from all over Alberta and even have members from Saskatchewan and British Columbia. You don't have to be a member to shoot your first match; so you can "try before you buy". There is no training prerequisite but we do offer a "familiarization and skills" clinics from time to time.

IDPA as a sport is quite simply the use of practical equipment including full charge service ammunition to solve simulated "real world" self-defence scenarios. Shooters competing in IDPA events are required to use practical handguns and holsters that are truly suitable for self-defence use. No " competition only" equipment is permitted in IDPA matches since the main goal is to test the skill and ability of an individual, not his or her equipment or gamesmanship.

Prior to the formation of IDPA, there was no place to compete and hone one's skills with equipment designed for and suitable for self-defence. Other shooting sports are just that, sports that have no relevance to self-defence. IDPA offers an exciting forum for practical shooters in which truly practical equipment, techniques and courses of fire are mandated. Prior to IDPA, there was no place at all to compete with common service pistols such as Beretta, Glock or SiG and be competitive. Nor was there a shooting sport where a concealed carry holster could also be your match holster without handicap. When you come to an IDPA match, you can not only use your duty or concealed carry type equipment, you can be completely competitive with it! Other shooting sports have become "equipment races"; IDPA will not. If you're interested in using truly practical pistols to solve challenging and exciting defensive shooting problems, then IDPA is the sport for you.

1. Promote safe and proficient use of guns and equipment suitable for self-defence.

2. Provide a level playing field for all competitors to test the skill and ability of the individual, not their equipment or gamesmanship.

3. Provide separate divisions for equipment and classifications for shooters, such that guns with similar characteristics are grouped together and people with similar skills compete only against each other.

4. Provide shooters with practical and realistic courses of fire that simulate a potentially life-threatening encounter or that tests skills that would be required to survive a life-threatening encounter.

5. Offer a practical shooting sport that is responsive to the shooters and sponsors, with unprecedented stability of equipment rules.

6. Offer a practical shooting sport that allows the competitors to concentrate on the development of their shooting skills and fellowship with likeminded shooters.

ATHL / IDPA membership and matches are open to all people who can lawfully own a handgun, regardless of occupation, race, gender or religion. ATHL / IDPA shooters come from all walks of life and include many women and juniors too.

Courses of fire fall into two categories: Self-defence scenarios or Standard exercises. The self-defence scenarios are simulations of actual or possible "real world" confrontations. These scenarios typically require shots from 3 - 20 metres and often require the shooter to change firing points and shoot from awkward positions. Standard exercises do not attempt to simulate a potential threat situation but are designed to test specific shooting and gun handling skills. IDPA matches offer diversity and truly test both accuracy and speed. Physical condition has very little to do with your performance in an IDPA match.

IDPA matches typically require the use of a service type pistol or revolver of 9mm/.38 Special or larger calibre. If your handgun is suitable for self-defence use, it will probably be competitive for IDPA matches. Practical concealed carry type holsters are stipulated for IDPA use. A common service pistol or revolver such as a Beretta 92F, Glock 17/22, SiG P226, Colt 1911A1, S&W 686 or Ruger GP-100 carried in a common pancake style holster is all that is needed to be competitive in IDPA matches.

Yes, as a matter of fact, IDPA competition is divided into five divisions so all popular service type pistols and revolvers will have a place to compete competitively. They are: Stock Service Pistol (SSP) for DA, DAO, Safe Action users; Enhanced Service Pistol (ESP) for SA users; Custom Defensive Pistol (CDP) for .45 ACP chambered pistol users; Enhanced Service Revolver (ESR) for 'moon clip' revolver users; and Stock Service Revolver (SSR) for revolvers that don't use 'moon clips'.

1. You will be a member of an international organization devoted to promoting defensive pistol shooting as a sport.

2. You will receive an official IDPA rule book.

3. You will be eligible to compete in shooting events at the local, regional, national and international levels.

4. You will receive a copy of the IDPA Tactical Journal (the official publication of IDPA) every quarter.

If IDPA sounds like the shooting sport for you, please contact us for a membership application package.

IPSC Alberta is the Alberta Section of IPSC Canada. We hold a minimum of two matches per month across the Province from May through October, with a minimum of one match in each of November and January through April. As IPSC Alberta is a member of IPSC Canada our members are all from Alberta, however we have shooters from B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the Northwest Territories who regularly come to shoot our matches. With almost 20 matches per year taking place in Alberta, there is a match available for just about everyone to attend. If that isn't enough, on any given weekend throughout the year there is at least one IPSC match taking place somewhere in Canada.

This new and exciting style of sport shooting had its origins in California in the early '50s. It quickly spread over the next few years to other continents including Europe, Australia, Central and South America, and Africa. The International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) was officially founded at the International Pistol Conference held in Columbia, Missouri, in May 1976. Forty people from around the world were invited to attend this Conference in order to determine the nature and future of practical marksmanship. Colonel Jeff Cooper was acting Chairman and acclaimed as the first IPSC World President. The promotion of accuracy, power, and speed as three equal elements was the prime objective of the Conference along with procedures and rules for safe gun handling. A constitution was established and the Confederation was born. The origins of practical shooting were developed and the motto - DVC - Diligentia, Vis, Celeritas (Accuracy, Power, Speed) was introduced to reflect this balanced objective.

Today, the International Practical Shooting Confederation is promoted in more than sixty countries (called Regions) from Argentina to Zimbabwe. Every year, the elected representatives of these Regions meet at the IPSC General Assembly. In practical shooting, the competitor must try to blend accuracy, power, and speed, into a winning combination. Targets are 75 centimeters by 45 centimeters with a 15 centimeter center representing the "A zone" or bullseye. Most shooting takes place at close range, with rare shots out to 45 meters. Hitting a 15 centimeter A zone at 45 meters or less might seem easy to an experienced pistol shooter, but in IPSC only full power pistols are allowed(9mm or larger). This power minimum reflects the heritage of this modern sport, and mastering a full power handgun is considerably more difficult than shooting a light recoiling target pistol especially when the competitor is trying to go as fast as possible. Time, also plays a factor. In Comstock scored stages, the scores are divided by the time, adding to the challenge. Competitors may enter any one of five Divisions depending on the style of firearm they use. Multiple targets, moving targets, targets that react when hit, penalty carrying targets mixed-in, or even partially covering shoot targets, obstacles, movement, competitive tactics, and, in general, any other relevant difficulty the course designer can dream up all combine to keep the competitors enthusiastic and the spectators entertained. While the rules of IPSC state that the course of fire should be practical and diversity is to be encouraged, to keep the sport from becoming too formalized or standardized. In fact, some matches even contain surprise stages where no one knows in advance what to expect. Although the roots are martial in origin, the sport matured from these beginnings, just as karate, fencing, or archery developed from their origins. Now, IPSC shooting is an international sport, emphasizing safety and safe gun handling, accuracy, power, and speed, in major competitions around the globe.

The crowning glory for practical shooting is to become the IPSC World Champion.

IPSC shooting is dynamic and challenging, and one of the fastest growing shooting sports in the world today. Courses of fire utilize many aspects not found in the other more traditional shooting disciplines, such as movement by the shooter, drawing from the holster, moving targets, multiple targets, and the freedom for the shooter to solve the shooting problems presented by the stage design.

The appeal of the sport lies in the diversity of the courses of fire available to the shooter. By offering different courses of fire, rather than set types, IPSC shooting continues to challenge the competitor to improve his skills in many different areas. There are continually new demands to challenge the IPSC shooting enthusiast.

It should be emphasized that complex and expensive modifications are not needed to start practical shooting. Most pistols "out of the box" are quite adequate and most shooters strive to reach the limits of even a box standard pistol. Changes and modifications can always be made as you need them. Don't let yourself get caught up by the current fads and fashion; nothing is as important as reliability. A reliable government model 1911 with standard sights and a standard trigger pull that functions 100% will win every time over a full-house race gun that doesn't work. If the handgun functions correctly with your ammo then all is well. If not, your first concern is to make the handgun reliable. Modifications which improve accuracy are good sights and a good trigger. Modifications which increase comfort, control, handling, and speed are items like beavertails, extended magazine releases, checkering, extended thumb safeties, oversized magazine wells, etc.

At minimum of 4 magazines are required, although most competitors have one or two backups as well. The magazines should drop easily when the magazine catch is depressed.

Pouches should be cut low enough to ensure that the shooter can get a proper grip on the magazine. The front of all magazines should be facing forward. A minimum of three pouches are required. Magazine pouches should expose half or so of the magazine for easy grip and should have adequate retention yet release on demand.

Every person in Canada that competes in IPSC shooting must take a safety training course before they are allowed to compete in IPSC matches. This course is commonly known as Black Badge Training and is not the same as the "Hunter Training Course" or the "FAC Training Course". The Black Badge Course is a (2) day course combining classroom lectures with live fire exercises followed by a mini-match. This course is designed to teach the new IPSC shooter how to safely draw from a holster, reload on the move, proper range commands and much much more. The new shooter will come out of this course with a new sense of safe gun handling and a new respect for shooting skills. Black Badge Courses are taught on a floating schedule. Sometimes we'll wait until we have a small group organized and/or we can sometimes accommodate a one on one course. To find out when our next Black Badge Course is running please contact our Provincial Training Officer. Once a new shooter has successfully completed this course they can join IPSC Alberta and compete in our Matches.