No More Air Pistols for Modern Pentathlon — Politically Correct Lasers Instead
The Modern Pentathlon is a 5-discipline Olympic event that combines Horse Riding, Running, Swimming, Fencing, and Shooting. Whether there will really be any “shooting” anymore is questionable if Pentathlon officials succeed in their plan to replace air pistols with laser devices. That’s right, the Snowflakes in Hell Blog reports that the UIPM, the international governing body for Modern Pentathlon, intends to replace air pistols with laser “pistols”, ostensibly to reduce the environmental impact of lead pellets. We think this is just a “feel-good” move reflecting anti-gun political agendas. Pentathlon air pistols fire tiny 7-grain pellets that are easily captured by bullet traps, so there is virtually no environmental risk.
UIPM President, Klaus Schormann, defended the plan to replace air pistols with laser devices, stating: “The decision to introduce non-air pistol shooting was the second big step for the sport following the decision in 2008 to change to the combined run/shoot format. This is a significant development in terms of lowering the environmental impact of the sport.”
Sebastian, creator of the Snowflakes in Hell Blog, observed: “The reasoning of the [UIPM] committee is disturbing. I hope this doesn’t portend bad things to come with other Olympic shooting sports, whose environmental footprint is arguably worse.”
One Blog reader astutely commented: “It would have been trivially easy to mandate lead-free pellets, if the ‘lead poisoning’ argument were the real reason behind this change. Replacing air pistols with lasers instead of a much simpler requirement to use nontoxic shot suggests that it was the ‘gun-ishness’ of the air pistols, and not the environmental impact, that may have been the primary driver here.”
EDITOR’s Comment: One wonders if the UIPM’s next move will be to replace fencing foils and sabres with Wii computer-game controllers — in the interest of safety. And shouldn’t the UIPM replace Pentathletes’ four-legged equine mounts with hobby-horses to reduce solid waste and methane emissions?
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Tags: Air Pistol, Laser, Olympics, Pentathlon, UIPM
I was contacted last week by the NRA for funds to resist a current movement behind closed doors at the UN for a treaty to ban guns in every country. I was told it would be presented early next year. Do the officals of this event know something or are they just preparing?
This is absolutely ridiculous. Didn’t they realize that a laser in the eye is a bad thing? How long before biathletes are shooting rubber bands, but they could sting too….
No, they don’t have inside knowledge…they’re just demonstrating the same anti-gun PC philosophy as everyone else.
The next logical step would be to introduce phasers. Beam me up Scotty !!
I guess ammo quality will no longer be an issue in this sport. What other skill will no longer be needed?