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Courtesy of "Metal Head" at ShootersTalk.com:
Here they come.... Gun-control advocates take on sport of practical shooting
Source: Associated Press Published: 3.43 p.m. ET (1947 GMT) July 22, 1999
Author: By Joseph White Posted on 07/22/1999 12:53:21 PDT by Brian Mosely
WASHINGTON (AP) - Is it a sport worthy of Olympic status - or a means of
skirting gun control? Foes of the gun lobby took aim Thursday at the sport of
practical shooting. "This is not a game. This is not paintball,'' said Philip Alpers,
who researched the sport for the Violence Policy Center. "There is a very serious
political purpose behind this, and that is to legitimize the civilian ownership of
lethal firearms which are normally kept only for battlefields and SWAT teams.'' In
practical shooting, participants racing against the clock use assault rifles,
shotguns and semiautomatic handguns to shoot human-shaped targets in
simulated scenarios. For instance, the shooter may start in the prone position -
as
if lying in bed - and then get up to retrieve a handgun from a drawer and use it
to
shoot at targets through a window. The sport is practiced in about 70 countries,
according to the Canada-based International Practical Shooting Confederation,
which has recently held talks with the International Olympic Committee. Greek
officials have made practical shooting an exhibition, non-medal sport at the 2004
Games in Athens. Advocates say practical shooting, formerly known as combat
shooting, is strictly a sport without political connotations. Josh Sugarmann,
executive director of the Violence Policy Center, contends it presents a convenient
way to skirt laws that prohibit the trade of certain weapons unless they are used
for sport. Sugarmann also noted that Andrew Golden, the 11-year-old boy who
was a participant in the Jonesboro, Ark., school shooting last year, had recently
taken up practical shooting. "Combat shooting doesn't just violate the goals of
the Olympic charter, it's an effort by the gun industry and the gun lobby to entice
kids and help create a youth gun culture,'' Sugarmann said. Andy Hollar,
president
of the 14,000-member U.S. Practical Shooting Association, said his organization
has no such agenda. "You need to understand that we're not a political
organization; we're a sporting organization,'' Hollar said from USPSA
headquarters
in Sedro Woolley, Wash. "People are going to look at our sport and read into it
whatever they want to. We can't control that.'' IPSC president Nick Alexakos, who
recently met with an IOC representative, played down his sport's chance for
Olympic status. Although there are other Olympics shooting sports, such as skeet
shooting and the biathlon, Alexakos said practical shooting is a "long shot'' that
would take years to make it to the Summer Games. Nevertheless, Alexakos said,
"we're talking about the same dedication and same commitment you find in any
Olympic sport.'' "We don't deal with weapons,'' Alexakos said. "We deal with
recreational implements. A weapon is more how you use something, than what it
is. A baseball bat could be used a weapon.''
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"Use up all your ammo and have fun."
Robert Heinlein
Starship Troopers, 1959
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