At least they would have collector value...
MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.com/local/RTUT/M741.asp
Olympic gun deal nixed by IOC
SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 17 - They were meant to be the official firearms of the 2002 Winter Olympics. Now, two sleek .40-caliber semiautomatic pistols with 24-karat gold Winter Games logos and Olympic rings sit in a sheriff's safe.
THERE NEVER HAS been an official Olympic gun, and the International Olympic Committee says there never will be. The pistols were prototypes for a failed sponsorship by SIG Sauer firearms, with Salt Lake County Sheriff Aaron Kennard and his staff spent more than two years winning approval from the of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. But the deal was stopped by the IOC in May, hours before the contract was to be signed. "I felt it was a good thing for law enforcement to have everybody with the same weapons ... but the IOC was very queasy and put the kibosh on it," Kennard told The Salt Lake Tribune. "I was quite disappointed. Heaven forbid we do anything for law enforcement to thank these men and women for putting their lives on the line." Kennard figured the licensing deal could also generate as much as $500,000 to SLOC.
But IOC marketing director Michael Payne rejected it, and IOC vice president Dick Pound refused to intercede.
"Please understand that the U.S. is unique in its relationship with firearms," IOC spokesman Franklin Servan-Schreiber said. "The rest of the world would not understand, nor accept, the idea of a firearm with the Olympic rings on it."
The Olympic movement has all sorts of "official" products — from champagne to condoms. But firearms, tobacco and hard liquor remain taboo. Under the deal, SIG Arms, the North American subsidiary of Swiss gun maker SIG Sauer, would have made as many as 6,000 commemorative side arms to be sold to law enforcement officers or agencies. For each gun sold, a $30 royalty would go to SLOC.
SIG Sauer also would have donated 120 tactical rifles to SWAT teams in Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City, West Valley City, Ogden, Provo, Park City and the Utah Department of Public Safety.
Kennard saw the side arms as a way of rewarding law enforcement officers working long hours without leave or vacation during the Olympics.
"These guns would have been probably framed or put in lock boxes after the games, to be passed down to future generations as keepsakes," he said. "But the IOC didn't want the Olympics being associated in any way with weapons."
MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.com/local/RTUT/M741.asp
Olympic gun deal nixed by IOC
SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 17 - They were meant to be the official firearms of the 2002 Winter Olympics. Now, two sleek .40-caliber semiautomatic pistols with 24-karat gold Winter Games logos and Olympic rings sit in a sheriff's safe.
THERE NEVER HAS been an official Olympic gun, and the International Olympic Committee says there never will be. The pistols were prototypes for a failed sponsorship by SIG Sauer firearms, with Salt Lake County Sheriff Aaron Kennard and his staff spent more than two years winning approval from the of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. But the deal was stopped by the IOC in May, hours before the contract was to be signed. "I felt it was a good thing for law enforcement to have everybody with the same weapons ... but the IOC was very queasy and put the kibosh on it," Kennard told The Salt Lake Tribune. "I was quite disappointed. Heaven forbid we do anything for law enforcement to thank these men and women for putting their lives on the line." Kennard figured the licensing deal could also generate as much as $500,000 to SLOC.
But IOC marketing director Michael Payne rejected it, and IOC vice president Dick Pound refused to intercede.
"Please understand that the U.S. is unique in its relationship with firearms," IOC spokesman Franklin Servan-Schreiber said. "The rest of the world would not understand, nor accept, the idea of a firearm with the Olympic rings on it."
The Olympic movement has all sorts of "official" products — from champagne to condoms. But firearms, tobacco and hard liquor remain taboo. Under the deal, SIG Arms, the North American subsidiary of Swiss gun maker SIG Sauer, would have made as many as 6,000 commemorative side arms to be sold to law enforcement officers or agencies. For each gun sold, a $30 royalty would go to SLOC.
SIG Sauer also would have donated 120 tactical rifles to SWAT teams in Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City, West Valley City, Ogden, Provo, Park City and the Utah Department of Public Safety.
Kennard saw the side arms as a way of rewarding law enforcement officers working long hours without leave or vacation during the Olympics.
"These guns would have been probably framed or put in lock boxes after the games, to be passed down to future generations as keepsakes," he said. "But the IOC didn't want the Olympics being associated in any way with weapons."