From http://www.sltrib.com/11162000/utah/44036.htm for discussion purposes only
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Utah's 'Oly Guns' Idea Fails to Amuse IOC
Thursday, November 16, 2000
BY CHRISTOPHER SMITH (c) 2000, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
What may be the most valuable souvenirs of the 2002 Winter Olympics are secreted away in a vault at the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Department, probably never to be viewed by the public.
The pair of sleek, black .40-caliber semiautomatic pistols are engraved in 24-karat gold with the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Games logo and the five Olympic rings. The guns are rare not only because there has never been an official Olympics handgun, but because there never will be, according to the International Olympic Committee.
The prototype pistols are all that remains of a failed sponsorship deal to outfit Utah law enforcement officers conducting 2002 Games security with special "Olympic edition" SIG Sauer firearms.
After Salt Lake County Sheriff Aaron Kennard and his staff spent more than two years winning the approval of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee and the U.S. Olympic Committee, the merchandise licensing contract was killed by the IOC in May, only hours before it was to have been signed.
"I felt it was a good thing for law enforcement to have everybody with the same weapons. I had Sen. [Orrin] Hatch helping us and Mitt [Romney] approved it, but the IOC was very queasy and put the kabosh on it," said Kennard. "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."
Although Kennard figured the licensing deal could yield as much as $500,000 to SLOC, IOC Director of Marketing Michael Payne rejected it. SLOC asked IOC Vice President Dick Pound to intercede, but he "dismissed it outright," according to an IOC spokesman.
"Please understand that the U.S. is unique in its relationship with firearms," said Franklin Servan-Schreiber, director of IOC communications in Lausanne, Switzerland. "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 licensed almost any product, from champagne to condoms, as the "official" nonesuch of the games. Yet firearms, along with tobacco and hard liquor, remain taboo with the European-based IOC.
"It's an excellent gun, a work of art, that would only be carried by the trained men and women protecting these Games," said Salt Lake County Sheriff's Range Master and Firearms Unit Director Nick Roberts, the catalyst for the proposal. "SIG wanted to help the cops, to do something good for law enforcement, just to be able to say in their brochures in 2001 that they were an official licensee."
Roberts was boarding a plane May 17 to deliver the completed agreement to SIG Arms President Dieter Strich when he got the call that the IOC had abruptly nixed the deal. He and Kennard reworked the contract -- including removing the Olympic rings and just allowing a Salt Lake 2002 logo to be engraved -- and offered to go to Switzerland at their own expense to plead the case of law enforcement. But SLOC withdrew its support for the gun deal and never broached the subject with the IOC again. Through a spokeswoman, SLOC President Mitt Romney declined comment.
The plan would have allowed SIG Arms, the North American subsidiary of Swiss gunmaker SIG Sauer, to manufacture at its New Hampshire plant between 5,000 and 6,000 commemorative sidearms of various calibers and models as specified by officers. Each would be engraved with Olympic logos and serial numbers identifying the particular law enforcement agency and limited-edition issue. The handguns were to be sold only to certified law enforcement personnel or agencies at a discounted price.
For every gun sold, SIG Arms would pay a $30 royalty to SLOC, with a minimum guarantee of $150,000 for licensing rights to use the Salt Lake logo and Olympic rings on the weapons.
Additionally, SIG Sauer was to donate 120 model 551 and 552 automatic tactical rifles, similar to AR-15 assault rifles, to be divvied up among SWAT teams of Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City, West Valley City, Ogden, Provo, Park City and the state Department of Public Safety. The company would also pay for training the SWAT teams in use of the rifles, and training a Salt Lake County Sheriff's employee as a factory armorer.
"Every agency would get the training and rifles for free, and that way no matter what happens during the Olympics, the people protecting these Games would be working from the same sheet of music," said Roberts. "It was an administrator's dream."
Kennard also saw the sidearms as a way of rewarding law enforcement officers who will be working long hours in potentially dangerous situations 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," said the sheriff. "But the IOC didn't want the Olympics being associated in any way with weapons."
Licensing a gunmaker may conflict with the IOC's mission of "Olympism," to promote peace through education and sports. However, guns are used in events such as biathlon and skeet, with several manufacturers boasting in advertisements and Web sites how many gold medals their weapons have won in Olympic competitions.
And guns came to symbolize the Salt Lake bribery scandal. IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch noted last year that "Utah, Salt Lake City, is a state where guns are very popular. I have been to Salt Lake City twice and I got a gun both times."
Those specially engraved firearms -- a pistol, a rifle and a shotgun -- were among 10 Browning Arms Co. guns purchased by the Salt Lake bid committee as gifts for IOC members. IOC members are barred from accepting gifts valued at more than $150, although Samaranch said he was immune from that limit. Today, the Browning guns given to Samaranch remain in their velvet-lined cases, piled beneath hundreds of other gifts in a storeroom at IOC headquarters in Switzerland.
Kennard finds the IOC ruling baffling and frustrating.
"It's a little silly because we already have our own guns and there will be armed security personnel and highly trained SWAT teams at the Olympics," he said. "Weapons will certainly be there, they just don't want to recognize it."
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
Utah's 'Oly Guns' Idea Fails to Amuse IOC
Thursday, November 16, 2000
BY CHRISTOPHER SMITH (c) 2000, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
What may be the most valuable souvenirs of the 2002 Winter Olympics are secreted away in a vault at the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Department, probably never to be viewed by the public.
The pair of sleek, black .40-caliber semiautomatic pistols are engraved in 24-karat gold with the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Games logo and the five Olympic rings. The guns are rare not only because there has never been an official Olympics handgun, but because there never will be, according to the International Olympic Committee.
The prototype pistols are all that remains of a failed sponsorship deal to outfit Utah law enforcement officers conducting 2002 Games security with special "Olympic edition" SIG Sauer firearms.
After Salt Lake County Sheriff Aaron Kennard and his staff spent more than two years winning the approval of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee and the U.S. Olympic Committee, the merchandise licensing contract was killed by the IOC in May, only hours before it was to have been signed.
"I felt it was a good thing for law enforcement to have everybody with the same weapons. I had Sen. [Orrin] Hatch helping us and Mitt [Romney] approved it, but the IOC was very queasy and put the kabosh on it," said Kennard. "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."
Although Kennard figured the licensing deal could yield as much as $500,000 to SLOC, IOC Director of Marketing Michael Payne rejected it. SLOC asked IOC Vice President Dick Pound to intercede, but he "dismissed it outright," according to an IOC spokesman.
"Please understand that the U.S. is unique in its relationship with firearms," said Franklin Servan-Schreiber, director of IOC communications in Lausanne, Switzerland. "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 licensed almost any product, from champagne to condoms, as the "official" nonesuch of the games. Yet firearms, along with tobacco and hard liquor, remain taboo with the European-based IOC.
"It's an excellent gun, a work of art, that would only be carried by the trained men and women protecting these Games," said Salt Lake County Sheriff's Range Master and Firearms Unit Director Nick Roberts, the catalyst for the proposal. "SIG wanted to help the cops, to do something good for law enforcement, just to be able to say in their brochures in 2001 that they were an official licensee."
Roberts was boarding a plane May 17 to deliver the completed agreement to SIG Arms President Dieter Strich when he got the call that the IOC had abruptly nixed the deal. He and Kennard reworked the contract -- including removing the Olympic rings and just allowing a Salt Lake 2002 logo to be engraved -- and offered to go to Switzerland at their own expense to plead the case of law enforcement. But SLOC withdrew its support for the gun deal and never broached the subject with the IOC again. Through a spokeswoman, SLOC President Mitt Romney declined comment.
The plan would have allowed SIG Arms, the North American subsidiary of Swiss gunmaker SIG Sauer, to manufacture at its New Hampshire plant between 5,000 and 6,000 commemorative sidearms of various calibers and models as specified by officers. Each would be engraved with Olympic logos and serial numbers identifying the particular law enforcement agency and limited-edition issue. The handguns were to be sold only to certified law enforcement personnel or agencies at a discounted price.
For every gun sold, SIG Arms would pay a $30 royalty to SLOC, with a minimum guarantee of $150,000 for licensing rights to use the Salt Lake logo and Olympic rings on the weapons.
Additionally, SIG Sauer was to donate 120 model 551 and 552 automatic tactical rifles, similar to AR-15 assault rifles, to be divvied up among SWAT teams of Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City, West Valley City, Ogden, Provo, Park City and the state Department of Public Safety. The company would also pay for training the SWAT teams in use of the rifles, and training a Salt Lake County Sheriff's employee as a factory armorer.
"Every agency would get the training and rifles for free, and that way no matter what happens during the Olympics, the people protecting these Games would be working from the same sheet of music," said Roberts. "It was an administrator's dream."
Kennard also saw the sidearms as a way of rewarding law enforcement officers who will be working long hours in potentially dangerous situations 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," said the sheriff. "But the IOC didn't want the Olympics being associated in any way with weapons."
Licensing a gunmaker may conflict with the IOC's mission of "Olympism," to promote peace through education and sports. However, guns are used in events such as biathlon and skeet, with several manufacturers boasting in advertisements and Web sites how many gold medals their weapons have won in Olympic competitions.
And guns came to symbolize the Salt Lake bribery scandal. IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch noted last year that "Utah, Salt Lake City, is a state where guns are very popular. I have been to Salt Lake City twice and I got a gun both times."
Those specially engraved firearms -- a pistol, a rifle and a shotgun -- were among 10 Browning Arms Co. guns purchased by the Salt Lake bid committee as gifts for IOC members. IOC members are barred from accepting gifts valued at more than $150, although Samaranch said he was immune from that limit. Today, the Browning guns given to Samaranch remain in their velvet-lined cases, piled beneath hundreds of other gifts in a storeroom at IOC headquarters in Switzerland.
Kennard finds the IOC ruling baffling and frustrating.
"It's a little silly because we already have our own guns and there will be armed security personnel and highly trained SWAT teams at the Olympics," he said. "Weapons will certainly be there, they just don't want to recognize it."
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