SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - The Olympic games are big business, and any productwith an Olympic endorsement, be it condoms, beer or
life insurance (yes, Olympic life insurance) stands to
make a fortune. But the International Olympic
Committee has drawn the line at an official Olympic
handgun. Salt Lake County Sheriff Aaron Kennard spent
two years lining up Swiss gun maker SIG Sauer and the
Salt Lake Organizing Committee to provide the
commemorative side arms. The company made two
prototypes, a pair of .40-caliber semiautomatics
engraved with the Olympic rings and gold script. But the head of the IOC stopped the whole deal when he saw
a sample. IOC spokesman Franklin Servan-Schreiber says
guns and world peace don´t mix. The rest of the world
would not understand, nor accept, the idea of a
firearm with the Olympic rings on it, he said.