Starter's Pistol
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

A starting pistol or starter pistol is a blank
handgun A handgun is a short- barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also braced ...
that is fired to start
track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...
races, as well as
competitive swimming Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...
races at some meets. Starter guns cannot fire real
ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...
without first being extensively modified: Blank shells or
caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...
are used to prevent expelling projectiles, and only a small amount of smoke can be seen when shot. In most places, trying to modify the replica is illegal. Starting pistols may also include modified versions of standard pistols incapable of firing
bullet A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. Bullets are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax. Bullets are made in various shapes and co ...
s, most commonly achieved by welding an obstruction into the barrel. This is less common nowadays, especially in Western countries. When electronic timing is used, a sensor is often affixed to the gun, which sends an electronic signal to the timing system upon firing. For
deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an Audiology, audiological condition. In this context it ...
competitors or for modern electronic systems, a light may be used instead.


Use in races

The sound of the gun going off serves as the signal for the athletes to begin the event. An issue with the use of starting pistols is that, since the report of the pistol is carried to the competitors at the
speed of sound The speed of sound is the distance travelled per unit of time by a sound wave as it propagates through an elastic medium. At , the speed of sound in air is about , or one kilometre in or one mile in . It depends strongly on temperature as w ...
, which takes about 3
millisecond A millisecond (from '' milli-'' and second; symbol: ms) is a unit of time in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one thousandth (0.001 or 10−3 or 1/1000) of a second and to 1000 microseconds. A unit of 10 milliseconds may be called ...
s to travel one metre, positions nearest the starter hear the report a few milliseconds before further positions. This issue is exaggerated in races where the runners begin in a stagger, putting a significant distance between the nearest and furthest runners. To avoid this problem, the pistol is in all major competitions wired with a microphone that transmits the sound virtually instantaneously to loudspeakers directly behind each competitor. With security after the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
on the US becoming prevalent and causing issues with starting pistols, a trend developed to use electronic starting systems that do not use pistols but use a "dummy"
prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinc ...
pistol which cannot function as a firearm and that is wired to the timing system. When the starter presses the button, they emit a signal to play a simulated gunshot that is broadcast to loudspeakers behind each lane, show a flash, emit simulated smoke , and start the timing clock. Many venues have switched to the new format. Beyond the security concerns, it has also been observed that even with the use of loudspeakers, some competitors still wait for the actual sound of the gun to reach them, and since the new all-electronic starting pistols have no such problems, they became the official way of starting games at the
2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
.


Use in American and Canadian football

Officials in American and Canadian football formerly used a starting pistol to end each quarter of a game. In the NFL this was first done in 1924, to avoid confusion with the
whistle A whistle is an instrument which produces sound from a stream of gas, most commonly air. It may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a small slide whistle or nose flute type to a larg ...
s and
air horn An air horn is a pneumatic device designed to create an extremely loud noise for signaling purposes. It usually consists of a source which produces compressed air, which passes into a horn through a reed or diaphragm. The stream of air caus ...
s used for other signals; at the time the stadium clock did not show the official game time, which was kept by the officials on the field. The stadium clock later became the official game time and the NFL discontinued the gunshot in 1994. Furthermore, upon the official end of the period, the referee will announce "That is the end of the (x period)" to the public address system.


Use in the arts

Beside sporting events, starter pistols are also used in films and in TV or stage shows.


Criminal use

Some pistols made to fire only blanks can be converted to fire live ammunition. Such makeshift firearms are used in crime and many are illegal to possess in certain jurisdictions.


See also

;Incidents involving starting pistols * Adam Ant 2002 pub incident in Camden *
Algiers Motel incident The Algiers Motel incident (also called the Algiers Motel Murders) occurred in Detroit, Michigan, United States, throughout the night of July 25–26, 1967, during the racially charged 12th Street Riot. At the Algiers Motel, approximately one mile ...
*
LOT Flight 165 hijacking LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165 hijacking was the hijacking of a LOT Polish Airlines that occurred on 30 August 1978. – The hijackers from East Germany (GDR) were seeking political asylum in West Germany (FRG). The plane landed safely, and th ...
*
Lufthansa Flight 592 Lufthansa Flight 592 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Frankfurt, Germany to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia that was hijacked on February 11, 1993. The Lufthansa-operated Airbus A310-300 was hijacked by Nebiu Demeke, an Ethiopian man seeki ...
*
David Kang David Kang (born 1970) is an Australian barrister. In January 1994 he fired two blank shots from a starting pistol at Charles, Prince of Wales in protest at the treatment of several hundred Cambodian asylum seekers held in detention camps in Au ...
* Discovery, Inc. 2010 Hostage Crisis


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Starting Pistol Firearms Sport of athletics equipment Speed skating equipment Cycling equipment