{"id":15075,"date":"2018-02-21T21:46:12","date_gmt":"2018-02-21T21:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2018\/02\/21\/u-s-biathlon-team-speaks-out-for-gun-control\/"},"modified":"2018-02-21T21:46:12","modified_gmt":"2018-02-21T21:46:12","slug":"u-s-biathlon-team-speaks-out-for-gun-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/u-s-biathlon-team-speaks-out-for-gun-control\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Biathlon Team Speaks Out For Gun Control"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Laurel Wamsley<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n Tim Burke and other American biathletes spoke out about guns after the shooting in Parkland, Fla. Burke is seen here during the 10km Sprint Biathlon on Feb. 11 at the Pyeongchang Olympic Games.<\/p>\n

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Lars Baron\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Lars Baron\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Biathlon links two things that don’t often go together, at least in the United States: cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It’s the only Winter Olympic sport in which the U.S. has never medaled<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The sport “combines the power and aggression of cross-country skiing with the precision and calm of marksmanship,” the Olympics website<\/a> says, adding that biathlon “has its roots in survival skills practised in the snow-covered forests of Scandinavia, where people hunted on skis with rifles slung over their shoulders.”<\/p>\n

Its practitioners must power across the course, heaving themselves up and down inclines \u2014 then stop, calm their breathing, and fire rifles at a target 50 meters (164 feet) away.<\/p>\n

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For biathletes, the fact that their sport involves firearms isn’t always comfortable. And following last week’s school shooting in Parkland, Fla., some members of the U.S. team are adding their voices to the rising chorus calling for stricter gun control.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday night, after he finished competing, American biathlete Lowell Bailey spoke out about the gun he uses to compete \u2014 and the type of gun that was used to kill 17 people in Parkland.<\/p>\n

“We’re a sport that uses a .22-caliber rifle,” Bailey said, according<\/a> to Yahoo Sports. “A .22-caliber rifle that shoots a single round is a much different thing than an AR-15. In my opinion, there’s just no reason for assault rifles to be in the hands of ordinary citizens.”<\/p>\n

The Florida shooter used a semi-automatic rifle similar to an AR-15.<\/p>\n

“I support an assault weapons ban,” Bailey said, according<\/a> to The Washington Post<\/em>. “I really do. Our country needs to wake up. Our country needs to change. There’s just no excuse. I compete against all of these other World Cup nations \u2014 Germany, Norway. How good are they on the range? They’re great at rifle marksmanship. Do you know how strict their gun control laws are? It’s a travesty America hasn’t changed and continues to go down this path. It just makes me want to cry.”<\/p>\n