Starting pistol

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A starting pistol is a handgun (typically a specially designed revolver) that is fired to start track and field events. The loud report of the gun going off is a signal to the athletes to begin the event. Blank shells or caps are used to prevent injury.

Starting pistols are often heavily modified from a regular shooting pistol and incapable of using real bullets. Since the report of the pistol is carried to the competitors at the speed of sound, it is conceivable that the position nearest the starter would hear the report a few milliseconds before the other positions. To escape this, the pistol will sometimes be wired to a system that transmits the sound at the speed of light to a number of speakers placed behind each competitor. The system is often chained with a strobe light to signal deaf competitors -- also at the speed of light -- and also automatically starts clocks.

[edit] Trivia

• Seasoned travelers will sometimes carry an unloaded starting pistol in their luggage when they travel via aircraft in the United States. The TSA considers a starting pistol a weapon, so a bag holding a starting pistol receives special handling and extra security[1].

• In the film Made, Vince Vaughn's character makes an unsuccessful attempt at passing a starter pistol off as a real gun.