– In many ways, it will be the death knell for the activity many of the children are involved in, Tormod Ragnes, equipment manager at Asker Ski Archery Club, tells news. He is in despair over what is in many ways a double crisis for the breadth of Norwegian biathlon. In the last eight years, the number of registered biathletes has decreased by more than 30 per cent, according to figures from the Norwegian Ski Association. This season, the association has only 1,213 so-called licensed athletes. To make the situation worse, Ragnes and the wider clubs are now facing an extensive ammunition crisis. The suppliers simply cannot get hold of enough cartridges, bullets and gunpowder. Now the idea of throwing stones at blinkers instead of shooting has crept in. CONCERNED: The equipment manager at Asker biathlon club, Tormod Ragnes, fears for the recruitment to Norwegian biathlon. Photo: Nuno Duarte / news – I’m a little worried, I have to admit it. I’m a little afraid that it will cause the sport to die out, and it is a very nice sport for both children and adults. If that happens, it’s very sad, says Ragnes. He is responsible for the club’s ammunition stock and is unsure how much longer he can offer the athletes the all-essential bullets. – Right now the suppliers are struggling to deliver. It’s been quite a while since they had ammunition in stock, so we can’t get hold of anything new now. We cannot buy biathlon ammunition from anyone now, and they are unsure when they can deliver. Right now it is a dry market, Ragnes explains. Norway’s largest supplier of ammunition, ABS Shooting, tells of major problems at the manufacturers. – We received a batch of ammunition yesterday which was two months late. Then we only received half of the training ammunition we had ordered, so everything we have is sold out. Now we only have a few more expensive editions left, says Mads Lysevold, general manager of ABS Shooting. The biathletes use their own type of ammunition for training, and it is this type that the manufacturers have the most problems with. – Hoarding ammunition The reason for the delivery problems is complex. – There is a backlog of corona and the war that steals raw materials, gunpowder and lead. There is simply a lack of raw materials. The US is also stockpiling ammunition now. They did that last time when Obama became president and now they want to tighten the gun rules again, so then the Americans hoard in, says Lysevold. In June, the US Senate passed a new law that tightens the national gun laws in the US. The new law followed the mass shootings in Buffalo, New York and at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas this spring. INCREASED: The demand for ammunition increased significantly during the corona pandemic, says US expert Hilmar Mjelde. Photo: NORCE – Arms and ammunition sales skyrocket when the US has a president from the Democratic Party and after shooting tragedies. The reason is that people then expect stricter gun laws, explains US expert Hilmar Mjelde. He believes the Americans’ fears are not unfounded, and points out that the Republicans now also supported new gun reform. – Also, arms sales go up in times of crisis, when there is a lot of political anxiety and unrest in the country. The pandemic, social riots and increasing crime have sent arms sales skyrocketing, says Mjelde and points out: – Arms are not of much use without ammunition. There are an estimated 393 million privately owned firearms in the United States. The demand for ammunition increased significantly during the pandemic, sending the price of ammunition skyrocketing. – Killing recruitment Because in addition to the fact that there is hardly any ammunition to collect in Norway, the price per bullet of ammunition has increased by 50 øre in a few years. The last price increase was as late as June. Now everyone is left with more questions than answers. The equipment manager in Asker biathlon club says that the whole club is now living in excitement. – As a club, we are a little unsure of how long we can last before we run out of ammunition. Both the club as a whole and individual athletes struggle with it. We are in dialogue with suppliers about how much they think they can get and possibly when they will get it, says Ragnes. But it will only take a couple of months for the suppliers to receive more goods – and how much they will receive is completely unknown. Altogether this year, they have received several million fewer bullets than they ordered. LONG-TERM: It is speculated that the ammunition crisis will last for two to three years. Photo: Berit Roald / NTB – There are many people who call and want ammunition, but there are long waiting lists and not everyone understands that it is a problem to get cartridges. Someone who is on the waiting list for the next batch will not get ammunition, says Lysevold. The crisis also does not seem to be over anytime soon and it is speculated that the problems will last for as long as two or three years. Now he fears for the future of shooting sports. – It is stupid for both the biathletes and the sports shooters. They use the same caliber and struggle with the same. It is then that two sports are affected and it kills the recruitment of two sports right after corona, despairs Lysevold. Asker biathlon club fears the same as the supplier, and believes that recruitment to the sport will be difficult in the long term without ammunition. – I’m not sure if we can do that. If we are going to recruit someone for biathlon, then shooting is an important part of the training. Precisely in training, it is possible to use dry training and laser weapons, but the most important thing for them is to get trained on what will meet them in competitions, and ammunition is an important part of that, says Ragnes.
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Fears gun-loving Americans take their lives from Norwegian biathlon – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
