Non-gun sighting aids legal again in USPSA?

[Skydiver]

The loaded sight picture threads made me re-read section 8.7 and I just now realized that the wording in 2004 has changed dramatically to now allow non-gun sighting aids.

From the 2004 Rulebook:

8.7.4 Competitors are prohibited from using any sighting aid (e.g. the whole or part of an imitation or replica firearm, any part of a real firearm including any accessories thereof etc.), except for their own hands, while conducting their inspection ("walkthrough") of a course of fire. Violations will incur one procedural penalty per occurrence (also see Rule 10.5.1).

From the 2008 Rulebook:

8.7.2 Competitors are prohibited from using any guns or gun replicas as sighting aids while conducting their inspection ("walkthrough") of a course of fire. Violations will incur one procedural penalty per occurrence (also see Rule 10.5.1).

Which of the following are illegal to use during a walkthrough (and why):

1) A golf range finder

2) A red dot sight

3) A folding cane handle with sights mounted on it

4) A bar code reader with sights mounted on it (aka a "price gun") (LOL!)

5) A worn-out gun frame with a PVC pipe and sights mounted on it

6) A portable handheld drill

7) A hair drier (LOL!)

8) Replica of the old Star Trek phaser

9) Replica of the Star Trek: The Next Generation phase (aka the modified dust buster)

10) A DustBuster

11) Replica of the Space 1999's stun gun (aka the modified staple gun)

12) A staple gun

Which of the above would you consider legal, but you would still ask the competitor not to use because it make you or the other competitors nervous?

Edited April 2, 2010 by Skydiver

[Steve J]

All of the above are being used as "gun replicas as sighting aides" and are therefore illegal during rehearsals. Your hands could be considered the same, so we might just have to stop air-gunning too.

Edited April 2, 2010 by Steve J

[George Jones]

If it walks like a duck..... it might be a duck.

If it talks like a duck..... it might be a duck.

But if it looks like a duck, then it must be a duck!

[Skydiver]

That's a pretty loose definition of a "gun replica". :-) My personal borderline of whether something is a "gun replica" or not is if I would walk around on the street with it strapped to my hip in a non-open carry state.

I'd be hard pressed to argue that a golf range finder or a red dot sight is a "gun replica", considering that the strict definition of a replica is something that is a copy or reproduction.

I think that the old phrasing was better where it clearly said that "sighting aids" are not allowed.

It the end, I think that the choice of the word "replica" was incorrect. Another word should have been used. Unfortunately, the only thing that comes to mind is "proxy".

Sort of tangential, the old rules explicitly prohibited me from doing a walkthrough with a magazine in my hand, but the does the current rules let me? Is the magazine a "gun replica as a sighting aid"?

Edited April 2, 2010 by Skydiver

[Sarge]

Your hands could be considered the same, so we might just have to stop air-gunning too.

As long as you don't point a finger you should be good!

[BSeevers]

I thought it was ok as long as your finger wasn't in the trigger gua.... Oh wait wrong thread

[Gary Stevens]

You must be careful with those fingers, they have "nails" in them. Won't be funny when somebody gets an eye put out

Yes a magazine is OK.