Copper prices have tumbled. Hopefully the price of ammunition will follow.

It may somehow have escaped your notice, but the Olympic modern pentathlon—which includes air pistol shooting, running, swimming, fencing and horse riding—recently decided to combine the running and shooting events. Now competitors will run a short distance to the 10 meter firing line, shoot five shots, run one kilometer, shoot another five shots, then complete an additional run/shoot sequence for a total of 15 shots and three kilometers of running. The combined running/shooting portion will be the last segment of the event. So if you thought normal air pistol was tough….

Copper prices on the spot market took a sharp downward turn in the last half of 2008. The metal, a key ingredient in ammunition making, began the year at about $3 per pound. By June, it had risen above $4 per pound but then began to plummet. By early December, it was hovering around the $1.50 mark as fears of a worldwide recession and reduced demand took hold.

Para USA, formerly Para Ordnance, has moved to Charlotte, North Carolina. The company will consolidate its manufacturing, assembly and warehousing at a single facility, a process expected to be completed by June. Customer service will remain at the company’s service center in Tennessee through the transition period or until further notice.

Pennsylvania gun owners dodged a bullet when a bill levying a five-cent tax on each round of ammunition and requiring each bullet be serialized died in a state House committee. The bullet serialization bill, sponsored by a Philadelphia representative, would also have called for a statewide database of all ammunition sold and would have set a 2010 deadline beyond which non-serialized ammo would have become illegal.