The statement, which you will find here, emphasises that as the international governing body for shooting sport worldwide, ISSF is responsible to manage and reconcile the rules of the sport considering the many differences in social, economic, and environmental conditions in different parts of the world.
The history and consistency of the disciplines of our sport are based on technical standards and sports rules that must be applied consistently worldwide. These include the type of firearms and ammunition to ensure the best and equal conditions in international but also national competitions.
The European Commission proposes several planned regulations that would lead to far-reaching, unjustifiable problems from the perspective of sport shooting. This concerns the planned restriction on the use and placing on the market of lead “gunshot” ammunition, which we consider to be particularly critical. ISSF believes that the conditions being proposed for the continued use of lead gunshot ammunition are not proportionate and cannot be generally implemented in practice.
The protection of the environment is an important objective to which the ISSF has always been fully committed through the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and the International Olympic Committee. When implementing environmental protection, however, practicable solutions must be found that reconcile a high level of environmental protection with the sustainable practice of shooting sport that is in the interests of the athletes and the ISSF Member Federations.
The interests of the athletes and the preservation of all shooting sport events in the Olympic Games programme are ISSF’s overriding goal for a positive future for the international shooting sport family.