Just a few weeks ago, the EU Commission proposed a largely fair and practical regulation with various exemptions for shooting disciplines in its draft implementing act on “a restriction proposal on the placing on the market and the use of lead in ammunition (gunshot and bullets)" – you can read the all4shooters.com article here. But there are still a number of problem areas as the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) President Luciano Rossi outlined in in a statement sent to the European Commission in recent days.
“The European Commission's restriction proposal contains significant improvements compared to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) report with the proposed derogation for the use of lead 'bullets',” reads the statement. “At the same time, there are still 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. The conditions imposed for the continued use of lead gunshot ammunition are not proportionate and cannot be generally implemented in practice.”
ISSF: shooting ranges are at risk
As ISSF President explains, major international shooting sport championships take place in large shooting sport centres that can and do meet the requirements of the proposed derogations. “However, there are only a few such centres and an essential prerequisite for the continued success of our sport is a complex network of different sized shooting ranges” for which “the requirements now proposed by the European Commission are neither practicable nor necessary given the risks they pose".
“In addition, most shooting ranges are currently not authorised and equipped for the use of lead-free ammunition. Alternative ammunition places significantly different demands on shooting ranges. Due to changes in ricochet behaviour, far-reaching structural changes would be necessary to ensure a safe shooting environment,” and “the mostly non-profit organisations that run shooting ranges on a voluntary basis are far from being able to cope with this enormous financial burden on their own”.
Also, the enormous workload for those who could continue is not feasible in the timeframe set by the European Commission – 5 years, even 10 years might not be sufficient in many cases. And “the proposed derogations – especially the limitation of the derogation for another 10 years after the transition period – would mean the closure of many shooting ranges and thus severely endanger the EU-wide shotgun shooting range infrastructure. This is because it is not possible to simply switch from lead to lead-free shotgun ammunition.”
President Rossi warns that the possible ban on the use of lead shotgun ammunition would pose considerable challenges for the individual sports shooters on all levels, “particularly against the backdrop of international competitions (including the Olympic Games), where the use of lead ammunition is mandatory, this would be a major competitive disadvantage for all EU countries in shotgun shooting. The lack of competitiveness at an international level would mean the end of the sport of shooting with shotgun ammunition in the long term.”
The conclusion: the ISSF calls for an enduring derogation for the use of shotgun ammunition on all authorised shooting ranges that meet the requirements for preventing lead from entering the environment in accordance with national legal requirements.
Lead ban, the German shooting and hunting associations against the EU regulations
It's not just the ISSF. For example, the German Shooting Association (DSB), which has around 1.35 million members, and the German Hunting Association (DJV), to which around 250,000 hunters in Germany belong, are on the same page. The two German associations have issued a joint statement against the regulations planned by the EU, calling for suitable measures and appropriate transitional periods to be granted for shotgun shooting and the use of leaded shotgun ammunition for hunting, similar to the regulations for sporting shooting disciplines. Specifically, the DSB and DJV demand:
- the exclusion from the planned restrictions of all officially approved shooting ranges for the use of shotgun ammunition that meet the requirements for preventing the introduction of lead into the environment in accordance with national legal requirements;
- extensive financial support for research and testing of suitable alternative projectile materials for shotgun ammunition
- extensive financial support from the EU, the German federal government and the federal states for the conversion of the existing shooting range infrastructure;
- longer transition periods;
- financial compensation at market prices for types of guns that can no longer be used in the future and lead ammunition that can no longer be used and sold.
So, there's a long road ahead to defend the rights and interests of European sports shooters and hunters.
