Three Maltese shooters, Patrick Azzopardi, Mark Cassar and John Cassar, are currently training for the International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA) European Championship which will be held in Brescia next month.

The competition is expected to attract an entry of 180 shooters with the other competitors hailing mainly from host nation Italy, Slovenia and Russia.

In Malta, target shooting has flourished significantly also thanks to the contribution and support of the Armed Forces of Malta. The AFM have been instrumental in launching the sport on our shores making their facilities available for locals to practise and compete.

The Malta Shooting Sport Federation, however, said in a statement that it has become apparent that the AFM Safi range alone can no longer cater for such an increased demand.

In this context, other ranges have to be found to continue with the development of target shooting in Malta.

Once new ranges become functional, the next logical step should be to set up the right conditions for what could become another important economic contributor via the sports tourism industry, the MSSF said while thanking the Parliamentary Secretary for Youth and Sport for its support.

Safety is paramount in IDPA shooting.

Competitions are generally shot utilising pistols and revolvers but lately the IDPA have sanctioned and published new rules for Tri-Gun competitions as well, allowing the use of handguns, shotguns and rifles/carbines.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.