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DISPATCH FROM GERMANY
The World Forum on the Future of Sport Shooting Activities
By Diana Rupp, Editor in chief

If you followed any of the news surrounding the proposed small-arms ban that was being considered by the United Nations last year, you know that threats to individual gun ownership don’t come only from the domestic front. And while organizations such as the NRA and the NSSF are doing important work here at home protecting our gun rights, there’s also an influential international organization that represents the interests of hunters and shooters worldwide. The World Forum on the Future of Sport Shooting Activities, which holds its annual general meeting in conjunction with the IWA show in Nuremberg, Germany, gathers representatives of businesses, shooting organizations, and lobby groups from five continents every March to share information, discuss ongoing problems, and head off impending threats that affect law-abiding gun owners all over the world.

I was invited to the World Forum meeting this year as one of ten speakers slated to brief the group on issues and problems affecting the sport shooting community. The lineup of presenters was drawn from business leaders, regulators, scientists, journalists, and a principals in hunting and sport shooting associations. The keynote speaker was U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who talked about the value of hunting to the human spirit and how much his hunting experiences have meant to him. I was fascinated to learn that this respected jurist is a die-hard turkey hunter!

Other speakers discussed possible bans on lead and the legal issues surrounding transportation and shipping of ammunition. Most interesting, perhaps, was WFSA American Secretary Tom Mason’s report on proposed United Nations initiatives, including the likelihood that member states of the U.N. will pursue more restrictions on the ownership of small arms. It behooves shooters to be extremely vigilant about what’s coming before the U.N. in the next year, and I am sure glad to know there is a group like the World Forum representing our interests before the international body.

My own presentation to the group was a summary of the challenges faced by the international community in supporting and furthering the future of hunting on the African continent. While it can be tempting to be pessimistic about this topic, I talked to the group about the things that are going right with African hunting, and how the international community can help. The growth of community-based wildlife management programs on the continent (such as the communal hunting areas in Namibia we reported on in the April/May issue of Sports Afield) are an extremely encouraging trend. Another reason for cautious optimism is the fact that several new countries are making at least tentative moves to open their doors to hunting, including Angola, Guinea, and Uganda. I also reminded the group how important it is that North American and European countries maintain reasonable import regulations on hunting trophies within the bounds of CITES so that hunting has a chance to work its vast ecological and economic benefits on both wildlife and people on the African continent. (Click here to read the full content of my speech to the World Forum.)

As anyone who has hunted in a foreign country quickly realizes, it’s crucial for those of us in the hunting and shooting community to reach beyond our own borders. In every corner of the world, we will find new friends and new allies in our efforts to preserve the heritage that is so important to all of us.

DISPATCH FROM GERMANY
On the floor of the IWA Show

We hunters in North America have a tendency to think that most guns, ammunition, and hunting gear is made right here in the good ol’ USA. Our country is blessed with a large and thriving outdoor industry, but we often don't think about how important this business is in the rest of the world, too. That’s why it’s such an eye-opening experience to attend the big outdoor trade show that happens every March in Nuremberg, Germany. Known as IWA, this event is a lot like its North American counterpart, the SHOT Show, except it showcases an extensive array of guns and optics and hunting gear from Europe and the rest of the world.

The 2007 IWA show, in March, attracted 27,000 visitors from all over the globe. As I walked around the show, I heard people speaking German, Russian, Spanish, and many other languages. At the booths, I ogled fine guns from Spain, France, and Italy; crystal-clear optics from Austria and Germany; ammunition from Sweden; waxed-cotton jackets from Britain; and wool shirts from Scotland. I met fellow gunwriters and hunting-magazine editors from Norway, Germany, the U.K., South Africa, and even Turkey. American manufacturers were well represented, too—for example, Leupold, Hornady, Blackhawk, and Barnes Bullets had large booths that attracted large crowds of interested retailers from dozens of countries.

I came away with the impression that the hunting and shooting industry is a broad, diverse, and truly international community—far more so than we often realize from our narrow perspective here in North America. No matter what language we speak, or whether our game of choice is mule deer, roebuck, red stag, or elch (German for moose), hunters all over the world have a lot more similarities than differences. And that’s great news for the future of the outdoor industry, for hunting, and for wildlife.

<A bit of humorous booth decor at the IWA Show