founded 1976
- 1976 Paralympic Shooting made debut at the 1st Paralympic Games
- 1976, only 3 shooting events
- 2020 = nine rifle & four pistol events
both airguns and .22 caliber - 8 of 13 events are mixed gender
- open to male and female athletes with physical disabilities
- governed by International Paralympic Committee (IPC)
- 2019 Shooting was added to the program at the Para Pan American Championships (Lima, Peru)
United States Paralympic Shooting Team
- has won 5 Paralympic medals
1 gold
1 silver
3 bronze
USA Shooting
1 Olympic Plaza
Colorado Springs, CO 80909
(719) 866-4670
https://www.usashooting.org/about/paralympicshooting
About Paralympic Shooting
Shooting Para sport gives athletes with physical impairments the chance to compete in rifle and pistol events, and it has been part of every Paralympic Games since 1976, when it debuted at the Toronto Games. Competitors use .177 air guns or .22 smallbore firearms at distances of 10, 25 and 50 meters, and Para trap classes using clay targets were added by World Shooting Para Sport in 2017. Both the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Paralympics featured 13 shooting medal events, many of them mixed-gender.
The International Paralympic Committee acts as the sport’s international federation, with day-to-day management by World Shooting Para Sport (WSPS), based in Bonn, Germany. In April 2026 the IPC and the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) signed an agreement to transfer governance of Para shooting to the ISSF, a move that takes effect only after ratification by ISSF member federations at the General Assembly scheduled for late 2026. For gun owners, Para shooting shows how adaptive equipment and classification open precision marksmanship to athletes of all physical abilities.
Key Facts
- 1976: Shooting debuts at the Toronto Paralympic Games
- 2017: WSPS adds Para trap classes
- 2021 (Tokyo 2020) and 2024 (Paris): 13 Para shooting medal events at each Games
- April 2026: IPC and ISSF sign agreement to move Para shooting governance to the ISSF, pending ratification
Sources
- History of Shooting Para Sport (International Paralympic Committee)
- Shooting at the 1976 Summer Paralympics (Wikipedia)
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