Guests include Beretta, Benelli, Fiocchi, and Sig Sauer, a Swiss company that owns one of the largest arms manufacturers in the United States. Sixty thousand square meters, thirteen shooting ranges for testing weapons outside the showrooms, and over 250 attendees from 100 countries. From March 28th to 30th, the Eos: European Outdoor Show 2026, the sporting and hunting firearms fair, will be held at the Parma Fairgrounds. Admission to the event is free for children under 12, as well as for disabled visitors with a companion and law enforcement officers. This is the first time a fair of this size has been held in Parma. The pacifist and anti-militarist movements are organizing to protest the large-scale fair.
Exhibitors also included Beretta, Benelli, and Fiocchi, among the main companies selling weapons to Israeli settlers, a civilian sale that is distributed throughout the occupied territories. According to an article in Altreconomia, the settlers' requests in 2024 exceeded all requests made in the last 20 years. Sig Sauer is a Swiss company that owns one of the largest arms factories in the United States and is a major beneficiary of US-led policies. Through the American arms export system, it secured a EUR95 million order to arm the IDF in 2025. The public shareholders, including the Region, Municipality, and Province of Parma, hold a total of 40% of the capital of Fiere di Parma.
One of the greatest successes of moving the EOS show to Fiere di Parma, the organizers emphasize, is the opportunity to test out firearms right outside the show. A total of 13 shooting ranges will be available in the temporary range set up on the plot adjacent to the eastern side of the pavilions, allowing visitors to try out new smoothbore guns. For pistols and rifles, shuttles will run throughout the three days of the show to the Parma National Shooting Range, which has numerous ranges at 10, 25, 50, and 100 meters and is just seven minutes away. Many companies will be providing their latest weapons. The full list, which will hold more than a few surprises, will be available soon. The shooting federations will also involve visitors, inviting them to test their skills against the target and in engaging disciplines.
"A wrong event at the wrong time," write the Palestinian community of Parma and the city coordination for Palestine, "a weapons fair that aims to spread and normalize the culture of war and rearmament, of everyday weapons and do-it-yourself justice, Within an increasingly impoverished and violent society, in a world where war is touted as a solution to conflicts.
In particular, it is inconsistent if, after approving the City Council a few months ago to sever commercial relations with Israeli institutions and companies implicated in military operations in Gaza, the City Administration today fails to take a clear position regarding the presence of weapons manufactured by Israeli companies at its stands.
It is inconsistent to pretend that some of the companies that profit most from the genocide of the Palestinian people by selling their weapons to a state convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity are not present. It is also unacceptable that even children are admitted to a fair of this kind, and that the City, together with the Province and Region, are unable to impose a ban on entry to minors under 18. Despite the minority position of the City, Province, and Region on the board of directors of Fiere di Parma (they hold approximately 40% of the fair's capital), we consider them too weak and compromising. The positions taken by these public bodies, positions that contradict the motions recently approved by both the city and regional councils.
We therefore ask the administrations to honor the commitments made in the various councils and to take an explicit position on the presence of this Fair in Parma: we cannot accept ambiguity regarding the genocide; you're either on one side or the other."
The person in charge
https://umanitanova.org/sparare-per-sport-parma-no-alla-fiera-delle-armi/
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Link: (en) Italy, FAI, Umanita Nova #9-26 - Shooting for Sport. Parma: NO to the Gun Fair (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]
Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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