The Malta Shooting Sport Federation has condemned the threatening letter and bullet that were sent to the Jesuits over their objections to the development of an open-air shooting range next to a Mosta retreat house.
This was unacceptable in a civilised country, the federation said in a statement.
However, it urged the government to fulfil its electoral promise to set up a national shooting range.
The Jesuits, who run the Mount St Joseph Retreat House, received the bullet and anonymous note on Tuesday, which carried a clear message warning them to stop lobbying against the shooting range plan. The items have been passed on to the police.
The priests say the range will undermine the peace and tranquillity for thousands of visitors who make use of the retreat house every year. The Jesuits have held meetings with the government over the issue and a final decision has still to be taken.
The proposal is for three ranges to be built in the nearby barracks and the stretch of public land surrounding the retreat house in a part of Mosta called Tal-Busbesija. The federation said it had started negotiations with the government and Opposition in 2003, when they requested to build Olympic standard shooting ranges to host international competitions.
The priests saythe range will undermine the peace for thousands of visitors who make use of the house every year
Both had agreed in principle and the federation had entered discussions with the International Sport Shooting Federation. In 2008, the year marking 100 years of the federation, Malta had the chance to hold the ISSF World Cup but it did not take place because the project never materialised.
In a pre-election visit to the Bidnija shooting ranges, Joseph Muscat announced that a Labour government would favour setting up the ranges and the Labour Party included the proposal in its electoral manifesto as a priority, the federation said.
Several meetings were held between the federation and the authorities, including Dr Muscat.
Last December, the federation applied to host the ISSF World Cup 2017 and was given a tentative go-ahead. This led to a call for expressions of interest and the Mosta site was identified as a possible open-air shooting range.
The federation said was in discussions with the government for a public-private partnership agreement. Together with other foreign shooters and experts, it fully supported the Mosta project.