Guatemala Course Expands the Ranks of Rifle and Pistol Officials

Gunfire Magazine · October 13, 2026 · 2 min read

A rifle and pistol judges course held in Guatemala City from October 2–6 brought together 11 students from Canada, El Salvador, Mexico and Guatemala. In its October 7 announcement, the ISSF said five students completed the program and were set to receive new judge licenses.

The Guatemalan National Shooting Sports Federation endorsed the course, which was led by instructor Oscar Martínez. The announcement concerns training and prospective licensing; it does not identify an international championship assignment for each participant or give a future schedule of events they will officiate.

Officials rarely receive the attention given to athletes, yet their preparation is an important subject for a serious sports publication. The interesting questions concern consistency, communication and the administration of competition. More trained people may create opportunities, but a course completion count alone cannot establish whether a region now has enough officials for its entire calendar.

Our view is that this kind of institutional reporting can help readers understand what must exist around a match before the first score appears. A club considering an event can ask its governing body which qualifications are required, how officials are assigned and where the applicable procedures are published. Those are organizational questions, not shooting instructions. They are also preferable to assuming that an experienced competitor automatically possesses every credential needed to officiate. Gunfire has not assessed the students or reviewed their examinations. We are reporting the federation’s stated outcome and keeping its scope intact. The next useful evidence would be a confirmed licensing list or a future organizer announcement, rather than speculation about the careers of unnamed participants.

Explore more firearms news and read Gunfire’s editorial standards. Source reporting was checked on October 13, 2026; the original announcement date appears in the source box.

Prepared for Gunfire Magazine with AI assistance from the linked source material and the publication’s editorial brief. This piece does not claim original interviews, on-site reporting or hands-on product testing.