SRK Parabellum built a civilian shooting range in Zenica-Doboj Canton

A location that speaks for itself - a tripoint of three municipalities

"Parabellum" was not a project that happens just anywhere. The location was carefully chosen: the village of Mečevići, exactly on the tripoint of the municipalities of Zavidovići, Maglaj, and Žepče. The distance from Žepče is 3 km, from Maglaj 4 km - meaning the facility directly served three urban areas.

This was no accident. The shooting range was consciously integrated into the broader tourist concept "3 cities, 3 parks", where visitors tour different regional destinations on quad bikes - from golf grounds through other parks to the shooting range. At a time when adrenaline sports (climbing, paragliding, karting, shooting) increasingly attracted visitors, the absence of such content in this part of the canton meant a missed opportunity.

Whom the project targeted

The market for a civilian shooting range in BiH is very specific and measurable, with four clearly identified target groups:

Registered owners of firearms

• Each municipality in ZDK has on average several thousand registered firearm owners
• The law is clear: firearms may only be tested or used at a hunting ground or shooting range
• Without a shooting range in the region, these owners either did not use their firearms regularly, or travelled to other cantons - spending flowed out

Recreational shooters and trainees

• Persons who do not own firearms but wish to learn how to use them
• Recreational pistol and rifle shooting, gradual acquisition of knowledge and experience

Sport shooters (practical shooting)

• Professional and semi-professional shooters who train in the discipline
• They use club firearms in an organised environment

Diaspora

• A specific target group that comes to BiH during holidays
• In European countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Scandinavia) due to price, foreign national status, or stricter regulation, the diaspora cannot acquire and use firearms at home
• In Zavidovići, at the Parabellum shooting range, they gained that opportunity - which automatically made the range a destination for returnees

What was specifically being built

The project envisaged an open civilian shooting range built according to the Regulation on Technical Conditions for Construction of Civilian Shooting Ranges of the ZDK Ministry of the Interior, meaning the design complied with prescribed safety standards. The main elements of the facility:

• Firing line with a covered station for shooters
• Field surface with targets
• Wire fence around the entire facility for safety
• Green zone outside the operational space
• Access area with a place for equipment

The designer was a local company with experience in designing sports and recreational facilities.

Readiness - all permits obtained

This project was at a very high level of readiness. The following documentation was prepared:

• Conceptual design prepared according to the Regulation of the ZDK Ministry of the Interior
• Urban planning consent issued by the Service for Property-Legal Affairs and Urban Planning
• Consent of the City Council as the owner of the plots for construction
• Consent of the local community Mečevići for construction at the location
• Consent of the neighbouring plot owner obtained
• Main project contracted and in preparation

In other words, the project was ready for realisation - only funds for execution were missing.

Who stood behind the project

SRK "Parabellum" was a young club, focused on building a civilian shooting range in the canton. Although modest in budget size, the club was organised and prepared - as seen from the way it prepared the entire technical and administrative documentation.

What the project meant for ZDK

• Civilian shooting range in ZDK - a facility of this kind became a regional reference
• A transit point for neighbouring municipalities (Maglaj, Žepče, Tešanj, Doboj Jug, Banovići) - all without their own shooting ranges
• Economic effects - visitors coming to shoot also spent on other local services: hospitality, accommodation, transport
• A destination for the diaspora - a specific tourist segment not covered by other projects
• Sports infrastructure - support for the development of practical shooting as a discipline

The message of the project

In ZDK there were thousands of people who owned firearms but had nowhere to use them. There was a diaspora that came in summer but could not pursue the same activities they do at home. There were sportspeople who trained in uncomfortable conditions or travelled to other cantons.

With this project, SRK "Parabellum" Zavidovići did not discover a new need, it had long existed. The project simply provided, at last, an infrastructural response to it, at a location connecting three urban areas and with complete documentation waiting only for the green light for execution.

For ZDK as a canton wishing to diversify its tourist offer beyond mountaineering and historical monuments, this was the type of project that could be realised quickly and that addressed a concrete local need.