I've never done it, but a clay shooting tournament sounds like it could be fun.

With a little luck and planning I think you can participate in the torneo/tournemant, I don't believe you can bring in your own shotgun. There is no right to bear arms in Italy. Italy is under its own laws, plus strict EU laws because of fear that one country with weak firearm laws could lead to diversions to countries with strict laws, similar to how it's almost impossible to legally buy a gun in New York City, therefore, many people just go to Virginia to buy one.

Also, the laws change all the time. For example, in response to the mass shooting of children in schools in the USA this year Italy clamped down further on its already strict gun laws. It was already necessary to obtain a mental health exam by a certified professional before owning a gun in Italy. Starting in May 2015 my understanding is that in addition to clearance from a mental health professional, there is now also a six month waiting period after clearance before one can obtain a firearm. Given the strictness of the laws I doubt they would just let a foreigner come in with a shotgun.

Italian citizens are only allowed to have a firearm under very strict circumstances; personal defense, sport, collecting, and hunting. For personal defense they have to go to the local police station or to the Commissariat of Public Security and prove that their life is in danger. For sport they have to go to CONI, the Comitato Olympic Nazionale Italiano, or Italian Olympic Committee, to show that they are on the olympic target shooting team, or to go to the STSN, the Sezione di Tiro a Segno Nazionale, to show that they are a verified target shooter.

Collectors can only have a few firearms, and can't have more than one copy of any single one. If they have more than a couple they have to certify to never have any ammunition in the house, and be subject to checks on that, and they can never take any of their guns out of the house. Hunters, in addition to the process of obtaining a gun, have to apply for a hunting license valid for the season in question.

To transport a gun from one EU state to another, not from the USA into an EU state, requires a Carta Europea d'Arma da Fuoco. This is a permit that requires an extensive background check from local and federal police. In Italy, even bullets are tracked. If you buy bullets and you don't shoot them all you have to return the ones you didn't shoot. If you buy a gun, inherit a gun, or a third party gives you a gun, you have to swear how you wound up with it, and give the names and places associated with getting it. Penalties for violating gun laws are very strict, and result in jail time.

Even if you qualify to buy a gun or bullets you have to get a special permit from the police just to carry the guns or bullets from the store to your house. To have a gun you also must never have violated any laws, and you have to verify that the people you are living under the same household with meet the same conditions and standards that you do.

All of this being said, I'm not an Italian lawyer, and I could be wrong, but I've lived there long enough to know how strict the laws are. It would be a good idea to check with the Italian Embassy. Even people on the Italian Olympic shooting team are only allowed to bring their gun directly to target practice and back, and not carry it with them anywhere else.

You asked where to start the process:here is the universal Italian application to acquire, carry, or transport firearms, including shotguns, in Italy. http://img.poliziadistato.it/docs/ar...collezione.pdf

What I would suggest instead, and I am pretty certain will work if you are going to a certified clay shoot competition, is to use one of their shotguns. Gun laws being what they are in Italy, I'm pretty sure that most torneos or tournaments, will provide the shotguns. You should call the venue. That will be much, much easier than you trying to bring your own shotgun into Europe.