The Swiss Shooting Sport Federation, ''German'': Schweizer Schiesssportverband (SSSV), is an association for

sport shooting Shooting sports is a group of competitive sport, competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airg ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. It was founded in its current form in 2001, but has roots as far back as in 1824. It is associated with the

International Shooting Sport Federation The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) is the governing body of Shooting at the Summer Olympics, Olympic shooting events. It also regulates several ISSF shooting events, non-Olympic shooting sport events. The Federation's activities ...

and the

European Shooting Confederation The European Shooting Confederation (ESC) is an association of the International Shooting Sport Federation's member federations from Europe, the Caucasus, Cyprus, Israel, and Turkey. History The organisation of European Shooting Championships w ...

History

The Schweizerischer Schützenverein (SSV) was founded in 1824 during the Swiss Restoration, in the wake of the collapse of the

Helvetic Republic The Helvetic Republic (; ; ) was a sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created following the French invasion and the consequent dissolution of the Old Swiss Confederacy, ma ...

seen as a means to return to the martial prowess of the

Old Swiss Confederacy The Old Swiss Confederacy, also known as Switzerland or the Swiss Confederacy, was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or ), initially within the Holy Roman Empire. It is the precursor of the modern state of Switzerlan ...

, e.g. in

Gottfried Keller Gottfried Keller (19 July 1819 – 15 July 1890) was a Swiss poet and writer of German literature. Best known for his novel '' Green Henry'' (German: ''Der grüne Heinrich'') and his cycle of novellas called '' Seldwyla Folks'' (''Die Leute von Se ...

s ''Das Fähnlein der sieben Aufrechten'', where before the background of the ''

Schützenfest A Schützenfest (, '' marksmen's festival'') is a traditional festival or fair featuring a target shooting competition in the cultures of Switzerland, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. At a Schützenfest, contestants compete based on thei ...

'' of 1849 in Aarau, the shooting clubs are portrayed as a vigorous "

radical Radical (from Latin: ', root) may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Classical radicalism, the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and Latin America in the 19th century *Radical politics ...

grass roots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...

movement vital for the preservation of

direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate directly decides on policy initiatives, without legislator, elected representatives as proxies, as opposed to the representative democracy m ...

in the young

Swiss federal state The rise of Switzerland as a federal state began on 12 September 1848, with the creation of a federal constitution in response to a 27-day civil war, the ''Sonderbundskrieg''. The constitution, which was heavily influenced by the United State ...

. The SSV became a member of

Swiss Olympic Association The Swiss Olympic Association is the National Olympic Committee and the umbrella organisation for organised Swiss sport under private law. It has 104 members (81 national sports federations and 23 partner organisations), to which some two millio ...

in 1941. In 1995, the SSV merged with the ''Swiss Revolver and Pistol Shooting Association'' (German: ''Schweizerische Revolver-und Pistolen-Schützenverbandes, SRPV''). In 2002 the Swiss Shooting Federation was founded in its current form through the merger of the ''Swiss Shooting Association'' (Schweizerischer Schützenverein, SSV) with the formerly independent ''Swiss Sport Shooting Association'' (Schweizerischer Sportschützenverband, SSSV) and the ''Swiss Workers Shooting Association'' (Schweizerischer Arbeiterschützen-Bund, SASB). The ''Swiss Clay Shooting Federation'' (''SCSF'') is also a part of the SSPF.

Demographics

The SSV has about 133,000 members, including about 60,825 licensed members. Its current president (as of 2016) is Dora Andres. The SSV is a member of the

, the

, and the

. From its "

" origins, the Swiss shooting clubs have evolved into a staunchly

right wing Right-wing politics is the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position b ...

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

milieu with considerable political leverage, although the 2002 fusion with explicitly

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

shooting associations (''Arbeiterschützen'') tends to emphasize the purely sportive character of the contemporary SSV, with lobbyist activity contained to issues directly connected with gun laws.

Schützenfest

The SSV organizes the '' Eidgenössische Schützenfeste'', currently in intervals of five years. *1834

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

*1838 St. Gallen *1843

Chur '' Chur (locally) or ; ; ; ; ; ; or ; , and . is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, town of the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of the Grisons and lies in the Alpine Rhine, Grisonian Rhine Valley, where ...

*1849

Aarau Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the d ...

*1861

Stans Stans () is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Nidwalden (Nidwald) in Switzerland. The official language of Stans is German language, German (spoken there in the variety of Swiss Standard German), but the main language is the ...

*1867

Schwyz Schwyz (; ; ) is a town and the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The Federal Charter of 1291 or ''Bundesbrief'', the charter that eventually led to the foundation of Switzerland, can be seen at the ''Bundesbriefmuseum''. The of ...

*1874 St. Gallen *1885

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

Kirchenfeld *1890

Frauenfeld Frauenfeld (Alemannic German, Alemannic: ''Frauefäld'') is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Thurgau, Thurgau in Switzerland. The official language of Frauenfeld is (the Swiss variety of Standard) Swiss Standard Ge ...

*1901

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

*1904 St. Gallen *1907

*1910

Wankdorffeld *1924

*1929

Bellinzona Bellinzona ( , ; ; is a municipality, a List of towns in Switzerland, historic Swiss town, and the capital of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The town is famous for its Three Castles of Bellinzona, three castles (Castelgrande, Montebello, Sa ...

*1947

*1954

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

*1958

Biel Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; German language, German: ''Biel'' ; French language, French: ''Bienne'' ; Bernese German, locally ; ; ; ) is a bilingual city in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. With over 55,000 residents, it is the ...

*1963

*1969

Thun Thun () is a List of towns in Switzerland, town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the administrative district of Thun (administrative district), Thun in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Bern, Bern in Switzerland. ...

*1985

*1990

Winterthur Winterthur (; ) is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. With over 120,000 residents, it is the country's List of cities in Switzerland, sixth-largest city by population, as well as its ninth-largest agglomeration with about 14 ...

*1995

*2000

Bière Bière is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, located in the district of Morges District, Morges. History Bière is first mentioned in 1177 as ''Beria''. Geography Bi� ...

*2005

*2010

*2015

Raron Raron () is a municipality in the district of Raron in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. History Raron is first mentioned around 1101–1200 as ''Rarogni''. In 1146 it was mentioned as ''Rarun''. A settlement on the Heidnischbiel, a buria ...

Disciplines

The Swiss Shooting Sport Federation administers several shooting disciplines. Among the most popular are the 300 meter rifle competitions, which also have some of the longest traditions within Swiss shooting.Department of Rifle 300m (G300) , Swiss shooting sport federation
/ref> Competitions can be either individual or team events, and each year several sectional and national championships are held. There are also separate events for the youth (''Jungschützen'') and the elderly (''Veteranen''). ; Fullbore rifle (''Gewehr 300'') *

ISSF 300 meter standard rifle 300 m standard rifle is one of the ISSF shooting events. It is similar to 300 metre rifle but there are more restrictions on the rifle (quite similar to those in 10 metre air rifle). The course of fire is a three positions program of 3x20 shots ...

(''Standardgewehr'') * 300 meter army rifle (''Armeewaffen'') * Rifle

field shooting Field-shooting or terrain-shooting (Danish: ''terrænskydning'', Norwegian: ''feltskyting'', Swedish: ''fältskytte''{{Cite web , url=http://www.sandvikensskyttegille.se/fs_info.php , title=Swedish: Fältskytte gevär förklarat {{! Sandvikens Sk ...

(''Feldschiessen'') ; Smallbore rifle (''Gewehr 10/50'') *

ISSF 10 meter air rifle 10 meter air rifle is an International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) shooting event, shot at a bullseye target over a distance of using a calibre air rifle with a maximum weight of . It is one of the ISSF sports governed in shooting spor ...

(''Luftgewehr'') *

ISSF 50 meter rifle prone 50 meter rifle prone (formerly known as one of four free rifle disciplines) is an International Shooting Sport Federation event consisting of 60 shots from the prone position Prone position () is a body position in which the person lies fla ...

(''Kleinkalibergewehr'') ; Pistol (''Pistole 10/25/50'') * Service pistol (''Ordonnanzpistole), shot at either 25 or 50 m *

ISSF 10 meter air pistol The 10 metre air pistol is an Shooting at the Summer Olympics, Olympic ISSF shooting events, shooting event governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF). It is similar to 10 metre air rifle in that it is shot with 4.5 mm (o ...

(''Luftpistole'') * ISSF 25 meter pistol (''Randfeuerpistole'') * ISSF 25 meter center-fire pistol (''Zentralfeuerpistole'') * ISSF 25 meter rapid fire pistol *

ISSF 50 meter pistol 50 meter pistol, formerly and unofficially still often called Free Pistol, is one of the ISSF shooting events. It is one of the oldest shooting disciplines, dating back to the 19th century and only having seen marginal rule changes since 1936. ...

(''Freipistole'') ; Shooting combined with physical sports * ISSF Target SprintTargetSprint , Schweizer Schiesssport Verband
/ref>

Field shooting

The annual field shooting organized by SSV is the largest shooting event in the world with around 135,000 participants in decentralized locations, and has been held early in the summer every year for over 130 years. The development of field shooting in the 20th century was largely related to compulsory shooting training in the Swiss army. The annual target shooting for teams was introduced in 1850, but the shooting results were deemed unsatisfactory with only 15% managing to hit a man sized target at 300 meters, while the remaining 85% missed the target. Based on these results, Twannberg in the canton of Bern arranged a mandatory civilian field shooting competition in 1872. There is evidence that field shooting events have been held regularly in the cantons of Bern and Solothurn since 1879. However, field shooting spread slowly in the beginning, and only gained popularity in a few other cantons until 1899 when SSV established common national competition rules and started to provide financial support. Field shooting gained much popularity from the turn of the century, and from 1919 pistol field shooting was also included in addition to rifle field shooting, albeit at a much shorter distance. In 1926, all the cantons of Switzerland were represented at the field shooting for the first time. The field shooting has been held annually since 1940. While firearms long have been closely linked to Swiss traditions, clubs have been struggling to recruit younger members in the last years and experienced a steady fall in the number of participants. In 2018, the number of participants in the field shooting event were 20 000 less compared to ten years earlier.Swiss shooting event draws fewer gun enthusiasts - SWI swissinfo.ch
/ref> According to Walter Harisberger in the Swiss Shooting Sport Federation, major reasons for the decline are that Swiss soldiers finish their military service earlier and some choose to hand in their firearms earlier, resulting in fewer marksmen, as well as that the shooting sports now are competing with several other recreational activities for the attention of Swiss youth.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Society of Switzerland Sport in Switzerland Shooting sports organizations