Danish shooting movement

The Danish shooting movement was a movement in that started in Denmark around the 1860s after inspiration from the National Rifle Association of the United Kingdom (NRA UK)[1] which had been founded in 1859 to provide voluntary firearms training for the purpose of national defense.

Although having started out as a part of the national defense, the Danish shooting movement in the later years have had a strong focus on sport shooting. The largest sport event Landsstævnet has been held since 1862, and now consists of not only shooting, but also sports like gymnastics, football, badminton, dog agility, lawn bowls, handball and beach volleyball.[2] The Landsstævne is currently held every fourth year, and the next event is set to be held in 2021 at Svendborg.[3]

History

The Danish shooting movement is considered to have started when H. P.V. Mønster, a Danish artillery captain and school officer at the Royal Danish Military Academy, wrote an article in the newspaper Fedrelandet (lit. "The Fatherland") 19 January 1861 where he gave his support to the shooting movement and sparked an interest in the Danish people.[4] His appeal was however first and foremost intended toward landowners, since he found it hard to imagine a nationwide organisation. The article resulted in a committee being appointed, which merely a month after the article had been published gave a recommendation to create shooting associations in all parts of Denmark with the goal to provide the Danish population with rifle shooting training. The Centralcomitéen til oprettelse af skytteforeninger was established 10 February 1861.[5] The association De Danske Skytteforeninger was subsequently founded in 1862.[6]

During the same time as the so-called riffelforeninger (rifle clubs) were established in Denmark, similar clubs promoting the shooting cause were also created in Norway[7] as folkevæpningssamlag and in Sweden as skarpskytteföreningar. The rifle clubs often had a strong connection to the folkehøyskolene (lit. people colleges). In Denmark, in particularly many rifle clubs were created after 1864 following the defeat in the Second Schleswig War.[8]

Danish shooters had participated in the first modern olympics in 1896, but De Danske Skytteforeninger (DDS) was more focused on the national defense and national shooting competitions compared to international sport shooting. The Dansk Skytte Union (DSU, literally Danish Shooting Union) was therefore established in 1913.[9]

Gymnastics became a part of De Danske Skytteforeninger, and DDS therefore in 1919 changed name to De Danske Skytte- og Gymnastikforeninger (DDSG, literally the Danish Shooting and Gymnastics Associations). By the way, a competing gymnastics association called De Danske Gymnastikforeninger (the Danish Gymnastics Associations) was later founded in 1929. In 1930, DDS again changed its name, this time to De Danske Skytte-, Gymnastik- og Idrætsforeninger (DDSG&I, the Danish Shooting, Gymnastics and Sports Associations).

After the German invasion during World War II the rifle clubs were allowed to continue their activities, but only for valid members, and the bolts also had to be stored by the police authorities between shootings.[10] In 1943 all firearms were confiscated by the Germans, and when the firearms were to be returned in 1945 all long distance firearms were missing. Therefore, shooting activities immediately after the war only consisted of shooting on 15 and 50 meters, until DDSG&I successfully landed a deal with the Swedes to borrow them 10 000 Mauser rifles of the type Carl Gustav model 98.[11]

In 1947, field shooting was established as a new discipline under the name terrænskydning.[9] In 1952, DDSG&I celebrated their 90 years anniversary.[12] Having started from rifle shooting, DDSG&I in 1972/1973 also established pistol shooting as part of their competition program.[9][13] Their main shooting event of the year, Landsstævnet, was broadcast on TV for the first time in 1971.[12] In 1978 DDSG&I also incorporated field shooting with pistol as a competition program.[9]

In November 1992, the new association the Danish Gymnastics and Sports Associations (DGI) was founded by merging De Danske Gymnastik- og Ungdomsforeninger (DDGU) and De Danske Skytte-, Gymnastik- og Idrætsforeninger (DDSG&I). In 2013 De Danske Skytteforeninger (DDS) also became a part of DGI.[14]

See also

References
  1. Skytteforeningens historie - Afsnit 1 «[..] artillerikaptajn H.P.V. Mønster, der i artiklen foreslog, at man ud over det ganske land oprettede skyttekredse efter det engelske mønster»
  2. DGI Landsstævne 2021 Brochure
  3. Thrane, Anne Mette Dam (3 July 2017). "Svendborg-borgmester tror på 10.000 flere deltagere til Landsstævnet i 2021". dr.dk. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  4. Ringsted Skytteforening - DGI-Skydning er Danmarks ældste idræts- og fritidsorganisation. «Skyttebevægelsen tog sin begyndelse i Danmark d. 19. januar 1861, med kaptajn H.P.V. Mønsters indlæg i avisen Fædrelandet. Her blev der agiteret for oprettelse af skytteforeninger efter engelsk forbillede.»
  5. Kjøbenhavns Skytteforening - Om Kjøbenhavns Skytteforening
  6. Rigsarkivet, Arkivserie: Skyttefester og landsstævner (1862 - 1950), Arkivskaber: De Danske Skytte-, Gymnastik- og Idrætsforeninger (1862-1950)
  7. NOU 1988:17 Frivillige organisasjoner
  8. Hørve skytteforening - Klubbens historie
  9. Kjøbenhavns Skytteforening - Skydningens historie
  10. Skytteforeningens historie - Afsnit 2 «Ved besættelsen i 1940 kom der bestemmelser om, at låsene til geværerne straks efter skydningen, skulle afleveres til sognefogeden»
  11. Skytteforeningens historie - Afsnit 2 «Men i 1943 blev alle våbnene, både de private og foreningens våben inddraget. Da krigen sluttede i maj 1945 og våbene skulle leveres tilbage, var alle langdistanceriflerne i den sidste tid af krigen, tyskerne, og kom aldrig tilbage. [..] efter, at krigen sluttede i maj 1945, lykkedes det De Danske Skytte- Gymnastik og Idrætsforeninger, at få en aftale med svenskerne om lån af 10.000 Mausergeværer, model Carl Gustav model 98»
  12. Skytteforeningens historie - Afsnit 4
  13. Skytteforeningens historie - Afsnit 3
  14. DGI Skydning – Store norske leksikon
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