the Swiss teen rifle festival

[MoNsTeR]

http://www.stephenhalbrook.com/article-knabbenschiessen/swiss_teen_rifle_festival.html

The greatest shooting festival in the world for youngsters takes place every year in Zurich, Switzerland. Imagine thousands of boys and girls shooting military service rifle over three days amid an enormous fair with ferris wheels and wild rides of all kinds. You’re at the Knabenschiessen (boys’ shooting contest).


The Knabenschiessen Fair. (click on images to see full size photographs)

Held since the year 1657, the competition traditionally has been both a sport and a way of encouraging marksmanship in a country where every male serves in the militia army. Today, girls compete along side the boys. In fact, girls are now winning the competition.

It’s September 13, 2004. In the U.S. on this date, the Clinton fake “assault weapon†ban sunsets. In Zurich, some 5,631 teens – 4,046 boys and 1,585 girls, aged 13-17 – have finished firing the Swiss service rifle, and it’s time for the shootoff.

...

(Read the whole thing, it's fascinating.)

Heartwarming to see that a proper perspective on firearms is alive somewhere in this world. Sad that it's not the USA

 

[theCZ]

Wow, great article! I admire the Swiss's friendliness towards firearms, but I don't think it extends to private ownership of any rifle necessarily.

 

[Langenator]

Now I know when to plan my vacation to Switzerland!

 

[Standing Wolf]

Well, yeah, but what about youth gangs in Switzerland?

 

[Tory]

Rats!

I thought it was the MISS Teen Rifle Festival.

Oh, well.......

 

[ZeroX]

I thought it was the MISS Teen Rifle Festival.

Oh, well.......

Ditto. I was hoping for pics of the bikini competition.

Anyway, Switzerland is one of the only places I would live other than here.

 

[El Tejon]

Stephen Halbrook's "Target Switzerland" has a good description of this, plus a really cool photo of the parade.

It's on the Tejon Recommended Reading List.

 

[possenti]

God bless the Swiss.

Check out the pictures in the link above. They're truly heart-warming.

 

[SHOOT1SAM]

theCZ:

If I'm not mistaken, EVERY Swiss household is REQUIRED to own and maintain at least one military-type rifle.

Sam

 

[GunnySkox]

MallNinja,

I hate to be the standard-issue evidence-grognard, but do you have a source for that?

~Slam_Fire

 

[femoralis]

Members of the militia (most of the male population) do keep their service rifle at home.

 

[Sparks]

If I'm not mistaken, EVERY Swiss household is REQUIRED to own and maintain at least one military-type rifle.

No, just those who are serving or have served in the Swiss military. Apart from militia weapons, gun ownership is about 27% (there's an estimated 1.2 million firearms in Switzerland, for 7.1 million people), but gun law varies from canton to canton as it varies in the US from state to state - individual cantons in switzerland have far more power than in any other form of federal government in the world.

 

[macman37]

Great article!

My dad, half Swiss himself, is on a bit of a Swiss kick these days. I'll be printing that off and giving it to him. He'll love the "Shoot twice and go home" quote. *I* love that quote.

Thanks for posting this- I'm also going to pick up Holbrook's book for his b-day.

 

[Stickjockey]

I especially liked this part:

Zurich's youngsters who shoot military rifles have a lesson to teach Americans. It is a lesson of peace, family values, and responsibility, while gaining the ability to defend oneself and one's community from aggression. As was well known to America's Founders, who were enamored of the Swiss model, teaching the young to shoot is both a civic virtue and a wonderful sport.

Although it does look like some work on the fundamentals is in order:



Fingers off triggers, guys.

(Yikes. Anybody know how to shrink those images a bit? )

 

[Dionysusigma]

Anyone else here feeling jealous of the two above kids shooting BRAND NEW Sig 550s?

Note: Stickjockey... they also need some eye protection too, don'tcha think?

 

[Stickjockey]

Eye protection. Eye protection would be good.

 

[Nanook]

Stickjockey, try IRFan for shrinking those pix. It's free and works very well. I don't remember the address, but Google should come up with it.

 

[Stickjockey]

Thanks. Can't do it here (work computer- Shhh! ) but I'll try it when I get home.

 

[Logan5]

The new Sig 550's are making me a little jealous, but not everyone gets their hands on one over there. A friend of mine is always visiting his grandparents over there and showing me pictures... his grandpa has the Stg 57. I'd love to go visit and shoot it, but it's one seriously ugly firearm.