Shooting sports are getting popular around here

[Erik]

Due to laws in Scandinavia noone can just buy a gun, they need to get a license. To get a handgun, that requires membership in a club as well as taking a class and passing some tests. I've been helping with that class at my club for a few years now.

The club is forced to set a limit at the number of beginners, because there are not enough loaner guns and instructors available. This was never a problem until maybe three years ago, because there would only be three or four beginners every year.

Then suddenly the number of interested people skyrocketed. For the last years, there's been twice the number of interested people than there is room for. Next years class was fully booked months ago, so anyone contacting the club since then has been put on a waiting list. Since I want as many people as possible to get into the sport, I have been referring them to a club in another town close by. However, that club just told me to stop it, they have the same situation and are allready signing up people for 2017...

It's pretty cool that even in this current climate of politicians hostile to shooting sports and very little positive media exposure of the sport, that more and more people want to get into it.

[skb12172]

Gee, I wonder why?

Good news, though. Now, you need some new politicians.

[Erik]

By coincident I just found an article about which sports that has increased most in popularity the last ten years among people up to age 20.

The National Sports Confederation is an umbrella organisation that organizes most sports in the country, and they offer grant money paid out to the clubs for youth activities, based on the number of starts by young people in the sport. So it's possible to tell which sports increase in number of starts over time, by looking at how much they've paid out.

Shooting is number three, and has increased 92% in the last ten years.
Biathlon is number four, with an 82% increase.
The only sports that has increased more is Triathlon and Climbing.
Number five is a big amateur sport association that organizes leagues and other activities in twentyone different sports, all over the country. The shooting sports not only increased more, they have over 20% more starts than all of that organisation among people under 20. And if you add biathlon starts (which I think makes sense, since it includes shooting), they have more overall starts than the other three combined.

Again, considering the licensing issues and other increased restrictions for allowing people under 18 to compete in shooting sports other than air rifle, that's a pretty good development.