International Shooting Sport Federation
Encyclopedia
Shooting sports
A shooting sport is a competitive sport involving tests of proficiency using various types of guns such as firearms and airguns . Hunting is also a shooting sport, and indeed shooting live pigeons was an Olympic event...
. While far from the only such organization, it is the one that is a member of the International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
and so it is in charge of the Olympic shooting events
Shooting at the Summer Olympics
Shooting sports have been contested at every Summer Olympic Games since the birth of the modern Olympic movement at the 1896 Summer Olympics except at the 1904 & 1928 editions.-Men's:...
. Not all ISSF shooting events
ISSF shooting events
The International Shooting Sport Federation recognizes several shooting events, some of which have Olympic status. They are divided into four disciplines: rifle, pistol, shotgun and running target....
are Olympic, however. The organization, with 154 national member federations, has its headquarters in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Its current President is Olegario Vázquez Raña
Olegario Vázquez Raña
Olegario Vázquez Raña is a Mexican entrepreneur, businessman, owner of several companies, and the chairman and principal Shareholder of "Grupo Empresarial Angeles". He is married to María de los Angeles Aldir and has three children...
and its Secretary General is Horst G. Schreiber.
History
International shooting competitions had begun already with Shooting at the 1896 Summer OlympicsShooting at the 1896 Summer Olympics
At the 1896 Summer Olympics, five sport shooting events were contested. These events took place at the newly constructed shooting range at Kallithea. They were organized and prepared by the Sub-Committee for Shooting...
, and the first World Championships were held in 1897. However, there was no governing body until 1907, when eight national federations founded the union, soon to be called Union International de Tir (UIT) (French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
for the International Shooting Union and sometimes referred to in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
as the ISU). This was the name until the current name was adapted in 1998.
Over the years, the ISSF has distanced itself from connotations of non-sportive uses of guns. This has included changing over from human-shaped targets to circular ones. The only official ISSF target still depicting a live creature is the wild boar image used in 50 metre running target. Following this path, in 2000 the ISSF issued a decree, prohibiting any ISSF members from "cooperating" with the International Practical Shooting Confederation
International Practical Shooting Confederation
The International Practical Shooting Confederation is a shooting sport based on the concept of practical shooting. Accuracy, power and speed are all required to achieve a maximum score.-Founding and organization:...
(IPSC) and from participating in any practical shooting
Practical shooting
Practical shooting is a sport which challenges an individual's ability to shoot rapidly and accurately with a full-power handgun, rifle, or shotgun. To do this, shooters take on obstacle-laden shooting courses called stages, some requiring many shots to complete, and others just a few...
activities. Regarding, contrary to the IPSC's own view, practical shooting as closer to combat training than actual shooting sports, the ISSF has also discouraged accepting the IPSC into the Olympic movement.
Competitions and records
The ISSF recognizes the following competitions as ISSF Championships:- The Olympic GamesShooting at the Summer OlympicsShooting sports have been contested at every Summer Olympic Games since the birth of the modern Olympic movement at the 1896 Summer Olympics except at the 1904 & 1928 editions.-Men's:...
every four years (Olympic events only) - The ISSF World Shooting ChampionshipsISSF World Shooting ChampionshipsThe ISSF World Shooting Championships are governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation. World Shooting Championships began in 1897, after the successful 1896 Summer Olympics, and although the ISSF was not founded until 1907, these early competitions are still seen by the organization as...
every four years, plus every other year for shotgun events - The ISSF World CupISSF World CupThe ISSF World Cup was introduced by the International Shooting Sport Federation in 1986 to provide a homogeneous system for qualification to the Olympic shooting competitions. It still is carried out in the Olympic shooting events, with four competitions per year in each event...
four times a year plus a final (Olympic events only) - Regional championships, such as the European Championships or the Pan-American Games, with regularity that is decided on the regional level
These are the only competitions that have direct supervision from ISSF committees, and the only competitions where world records can be set. This leads to many national records in fact being higher than the world records.