NVS – Norsk Vĺpenhistorisk Selskap (Norwegian Arms and Armour Society)
The Norwegian Arms & Armour Society was founded on November 7th, 1950, after invitation to prominent Norwegian collectors from the head of the Norwegian Armed Forces Museum, Ltn.Col. Fritz C. Skaar. The intention was to form a society consisting of persons and institutions interested in arms, uniforms and banners, in particular with respect to their cultural and historical value, and to spread knowledge in this field by research, lectures and publications.
Many years have passed and we are now over 700 members. The core of activities through the years has been our meetings with internal and external lecturers. Today we can say that we, in cooperation with the Armed Forces Museum, represents a source of knowledge and collectables of both national and international magnitude. We arrange auctions and limited gun shows for our members and have our own quarterly publication MtM, and our annual “yearbook”, with interesting arms historical articles.
Norway is a large country geographically, with just 4.5 million inhabitants, so we are fairly thinly spread. Due to this we have started local groups in most parts of Norway so all members can attend meetings and enjoy the comradeship of fellow collectors.
One major effort for the society has been to promote good relations with the authorities and we have somewhat regular meetings with the justice department and police directorate in order to influence the Norwegian Gun Law. Like in most countries this is a formidable task in these anti gun times, but we have had a modest success in keeping the law fairly acceptable compared to many other countries. To become a registered Gun Collector in Norway you have to be a member of a government approved organization. At the time we are the only approved organization in this field, in Norway.
Based on our efforts on research, lectures and publications we hope to be a force for further growth within the arms historical field, spiriting cultural and historically significant environments to new heights and fulfilling of goals. Based on continues cooperation with the Armed Forces Museum, the appropriate authorities and our brothers in arms in other countries, the society represents a firm cultural historical base in its field in an ever-increasing turbulent environment.
The official representative of NVS in FESAC is: Tor Karstensen, President, NVS.
Contact details:
The Norwegian Arms & Armour Society
P.O. Box 947 Sentrum
N-0104 Oslo
Norway
Website:
E-mail contact: