[net.followup] the Swiss and their guns

werner@utastro.UUCP (09/21/83)

As far as I remember, the Swiss keep their guns locked up at home.
I think they have no ammunition, however.  I am not even under the
impression that they may take it out into the street at any other
time than their scheduled military refreshers.

Does someone know for certain ??  I don't think we have a Swiss machine
on the net yet, do we ??

swatt@ittvax.UUCP (Alan S. Watt) (09/23/83)

This is from someone who just returned from Switzerland:

  There are almost no controls on what kind of firearms you can buy
  in Switzerland.  If you are in the reserves (most men 18-45 are),
  you MUST keep your government-supplied automatic rifle and [I
  think] 2000 rounds of ammunition in your primary residence.  You
  must also periodically [I think every 2 months] demonstrate your
  competance with this weapon.

  It is quite common to see Swiss on bicycles with automatic weapons
  over their shoulders on their way to firing ranges.

  In addition to members of the reserves, anyone can purchase additional
  firearms, including handguns.  They may keep these handguns in their
  homes and may take them to ranges to shoot them.  In a conversation
  with a gun shop owner, it was explained that people could not just
  walk down the street in California with a handgun.  The gun shop
  owner expressed amazement at this restrction.

  The Swiss are not as homogeneous a population as some have asserted.
  There are three separate national origins among the Swiss: French,
  German, and Italian.  Each group strongly disparages the other two,
  but all groups disparage non-Swiss more.  This is cohesion of a sort.

Regarding the relevance of the Swiss example.  If Switzerland is
irrelevant as some have asserted, then surely so are England and
Canada.  The example of Switzerland should suffice to prove that the
abundance of privately-owned firearms (including handguns) does not
turn otherwise law-abiding people into homicidal maniacs.  The examples
of England and Canada should suffice to prove that the relative absence
of firearms does not turn the disarmed populace into helpless victims
of roving gangs of illegally-armed thugs.

How much each conclusion applies to the US is not clear; you cannot
take two countries with different cultures and histories and make
comparisions based on just one factor.

	- Alan S. Watt