Switzerland Has A Stunningly High Rate Of Gun Ownership - Here's Why It Doesn't Have Mass Shootings

[rangerrebew]

Switzerland Has A Stunningly High Rate Of Gun Ownership - Here's Why It Doesn't Have Mass Shootings
 
By Hilary Brueck
27 Feb 2018, 18:45

Switzerland hasn't had a mass shooting since 2001, when a man stormed the local parliament in Zug, killing 14 people and then himself.

The country has about 2 million privately owned guns in a nation of 8.3 million people. In 2016, the country had 47 homicides with firearms. The country's overall murder rate is near zero.

The National Rifle Association often points to Switzerland to argue that more rules on gun ownership aren't necessary. In 2016, the NRA said on its blog that the European country had one of the lowest murder rates in the world while still having millions of privately owned guns and a few hunting weapons that don't even require a permit.

http://www.iflscience.com/policy/switzerland-has-a-stunningly-high-rate-of-gun-ownership-heres-why-it-doesnt-have-mass-shootings/all/

[Fishrrman]

Some important stuff is left out until the very end:
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"We have guns at home, but they are kept for peaceful purposes," Martin Killias, a professor of criminology at Zurich University, told the BBC in 2013. "There is no point taking the gun out of your home in Switzerland because it is illegal to carry a gun in the street."

That's mostly true. Hunters and sports shooters are allowed to transport their guns only from their home to the firing range — they can't just stop off for coffee with their rifle.

And guns cannot be loaded during transport to prevent them from accidentally firing in a place like Starbucks
===
I've also read that even though the Swiss are permitted to keep guns at home, the government severely restricts the sale and ownership of AMMUNITION for such weapons.
I could be wrong about that.

In other words, to try to draw a comparison between the Swiss and Americans, insofar as the Second Amendment is concerned, is basically meaningless. Apples v. oranges.

[goatprairie]

Even with all the restrictions, the basic fact remains Swiss citizens are heavily armed. Any citizen who has not displayed the things that could get their guns confiscated can have one.
So much for the evil gun. I think you'll find a lot less of other types of crimes in Switzerland as well.
We are not the Swiss. We have a larger pct. of people who can and do go off harming other people. Facts are facts. But law-abiding Americans need protection against those Americans who wish to do them harm.
Deterrence against the possibility of a tyrannical gov. is the chief reason we have the second amendment, but guns also serve nicely against anti-social types who wish to do us or our family harm.

[Sanguine]

So, the Swiss have a common culture and shared vision.  Hmm.

[XenaLee]

So, the Swiss have a common culture and shared vision.  Hmm.

A common culture?  I was thinking the exact opposite.  Their culture isn't anything remotely similar to what ours has become and is becoming.  Lucky them.

[Sanguine]

A common culture?  I was thinking the exact opposite.  Their culture isn't anything remotely similar to what ours has become and is becoming.  Lucky them.

No, I didn't mean common with ours, I meant inside Switzerland.

[XenaLee]

No, I didn't mean common with ours, I meant inside Switzerland.

Oh, ok.   I misunderstood.

Thanks!

[Sanguine]

Oh, ok.   I misunderstood.

Thanks!

No problem!

[jmyrlefuller]

No, I didn't mean common with ours, I meant inside Switzerland.

Aren't they one of those countries that is constantly bickering between the French-speaking and German-speaking factions?