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Switzerland has a stunningly high rate of gun ownership — here's why it doesn't have mass shootings
Here's what the US can learn from Switzerland, which has nearly eliminated mass shootings while maintaining a high rate of gun ownership.
Switzerland has a stunningly high rate of gun ownership — here's why it doesn't have mass shootings
Here's what the US can learn from Switzerland, which has nearly eliminated mass shootings while maintaining a high rate of gun ownership.
www.businessinsider.com
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 attempted 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.
But the Swiss have some specific rules and regulations for gun use.
Insider took a look at the country's past with guns to see why it has lower rates of gun violence than the US, where after a mass shooting that killed 5 and injured 25 at an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado, gun-death rates are now at their highest in more than 20 years, and the leading cause of death for children and adolescents.
Zurich's Knabenschiessen is a traditional annual festival that dates back to the 1600s.
Though the word roughly translates to "boys shooting" and the competition used to be only boys, teenage girls have been allowed in since 1991.
Kids in the country flock to the competition every September to compete in target shooting using Swiss army-service rifles. They're proud to show off how well they can shoot.
The competition values accuracy above all else, and officials crown a Schutzenkonig — a king or queen of marksmen — based on results.
The Swiss stance is one of "armed neutrality."
Switzerland hasn't taken part in any international armed conflict since 1815, but some Swiss soldiers help with peacekeeping missions around the world.
Many Swiss see gun ownership as part of a patriotic duty to protect their homeland.
Unlike the US, Switzerland has mandatory military service for men.
The government gives all men between the ages of 18 and 34 deemed "fit for service" a pistol or a rifle and training on how to use them.
After they've finished their service, the men can typically buy and keep their service weapons, but they have to get a permit for them.
In recent years, the Swiss government has voted to reduce the size of the country's armed forces.
Switzerland's borders are basically designed to blow up on command, with at least 3,000 demolition points on bridges, roads, rails, and tunnels around the landlocked European country.
John McPhee put it this way in his book "La Place de la Concorde Suisse":
"Near the German border of Switzerland, every railroad and highway tunnel has been prepared to pinch shut explosively. Nearby mountains have been made so porous that whole divisions can fit inside them."
In 2000, more than 25% of Swiss gun owners said they kept their weapon for military or police duty, while less than 5% of Americans said the same.
The Swiss government has estimated that about half of the privately owned guns in the country are former service rifles. But there are signs the Swiss gun-to-human ratio is dwindling.
In 2007, the Small Arms Survey found that Switzerland had the third-highest ratio of civilian firearms per 100 residents (46), outdone by only the US (89) and Yemen (55).
But it seems that figure has dropped over the past decade. The University of Sydney now estimates that there's about one civilian gun for every three Swiss people.
All fascinating stuff.
But the Swiss has not been overrun with leftists like the US has. As a result, it does not have a government at war with half or more of it's citizens. The Swiss seem to value the Patriarchal family, they are proud of their culture and history and not ashamed of it as they try to eradicate it at all costs. Drugs are not flowing across an uncontrolled border and destroying society, etc.
They also have some of the most stringent immigration laws in the world.
Switzerland is like a right wing utopia.
So why does the Left seem to leave them the hell alone? You guessed it, all the corrupt Leftists put their money there.
