Switzerland and the gun

[eg420ne]

My kind of place :thumbsup: this country should be the lead example for the rest BBC News | EUROPE | Switzerland and the gun (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1566715.stm)

Guns are deeply rooted within Swiss culture - but the gun crime rate is so low that statistics are not even kept.
The country has a population of six million, but there are estimated to be at least two million publicly-owned firearms, including about 600,000 automatic rifles and 500,000 pistols.

This is in a very large part due to Switzerland's unique system of national defence, developed over the centuries

Low crime

But other commentators suggest that the reality is more complicated.

Switzerland is one of the world's richest countries, but has remained relatively isolated.

It has none of the social problems associated with gun crime seen in other industrialised countries like drugs or urban deprivation.

Despite the lack of rigid gun laws, firearms are strictly connected to a sense of collective responsibility.

From an early age Swiss men and women associate weaponry with being called to defend their country.

[fishman3811]

mmmm interesting a wonder what their drug culture is like.

[andruejaysin]

Weed is legal in switzerland, rather than simply tolerated as in holland. This is because the swiss are not members of the UN, and therefore not subject to the anti-drug treaties which much of europe chooses to ignore. Despite (or perhaps because of) the abundance of guns, switzerland hasn't been in a war in a thousand years. Isolationism works like a swiss watch.

[medicinal]

Weed is legal in switzerland, rather than simply tolerated as in holland. This is because the swiss are not members of the UN, and therefore not subject to the anti-drug treaties which much of europe chooses to ignore. Despite (or perhaps because of) the abundance of guns, switzerland hasn't been in a war in a thousand years. Isolationism works like a swiss watch.

I think we could learn a lot from the Swiss, The Germans, The French, The Canadians, The Netherlands, there is much more to this world than the right wing bullshit forced on us by our illegitimate government., Those that go along, get along. This government needs a transfusion, It's infested with bad blood!

[Zimzum]

One reason why it works for the swiss is the fact there population is more spread out. Swiss pop. ~ 7.5 million / New York City pop. ~8.2 million. We are so packed into major cities that we are almost breathing down each others necks and with the anger most Americans have, adding guns in there hands would only be asking for more trouble then it's worth.

Don't forget when our constitution was written they were still using mussel loaded rifles and pistols. Now we can pop in a clip and fire off a couple dozen rounds in the time it used to take a minute man to reload his rifle.

From your 2001 link :thumbsup:

Instead of a standing, full-time army, the country requires every man to undergo some form of military training for a few days or weeks a year throughout most of their lives.

Between the ages of 21 and 32 men serve as frontline troops.


If we had mandatory military service here in this country would not you be up in arms about how we are a police state?

[andruejaysin]

If we had mandatory military service here in this country would not you be up in arms about how we are a police state?I certainly would be, but the US is not bordered on all sides by countries 10 times it's size, and we have a tendency to define "defense" rather broadly. Faced with a different set of facts, I might reach different conclusions.

[fishman3811]

Andrue interesting i wonder what the% of population smokes weed and if that has any effect on crime/murder rates because as we all know if you smoke a doobie the last thing you want to do is go kill someone or commit a crime more like watch re-runs of Ren and Stimpy.Plus you also take drugs out of the hands of criminals which in turn reduces crime.As one Canadian Senator has said about the drug war "we have three choices we can give drugs to the government then they can sell it we can give drugs to corporations then they can sell it or we can give drugs to criminals and obviousely we have made the wrong choice

[andruejaysin]

I think switzerland (and holland for that matter) were pretty peaceful before weed was popular. Certainly they managed to avoid the problems that come with prohibition. But the drug war is ran on the same logic as the iraq war-when a policy fails do more of it.

[medicinal]

I think switzerland (and holland for that matter) were pretty peaceful before weed was popular. Certainly they managed to avoid the problems that come with prohibition. But the drug war is ran on the same logic as the iraq war-when a policy fails do more of it.

LMAO, yeah you're so right the Iraq policy is fucked. If you're stuck in a hole, what do you do, dig faster, ~LOL~.