Wow, that thread's gone off on a tangent.
Since Switzerland's gun policy has been brought up, I thought that some might perhaps be interested in a Swiss person's take on it.
The video linked in one of the early posts is factual. There is a draft and almost every draftee is issued a gun. However, that gun has to be stored at home; it can't be carried around.
The mandatory draft and the high number of arms stored at home might create the impression that weapons and the military in general are deeply rooted in the general population. This is not true in my opinion; quite the contrary. I'd like to mention a few things to put things into perspective.
For one thing, not every male is drafted. Actually, drafting rates have been dropping. I'd say around 30-40% of eligible males either elect not to do service (this is possible; they have to do civil service instead) or are deemed unfit.
Second, in general, military service is loathed here. Same goes for the mandatory shooting practices. In fact, there have been at least two ballots on completely abolishing the military. In 1986, 35.6% voted in favor of it; in 2001, 21%. I can assure you, the attitude of the man portrayed in the clip is not representative.
Third, I have not met a single person in my life carrying a gun as a civilian. I've read that the laws of obtaining a gun for private use are relatively permissive. Let me tell you though, if you walk around armed, you'll be considered a complete lunatic.
Still, there is a high number of weapons around - true. However, they are usually rotting in some far corner of the house; no one in their right mind thinks of using them. And trust me, criminals know exactly that the likelihood of meeting armed resistance is pretty much zero. Weapons aren't what is keeping the crime rate low here.
The main reason for the low crime rate here is prosperity; no one has to go hungry. If you took away all the people's weapons, things would stay the same, I'd bet you. Well, suicide rates might drop, perhaps (we suck in that department), although I don't think so. Guns, even though they're numerous, simply don't play a role in everyday life. And pretty much no one cares about the right to bear arms. Our safeguard against oppression is direct democracy. This means that the population can vote on what becomes law and what doesn't.
The fact that the U.S. has high crime rates for an industrialized country as opposed to Switzerland and both have lenient gun laws - doesn't that indicate that guns don't have much of an impact?
Also, I don't think guns help keep a power-hungry government at bay in a modern society; the political system, the education of the general public and the mentality do.
Long story short: I really don't think that Switzerland proves the usefulness of guns as a means to curb crime.
Greetings
pleo
