3.2.4 Switzerland: Guns abuse
Description
This article is from the Switzerland FAQ, by Marc Schaefer schaefer@alphanet.ch with numerous contributions by others.
3.2.4 Switzerland: Guns abuse
Compared to the amount of weapons kept at home because of the Military,
and because a lot of people like weapons in Switzerland (and the laws
are somewhat permissive), people wonder why there is so little
gun abuse in Switzerland.
It is very difficult to answer this question. Some readers suggested
the following reasons:
- every male who has an army gun at home is trained to use it. He
knows the effect an automatic rifle can have and therefore will
hesitate to use it in private matters. Moreover, spontaneous use
of guns in personal fights related to jealousy are less probable
because Swiss people don't usually blow their top or fly off the
handle :-)
- Swiss people learn to hate their gun so much during the army service,
that they're very happy to store it in the closet and never touch
it again until the next service. In fact, the gun is a pain: It's
heavy, you have to carry it everywhere, you have to clean it thousands
of times, there are frequent quality controls, etc. So you're nothing
but happy to leave it alone as long as possible. This does not apply
to the ones active in any shooting association, of course, who are
many. On the contrary, a gun you buy is usually kept near you, ready
to shoot, and this may lead to accidents or crimes. Military weapons
are kept unloaded, and most of the times ammunition is kept separately.
- Swiss people are used to living close each other, with no shortage
of police on the beat. Well, if you travel to other countries you
may not quite agree.
- Switzerland has one of the highest standards of living worldwide.
Violence and crime arevery low in general. So is gun related crime.
One way to put it is: "The swiss are rich enough - so there's no
need to steal anything from somebody else.". But, then how did we
get rich in the first place ? :-)
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