Any Swiss citizens here?

[DiscoBerry]

Or perhaps anyone who might have spent a significant amount of time there (a year or more)? 

With all this firearm controversy all over the news, I would like to hear what an actual Swiss citizen has to say about the US right-wing's love of "Swiss Gun Culture."  I want to know how close right-wingers depiction of a gun-loving crime free utopia Switzerland actually is.  Is there any elements of truth in it?  I don't just mean this ridiculous Facebook forward I have attached, I guess what I am trying to say is, do you guys just laugh at us or what? 

[kefkaownsall]

From what I have gathered most of the time you can't take your gun out and most of the owners have military training

[Damen]

Not Swiss myself, but since the whole gun control topic resurged I've been looking in to some European firearm laws and stats. That pic is kinda right and kinda wrong.

Statement 1: Seems to be true.

Statement 2: Also true, from what I can tell.

Statement 3: True, but I believe they have to be securely stored.

Statement 4: True (I think) with the addition that after their term of military service ends, they have the option to have their service rifle converted to semi-auto only and purchased.

Statement 5: True, but misleading. Swiss citizens employed in security and it requires a permit. Citizens are otherwise permitted to carry their service rifles to and from militia training.

Statement 6: False. Swiss citizens need a weapon acquisition permit to purchase firearms, but they are only allowed to purchase 3 and ammo requires an ID for purchase (similar to Distind's idea) which is kept on record.

Statement 7: True. Swiss citizens have a per 100 person civilian firearm ownership rate of 45.7. Sweden ranks at number 3 in the world for firearm ownership in 179 countries and there are around 3.4 million privately owned firearms in the country.

Statement 8: 2010 was the last year for reported homicides. In 2010 there were a total of 53 homicides and that comes out to .70 homicides per 100,000 people. Of those, 40 were committed by firearms, which comes out to .52 per 100,000 citizens.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_Switzerland
http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/switzerland

[Cloud3514]

Doesn't Switzerland also have compulsory military service for all men? In other words, every man in Switzerland is TRAINED in the use of firearms. How much would you guys bet that if the law were to require training (let alone compulsory military service) for gun ownership here in the US, the gun lovers would flip?

[kefkaownsall]

http://www.businessinsider.com/switzerlands-gun-laws-are-a-red-herring-2012-12

[Damen]

Indeed, yeah, Swiss civilians are conscripted into the militia at the ages of between 20 and 30.

[dpareja]

As a friend of mine put it, there's a reason nobody tries to invade Switzerland: the terrain is against you, badly, and the entire country's a fucking army.

Given all the issues with conscription in the past, trying to get something like that implemented in the US would go over like a lead balloon (at best).

[Damen]

Lead balloon?

[dpareja]

Lead balloon?

OK, I deserved that one. Still, it would be met with extreme resistance.

[Stormwarden]

I think "like gay marriage at Westboro Baptist Church" would be a better comparison.

[nickiknack]

Switzerland also has universal healthcare, so that means that they probably have better access to mental healthcare. Also we don't know if they have this macho man rugged individualist culture that we have here in the US, I doubt they do.

[kefkaownsall]

They actaully dont they have actually Obama care.   Which is universally loved

[Atheissimo]

As the article Kef posted states; Switzerland doesn't have anything like the social conditions present in comparable Western nations.

The country is largely rural and mountainous, so there isn't the deprived urban sprawl that breeds gun violence. GDP per capita is massive, it's generally a more prosperous nation that has fewer social problems and more money spent on solving those that do exist.

It's a special case, and so it's unhelpful to use it as an example for many other countries to follow.

[kefkaownsall]

Although I will point out you have a higher chance getting shot in whereever Madcat lives then in NYC

[Damen]

Although I will point out you have a higher chance getting shot in whereever Madcat lives then in NYC

I took a peek at Wikipedia and, according to them, the top five states with cities ranking the highest for violent crime (discounting Illinois because they're marked N/A) are:

Michigan (Detroit, Michigan)
Missouri (St. Louis, Missouri)
California (Oakland, California)
Tennessee
Georgia

The top five states with cities ranking the least in violent crime (discounting Illinois because they're marked N/A) are:

Texas (Plano, Texas)
Virginia
Indiana
California (San Jose, California)
Nebraska

The top five states with cities ranking highest for homicide are:

Louisiana
Michigan (Detroit, Michigan)
Missouri (St. Louis, Missouri)
New Jersey
Maryland

The top five states with cities ranking lowest for homicide are:

Nebraska
Texas (Plano, Texas)
Texas (El Paso, Texas)
Colorado (Aurora. It was worth mentioning.)
Minnesota

So from what I'm seeing here, going by the numbers it's all over the map when it comes to red vs. blue states.

http://www.businessinsider.com/switzerlands-gun-laws-are-a-red-herring-2012-12

A lot of the things I see in this article can apply to comparisons between the UK and the USA, too. It's why I seriously dislike to get drawn into debates (and sadly, I am drawn in often enough) involving crime in other counties because it is never as simple as "they have less/just as many firearms than/as the USA." There are too many factors to look at, which is why I've been screaming my head off to look at the differences in the socioeconomic structures and mental health prevalence between the USA and other nations.

It's a special case, and so it's unhelpful to use it as an example for many other countries to follow.

It is a special case, yes, but it is helpful for us to look at the differences between the USA and the Swiss society as a whole. It isn't helpful to point at them and say "They have the third highest rate of firearm ownership in the world and next to no crime." But it would be helpful to look at them and ask what they're doing differently that can allow them to have such high rates of private firearm ownership and yet so little violent crime and such a small homicide rate. The only thing I take away from Swiss/USA comparisons is that crime has less to do with firearms than it does desperation, poverty and lack of proper mental health care.