Switzerland has long had a reputation as a neutral nation when it comes to war and conflict, but in a perhaps ironic twist, they are known to have a very strong gun culture. Its official position of “armed neutrality” has kept it safe in the past, and its training and arming of citizens is likely to protect it in the future. But Swiss gun control laws are often completely misinterpreted. It is touted as a gun lovering country with one of the highest gun ownership rates in the world, but in fact, Switzerland still has about half the number of guns per capita as the United States (the most liberal estimates place gun ownership per 100 people compared to 89 guns per 100 people in the United States). The number of guns in the country has declined in recent years due to a smaller militia and stricter laws, and the Swiss government`s own data puts that statistic much lower, estimating only 24.5 guns per 100 people in 2016. If strict gun control could actually disarm this criminal element in America, there could be an argument for gun control. But as Josh Sugarmann, former communications director of the National Handgun Ban Coalition (NCBH), wrote in The Washington Monthly, “handgun control does little to deter criminals from obtaining handguns.” While Switzerland is clear proof that guns are not “demons” per se (as a Denver priest recently claimed), Switzerland alone does not prove the ease of gun control in America. In fact, author Clinard argues that strict gun controls are necessary in the United States. Cultural conditions, not gun laws, are the most important factors in a country`s crime rate. Young adults in Washington, D.C. are subject to strict gun control, but no social control, and they commit an astonishing amount of gun crime. Young adults in Zurich are subject to minimal but strict social control and commit almost no crime. A much larger systematic reviewexternal link, which examined 130 studies in ten countries, also concluded that gun restriction laws are associated with a reduction in firearm deaths in some cases.
On the contrary, in America, the Second Amendment was created to give its citizens the right to protect themselves from tyranny. Largely because of the circumstances in which our country was created, the Bill of Rights is supposed to allow freedom, even if it means opposing one`s own corrupt government, as the Founding Fathers did against the British. While Swiss gun laws are designed to help protect its citizens from outside attacks, U.S. laws were created to protect us from evil within our own borders. A detailed analysis of Swiss gun laws also shows how stupid it is for handgun control to point to Switzerland as a model. If, as Handgun Control claims, Switzerland`s lenient licensing system is the reason why Switzerland has so few handgun-related crimes, then Handgun Control should commit to reforming several U.S. laws. A 2017 amendment to the EU Firearms Directive, known as the “EU Weapons Ban”[19][20][21][22], introduces new restrictions on the possession and acquisition of firearms, in particular semi-automatic weapons, personal defence weapons, magazine capacity, edged firearms and antique firearms. The restrictions must be introduced into the Swiss legal order by August 2018 due to membership of the Schengen area. Nevertheless, Handgun Control, Inc. (HCI) highlights Switzerland in its brochure “Handgun Facts” as one of the advanced countries with strict handgun laws.
The brochure states that all guns are registered and that the purchase of handguns requires a background check and licence. Armed crime is practically non-existent in Switzerland. That`s why, Handgun Control concludes, America needs strict gun control. Since then, further provisions have been added to keep the country on an equal footing with EU gun laws, and the number of deaths, including suicides, has continued to decline. But Handgun Control`s false claims are no worse than those contained in a heavily biased Library of Congress book on foreign gun control laws (for which taxpayer money was paid). This book asserts that in Switzerland “the policy is not to provide automatic weapons and other dangerous weapons to the general population” – a complete lie, at least when adults are considered part of the “general population”. The book also states that “the sale of handguns to private individuals is restricted and reflects a clear policy of the Swiss government to maintain this strict control.” But the only people who are “excluded” from the purchase of handguns are children, the mentally ill and ex-criminals. Thus, while evidence from observational studies indicates a correlation between strict gun control and low rates of firearm-related homicides, it is unlikely that further changes to existing strict laws will have a discernible impact on human safety. However, Switzerland`s relatively liberal rules could soon be challenged from outside the country`s borders.
The country is a member of the Schengen Area, the group of 26 European countries that allows the free movement of people. Other members of the Schengen area are also members of the European Union (Switzerland is not). Last year, the EU tightened restrictions on gun ownership and Switzerland, as a member of the Schengen area, must adapt its laws to the new rules by August this year. Swiss gun rights activists are already considering legal action because, among other things, they are taking up the idea of an arms registry. “Of course, Swiss citizens have fully automatic weapons, but all ammunition is strictly registered and must remain in a sealed container until the reservist reports to work.” Nancy Hwa, spokesperson for the Centre for the Prevention of Armed Violence (CPHV), contributes to perpetuating this misunderstanding: “In Switzerland, you receive a limited number of bullets in a sealed box. If [when you show up for the service] the seal is broken, you will be thrown in jail. If the NRA wants to adopt that system, that would be fine with us. (Source: Notre Dame Magazine Online: “Public Enemy No. 1”). For this reason, Switzerland has become a common example of NRA supporters and Second Amendment advocates when they argue that high rates of gun ownership don`t necessarily mean more mass shootings. But gun laws in Switzerland – especially after changes made in 2008 to comply with the EU`s firearms directive – are more nuanced and restrictive than many realize.
Given the high incidence of gun crime in the United States, the researchers sought to determine whether gun laws, which are known to be weak at the federal level, could reduce gun violence. A 2018 study of individual U.S. states regulating the buying and selling of firearms found that stricter gun laws were associated with lower rates of firearm-related homicides. However, since only a few states actually have strict gun control, the authors of the observational study were unable to determine cause and effect. High schools and colleges that want to offer sport shooting should be allowed to do so. Unlike football or swimming, target shooting at school has never resulted in fatalities. Anti-gun groups reject the reasonable decision to allow schools to offer students the safest sport ever invented. Did they fall into the background? Finally, local governments should enact reasonable zoning laws that allow the construction of indoor (properly ventilated and soundproofed) firing ranges in urban areas. In some cases, governments should subsidize the construction of shooting ranges.
On the ranges, Americans can take courses on firearms management and practice the safe handling of weapons. As expected, anti-shooters also reject this simple security measure. They fell to the bottom. But not all studies that address this issue are equally conclusiveexternal link, and experts say more research is needed on the effectiveness of restrictions on who is allowed to own a gun. Therefore, the handgun control claim that all Swiss guns are registered is simply false, and their claim that “Switzerland and Israel strictly control the availability of handguns” is more than a bit inaccurate.