5 ms·

No they don't. We Swiss are a little more responsible with our guns than Americans.

kuerbel 7y ago
They certainly did until it was forbidden to take ammunition home. In 2000 suicide by guns was 27% and in 2016 it was 20% of all suicides in Switzerland. Compared to other countries with more restrictive policies that is a lot more...
- brohee 7y ago
  That says nothing about the use of the service rifle. Firearm ownership is much higher in Switzerland than the rest of Europe.
  - squiggleblaz 7y ago
    Surely there's a relationship between giving all your citizens a gun and higher firearm ownership. If the policy is deadly, does it matter whether the death happens with a service rifle or a weapon they bought because of their happy memories? I mean, it's not exactly as if the Swiss militia let them operate an independent foreign policy last time they felt threatened with invasion.
bhaak 7y ago
They certainly did: > In 83.1% (n = 1112) of the 1338 suicides by firearm between 2000 and 2010 in Switzerland, the firearm could be categorised as an army weapon or a non-army weapon. The army weapon was used in 39.1% of these suicides. https://smw.ch/article/doi/smw.2018.14646 https://smw.ch/article/doi/smw.2018.14646 But that is not surprising. Suicides often happen out of an impulse and then people use the best available and easiest accessible means to kill themselves. And an army weapon fulfills those conditions much better than anything else people have at home. I don't know if there are already newer studies that take into account that the ammunition isn't storaged at home anymore. I also couldn't find any numbers on "family tragedies".
- pas 7y ago
  Can they simply buy ammo for it somewhere else?
  - bhaak 7y ago
    Yes, you can easily buy ammo. But again, most suicides are not really planned. The studies about suicides are quite consistent that only about 10–15% of attempters eventually die by suicide. That means if you don't have an effective way of ending your life at hand, it's likely that you will not try again successfully. If you need ammunition, you are not likely to go out and get it. That's inconvenient and even if you go out and want to get it, that takes time in which you might reconsider.
    - pdpi 7y ago
      It's worth noting that this is a trend, not a black and white rule. Some people _do_ plan it ahead of time, in some form or another. E.g. my uncle specifically bought rope and carabiners prior to his suicide, and, apparently, had googled instructions on how to tie a noose several days ahead of the actual thing.
      - pas 7y ago
        I imagine it comes in waves. And even if one wave just pushes someone to the point that buys ammo, the next has to push it only to load the gun, and the final one just has to push it to pull the trigger a little harder. :/ Though I have no data about this.
bayesian_horse 7y ago
Still "somewhat regularly". The simple truth is that an accessible gun has a higher chance of being abused or involved in an accident than one that is locked in an arsenal or doesn't exist in the first place. Even in law enforcement, even though they often need guns, no matter what country, guns are abused regularly. Which reminds me of the video of an FBI officer that accidentally discharged his weapon while break dancing.
- turk73 7y ago
  The word you are searching for is "armory." An arsenal is where military weapons go to get refurbished. Just because some item is misused does not mean it lacks utility to others. I don't get the hate for guns given how guns have liberated the lower classes starting in the Middle Ages. Guns played a huge part in the successful formation of the United States. They play a critical role in keeping the peace to this day. Citizens being armed keeps the balance of power at least a little more honest, although admittedly I think we are reaching a tipping point where Americans are either going to have to demonstrate some fortitude or accept a much more encumbered form of citizenship. We are becoming subjects to an oligarchy is how it seems to be playing out here right now. We have a lawless elite that wishes to subjugate us permanently. We'll see.
turk73 7y ago
Um, there is in reality only a handful of Americans being irresponsible with guns. You are the subject of a mass propaganda campaign designed to fool you about that. Believe me, if there was really a problem with guns for most Americans, the entire country would be on fire. We own 46% of the privately owned firearms in the entire world! Pretty much every house on my street probably has one or more guns located inside of it. Oddly, there is no crime here at all. Inner cities are where the trouble is. All these cities are run by Democrats and have been for decades now. We have a massive welfare state in place that nurtures a welfare class of people who combine low IQ with mass quantities of illicit drugs in a consequence-free environment. Those are the people committing 99% of the murders in the USA. In addition to the inner city problems, we have a media-sensationalized issue with people going off their meds or otherwise going beserk and committing mass shootings. These incidents also mostly take place in Democrat controlled "gun free" zones where the perpetrators know they will not encounter resistance. Why do they do it? Because modern American society does not take care of its mentally ill--our entire health care system is a mess right now. At the same time, our entire culture seems hell bent on creating stressful situations and misery through high taxes, high cost of living, too much traffic, and overpopulation in those cities. Thus, a few apples go rotten. I'm actually surprised it isn't more, honestly. The stress on ordinary Americans in those cities is ridiculous. But the USA is overall not a violent nation and most people are not prone to violence. We go out of our way to help each other. I have seen far more violent every-day behavior in Europe, where it is far more common to be assaulted and mugged. I was once threatened at a outdoor cafe in Munich simply for trying to be friendly. Well those guys weren't having any of that! They were going to beat me simply for asking what beer they were drinking. Idiots.

They certainly did until it was forbidden to take ammunition home. In 2000 suicide by guns was 27% and in 2016 it was 20% of all suicides in Switzerland. Compared to other countries with more restrictive policies that is a lot more...

brohee 7y ago
That says nothing about the use of the service rifle. Firearm ownership is much higher in Switzerland than the rest of Europe.
- squiggleblaz 7y ago
  Surely there's a relationship between giving all your citizens a gun and higher firearm ownership. If the policy is deadly, does it matter whether the death happens with a service rifle or a weapon they bought because of their happy memories? I mean, it's not exactly as if the Swiss militia let them operate an independent foreign policy last time they felt threatened with invasion.

bhaak 7y ago

They certainly did: > In 83.1% (n = 1112) of the 1338 suicides by firearm between 2000 and 2010 in Switzerland, the firearm could be categorised as an army weapon or a non-army weapon. The army weapon was used in 39.1% of these suicides. https://smw.ch/article/doi/smw.2018.14646 https://smw.ch/article/doi/smw.2018.14646 But that is not surprising. Suicides often happen out of an impulse and then people use the best available and easiest accessible means to kill themselves. And an army weapon fulfills those conditions much better than anything else people have at home. I don't know if there are already newer studies that take into account that the ammunition isn't storaged at home anymore. I also couldn't find any numbers on "family tragedies".

pas 7y ago
Can they simply buy ammo for it somewhere else?
- bhaak 7y ago
  Yes, you can easily buy ammo. But again, most suicides are not really planned. The studies about suicides are quite consistent that only about 10–15% of attempters eventually die by suicide. That means if you don't have an effective way of ending your life at hand, it's likely that you will not try again successfully. If you need ammunition, you are not likely to go out and get it. That's inconvenient and even if you go out and want to get it, that takes time in which you might reconsider.
  - pdpi 7y ago
    It's worth noting that this is a trend, not a black and white rule. Some people _do_ plan it ahead of time, in some form or another. E.g. my uncle specifically bought rope and carabiners prior to his suicide, and, apparently, had googled instructions on how to tie a noose several days ahead of the actual thing.
    - pas 7y ago
      I imagine it comes in waves. And even if one wave just pushes someone to the point that buys ammo, the next has to push it only to load the gun, and the final one just has to push it to pull the trigger a little harder. :/ Though I have no data about this.

bayesian_horse 7y ago

Still "somewhat regularly". The simple truth is that an accessible gun has a higher chance of being abused or involved in an accident than one that is locked in an arsenal or doesn't exist in the first place. Even in law enforcement, even though they often need guns, no matter what country, guns are abused regularly. Which reminds me of the video of an FBI officer that accidentally discharged his weapon while break dancing.

turk73 7y ago
The word you are searching for is "armory." An arsenal is where military weapons go to get refurbished. Just because some item is misused does not mean it lacks utility to others. I don't get the hate for guns given how guns have liberated the lower classes starting in the Middle Ages. Guns played a huge part in the successful formation of the United States. They play a critical role in keeping the peace to this day. Citizens being armed keeps the balance of power at least a little more honest, although admittedly I think we are reaching a tipping point where Americans are either going to have to demonstrate some fortitude or accept a much more encumbered form of citizenship. We are becoming subjects to an oligarchy is how it seems to be playing out here right now. We have a lawless elite that wishes to subjugate us permanently. We'll see.

turk73 7y ago

Um, there is in reality only a handful of Americans being irresponsible with guns. You are the subject of a mass propaganda campaign designed to fool you about that. Believe me, if there was really a problem with guns for most Americans, the entire country would be on fire. We own 46% of the privately owned firearms in the entire world! Pretty much every house on my street probably has one or more guns located inside of it. Oddly, there is no crime here at all. Inner cities are where the trouble is. All these cities are run by Democrats and have been for decades now. We have a massive welfare state in place that nurtures a welfare class of people who combine low IQ with mass quantities of illicit drugs in a consequence-free environment. Those are the people committing 99% of the murders in the USA. In addition to the inner city problems, we have a media-sensationalized issue with people going off their meds or otherwise going beserk and committing mass shootings. These incidents also mostly take place in Democrat controlled "gun free" zones where the perpetrators know they will not encounter resistance. Why do they do it? Because modern American society does not take care of its mentally ill--our entire health care system is a mess right now. At the same time, our entire culture seems hell bent on creating stressful situations and misery through high taxes, high cost of living, too much traffic, and overpopulation in those cities. Thus, a few apples go rotten. I'm actually surprised it isn't more, honestly. The stress on ordinary Americans in those cities is ridiculous. But the USA is overall not a violent nation and most people are not prone to violence. We go out of our way to help each other. I have seen far more violent every-day behavior in Europe, where it is far more common to be assaulted and mugged. I was once threatened at a outdoor cafe in Munich simply for trying to be friendly. Well those guys weren't having any of that! They were going to beat me simply for asking what beer they were drinking. Idiots.