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I would like to remind everyone that the US gun ownership rate is not the cause of US gun crime. A key assertion of this article is that guncrime is high becau
by Sir_Substance 12y ago
I would like to remind everyone that the US gun ownership rate is not the cause of US gun crime.
A key assertion of this article is that guncrime is high because guns are common, and thus police have a somewhat justified reason to shoot first to defend themselves.
I would like to remind everyone that ownership of a military assault rifle is mandatory for 2/3rds of all men between 20 and 34 in Switzerland, and the rifle must be kept at home, by law. Once their service is complete, they may elect to keep their weapon.
This results in one of the highest gun ownership rates in the world. Despite this, gun crime in Switzerland is almost the lowest in the world.
US gun crime and police aggression is the result of unhealthy gun culture and an unhealthy attitude towards mental health, not ownership rates.
One of the unhealthy aspects is that the population fears the police will shoot them, so they prepare to defend against the police. The police respond by preparing to preemptively defend themselves, and the cycle escalates until someone thinks it is reasonable to give US police forces mine-proof trucks.
- mc32 12y agoThe Swiss may have one of the highest rates of firearms at home but almost no ammunition is held at home. Previously the militia stored ammo at home, but it was strictly audited and missing ammo would get the person in potentially serious trouble. So, while they have arms, the arms are in effect, disarmed.
- dllthomas 12y agoDo you have a source for this?
- Veratyr 12y agohttp://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21379912 http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21379912 > "And we don't get bullets any more," he adds. "The Army doesn't give ammunition now - it's all kept in a central arsenal." This measure was introduced by Switzerland's Federal Council in 2007.
- dllthomas 12y agoWikipedia agrees, citing [1]. However, both only seems to speak to ammunition issued by the army, not to how much of it is purchased privately. If it is in fact uncommon for Swiss gun owners to own ammunition, then that still seems to make the "gun ownership rate" misleading as pertains to the discussion here. [1] http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/soldiers-can-keep-guns-at-home-but-not-ammo/970614 http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/soldiers-can-keep-guns-at-home-b...
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- res0nat0r 12y ago> US gun crime and police aggression is the result of unhealthy gun culture and an unhealthy attitude towards mental health, not ownership rates. The USA doesn't have a monopoly on crazy people. What we do have a monopoly on is the most guns per capita of any first world country. If we didn't have the highest concentration of guns of any first world country, we also wouldn't have the highest gun homicide rate of any first world country. This is the real issue.
- Thimothy 12y agoI would like to point that, although America doesn't have a monopoly on the crazy, is also a country that doesn't have an structured mental healthcare system. When you have easily available guns + mentally ill people roaming freely the streets... You have a problem.