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Gun ownership in Europe, although not comparable to the US, is still fairly high - 20 or 30 weapons per 100 citizens.
Switzerland is a special case - many of the citizens are considered part of the Swiss militia and thus allowed to have military weapons, including fully automatic weapons - in their house. Something like 30% of household have weapons. Switzerland also has an extremely low violent crime rate - something that the anti-gun crowd that argues more guns mean more crime has yet to come to terms with.
It's better than that in Switzerland, IIRC - one is not only allowed, but REQUIRED to have his/her weapon and some ammo on hand, and to shoot a qualifying score every year in order to remain a full citizen with voting rights!
Full auto is over-rated IMHO. While a well-organized infantry squad can benefit in some circumstances from having one rifleman on full auto, for individuals or groups that have not trained together seems to me it mostly wastes ammo. As TR said: "The shots that hit are the shots that count!"
It's better than that in Switzerland, IIRC - one is not only allowed, but REQUIRED to have his/her weapon and some ammo on hand, and to shoot a qualifying score every year in order to remain a full citizen with voting rights!
Full auto is over-rated IMHO. While a well-organized infantry squad can benefit in some circumstances from having one rifleman on full auto, for individuals or groups that have not trained together seems to me it mostly wastes ammo. As TR said: "The shots that hit are the shots that count!"
You might want to research Swiss gun laws a little more . A lot of what you posted is not true .
Switzerland also has an extremely low violent crime rate - something that the anti-gun crowd that argues more guns mean more crime has yet to come to terms with.
It helps that Switzerland is inhabited by the Swiss and not by Americans.
As much of a liberal as I am I am not a supporter of gun control for the US. I had owned guns all my life, was 11B in the Army, did some competitive shooting a long time ago... That said, I have been living in Germany for 16 years and have felt no desire or need to own a firearm and am glad that not everyone is armed. No one (almost?) want's to change the rules and no one wants a gun culture like the US and that is good so.
Though it is not impossible to get one illegally it is not easy at all unless you have contacts to organized crime. Mostly it's not criminals who go around shooting innocent people anyways, it's the "Normal law abiding citizens" having a bad day and flipping out for what ever reason.
Shooting is kinda fun but I can just as well live without it, it is a fair trade of for almost no chance of being shot.
Though it is not impossible to get one illegally it is not easy at all unless you have contacts to organized crime. Mostly it's not criminals who go around shooting innocent people anyways, it's the "Normal law abiding citizens" having a bad day and flipping out for what ever reason.
Not in the US. In the US it is indeed mostly the criminals (those with prior convictions or while engaged in a crime) who go around shooting innocent people as well as themselves, ironically with illegally obtained weapons....and statistics very much support that. Publicity is given to the one-offs of seemingly normal people flipping out (and later it is revealed that these people are not "normal", but have some previous diagnosis of mental illness), but those are statistically few.
As much of a liberal as I am I am not a supporter of gun control for the US. I had owned guns all my life, was 11B in the Army, did some competitive shooting a long time ago... That said, I have been living in Germany for 16 years and have felt no desire or need to own a firearm and am glad that not everyone is armed. No one (almost?) want's to change the rules and no one wants a gun culture like the US and that is good so.
Though it is not impossible to get one illegally it is not easy at all unless you have contacts to organized crime. Mostly it's not criminals who go around shooting innocent people anyways, it's the "Normal law abiding citizens" having a bad day and flipping out for what ever reason.
Shooting is kinda fun but I can just as well live without it, it is a fair trade of for almost no chance of being shot.
Good for you, but I'd rather be free to defend myself than rely on the government for protection. On not getting shot over there, that might not be the case much longer unless Germany radically changes its open immigration policies. But that's for the other forums that discuss such matters.
Switzerland is a special case - many of the citizens are considered part of the Swiss militia and thus allowed to have military weapons, including fully automatic weapons - in their house. Something like 30% of household have weapons. Switzerland also has an extremely low violent crime rate - something that the anti-gun crowd that argues more guns mean more crime has yet to come to terms with.
I think that your 30% figure is low. After their militia service ends, the citizens keep their government issued assault rifles (which are converted to semi-auto, but of course, which can easily be converted back if necessary).
Though the militia members are limited to a single box of military-issue ammo, spread throughout the cantons are bunkers that contain much more.
The Swiss government encourages all citizens to practice with their weapons frequently, with commercially procured ammo.
The low crime rate, and especially the ultra low 'gun crime' rate is a definite smack in the face to those who want to insist that it is the guns that cause crime.I think it has more to do with their criminal justice system rather than 'demographics', as someone here has tried to say.
As much of a liberal as I am I am not a supporter of gun control for the US. I had owned guns all my life, was 11B in the Army, did some competitive shooting a long time ago... That said, I have been living in Germany for 16 years and have felt no desire or need to own a firearm and am glad that not everyone is armed. No one (almost?) want's to change the rules and no one wants a gun culture like the US and that is good so.
Though it is not impossible to get one illegally it is not easy at all unless you have contacts to organized crime. Mostly it's not criminals who go around shooting innocent people anyways, it's the "Normal law abiding citizens" having a bad day and flipping out for what ever reason.
Shooting is kinda fun but I can just as well live without it, it is a fair trade of for almost no chance of being shot.
That thought process seems to be changing now that the muslim hordes are on the loose and preying on German girls and women. It seems that every self defense weapon is out of stock.
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