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All for Guns, Guns for All

April 23, 2000

What comes to mind when you think of Switzerland? The Alps? Cuckoo clocks?
Chocolate? Well, how about racks of automatic rifles, rounds of ammo, and a
shooting range on every corner.

Little sleepy Switzerland (population seven million and a ton of cows) just
might be the per head gun capitol of the world. It also might or might not
hold some lessons for us in America as we try and sort out our gun control
headaches.

Why are the Swiss so trigger-happy? It all boils down to the military. For
centuries, the rulers of this tiny mountainous country figured the best
defense was making their folks as offensive as possible.
The civilian’s right to bear arms is not just a U.S. thing. It’s a concept
born and raised in the Alps. Now, even though there are fewer nasty folks
around, the Swiss, never ones to change too swiftly, are still arming their
populace, and we’re talking arms.

Every man between the age of 20 and 42 gets to keep an assault rifle or
comparable weapon in a closet, in his chalet, or wherever. And then he must
go off and shoot the thing for a few weeks every year at a nearby military
base. After they’ve done their duty, the Swiss get to keep the gun for
about three bucks. That’s why there are two million very heavy-duty guns
floating around the country (as well as, by one estimate, another three
to four million other guns).

The Swiss believe it’s never too early to start popping off these things. I
watched a ten year-old get in some pretty neat target shooting. Or never
too old. Elderly Swiss couples think there’s nothing better than stashing
a few rifles in the trunk of their Subaru and heading far off for very
popular (and numerous) shooting festivals.

Now, with all these guns around you’d expect Switzerland to be shot full of
more holes than a chunk of their famous cheese. But you’d be wrong. The
homicide rate there is about a tenth of that in the States. And incidents
involving guns are few as well. In one recent year in Geneva, there were
absolutely no armed robberies.

Why? For one reason, the Swiss have demystified the gun. As one military
expert told me, rather than a mad macho machine, it’s more like a broom in
the closet. And they have elevated it as well, turning it into nothing less
than a symbol of the order, respect, and rule-following that is a hallmark
of the particular land.

Which is a very good reason why U.S. gun advocates should not be too quick
to seize on Switzerland for ammunition in their own causes. The homogenous
and well-off population of the Alpine country is a whole different scene
than the bubbly and frothy melting pot in America. “The social conflicts,
the racial conflicts are much less violent than they are in the States,” a
noted sociologist told me.

Besides, the real world is finally invading well-guarded Switzerland. While
low by U.S. standards, crime rates are creeping up. Immigrants from places
like the Balkans are importing their own understanding of what guns can do.
And the black market trade in arms there is definitely bullish.

These developments are leading Switzerland to beef up its gun laws. Just a
few years ago, gun use was regulated by local, and somewhat lax rules. Now,
there are country-wide restrictions in place requiring all sorts of I.D.
checks. There is even the beginning of talk that maybe it might not be
absolutely necessary for all those rifles to be sharing shelf-space with
the canned vegetables and preserves.

In the meantime, though, the Swiss will continue to do the thing they love
to do when they’re not swishing down the slopes shooting up some favorite
targets.

Greg Palkot
Paris correspondent, FOXNews Channel