It is interesting that in Switzerland:
I believe that all men in a certain age group are in the military and are required to keep their weapons at home. I don’t know if they have any more crime than the UK or a higher murder rate.

I am NOT a believer in people carrying weapons around (even though you can do it in my state (Vermont) without any license or restrictions other than guns being banned in schools and other government buildings), there is no need for it. I do wonder however if a lot of the crazy things that some people do with guns has more to do with the culture of the country they live in and socialization. I would imagine that every Swiss male with a military weapon at home has been fully trained in its use and more importantly, what it actually means to use a weapon versus the yahoo people who go crazy with guns after watching old Rambo movies.
(MichaelS wasn't picked again, Tue 10 Feb 2009, 13:00, 1 reply)

The point there being
that everyone with a gun is trained soldier who is legally obliged to undertake a certain amount of training each month. They aren't just any Tom, Dick and Harry who wants to own a gun. (edit - sorry this pretty much mirrors the last paragraph of your comment, I didn't read it properly)

They do have a lower crime rate, but I don't think you can just attribute that to the number of guns, Switzerland is a very wealthy country with high education levels, which I'm sure plays a fairly strong role.

Also, on an unrelated note, they are very behind everything being Swiss being better, so if a shop sells Swiss tomatoes at a higher price then imported tomatoes, many people will buy the Swiss ones, just because they are Swiss.
(Bazongaloid, Tue 10 Feb 2009, 13:40, closed)