Interesting things in Switzerland

[alelks]

I never know this was the case in Switzerland.

I like the idea of keeping your military service weapon at home, even after you retire.

WRS | Staring down the barrel of Swiss gun traditions

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[tag]

Switzerland? Military? One wonders why. It's not like they ever use it.

[HotGuns]

They have never needed to.

Everyone has an assault rifle and they know how to use it.

[itsatoolbox]

Isn't that one of the signs of the apocalypse...the disarmament of the Swiss? This has got to be an EU backed initiative, I cannot fathom the Swiss people actually coming up with this on their own, at least not in large numbers.

[tiwee]

Very interesting. Even in Switzerland with such a strong tradition of self defense, the anti gunner movement is taken seriously enough to have a referendum. That is shocking to me.

Did you notice the excellent spoken English by both of these gentlemen. Remarkable, considering they likely speak German and French equally well and may also speak Italian.

The Swiss are to be admired. However Switzerland, is a pardner to every despot, drug kingpin, tax cheat, and criminal in the world that hides wealth in Swiss banks. Some banks reportedly are still holding wealth deposited during the WWII upheavals in Europe. Reprehensible country in my opinion.

[CJ810]

Neutral is not necessarily the same as timid. If I remember correctly even the Nazis didn't mess with them. Of course it helped that they were willing to let the Nazi's store their stolen valuables in their banks, but that's a conversation for another day/board.

[farmerbyron]

Gee I wonder how that national vote is going to come out?

[jwhite75]

Wow kin of like the Japanese that did not want to attack the US because they knew of our pension for firearms and the ability to shoot back. Good for Switzerland. I like how they think. Their current soldiers are well outfitted too...Sig 550s, and P210s. Very nice.

[aznav]

Most interesting. Next to the US of A, it's my favorite country. I lived about five hours from the border for six years. Spent many a free weekend there. One weekend we were climbing above the small town of Kandersteg and were greeted, somewhat ominously, with gunfire - ALL DAY. Yup, they were zeroing their weapons as the clip alluded to. I believe there were two major alerts given during WWII where the Swiss were mobilized and went to their borders to prevent a German invasion. In front of their many mountain tunnels, both ends you will see tank traps that will spring up, preventing tanks from coming through the passes. Also explosives are placed strategically in the tunnels for the same purpose. There are multiple one runway strips all over Switzerland with two or three jets at the end of each strip. Lastly, if you look carefully, you can see giant steel doors in the mountains, covered in mesh. Not sure what is behind those doors. They take their defense very seriously.

[TerriLi]

Those metal doors used to cover Mortors, anti-aircraft guns, and artillery. No clue what they hide there now, its proably scary....and fun.

[buckeye .45]

Switzerland? Military? One wonders why. It's not like they ever use it.

They do guard the Vatican as well as Switzerland. They actually have a long heritage of military history, a lot of it as mercenaries because their halberds were pretty much universally feared in Europe for a significant portion of the last millenia.

And check out this guy: Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia who influences on the way wars are fought can still be seen today.

Sorry, I let the historian part of me get the best. back to the topic at hand, I don't think the swiss are going to allow themselves to be disarmed anytime soon.

[tag]

They do guard the Vatican as well as Switzerland. They actually have a long heritage of military history, a lot of it as mercenaries because their halberds were pretty much universally feared in Europe for a significant portion of the last millenia.

And check out this guy: Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia who influences on the way wars are fought can still be seen today.

Sorry, I let the historian part of me get the best. back to the topic at hand, I don't think the swiss are going to allow themselves to be disarmed anytime soon.

I hate to tell you this but Sweden and Switzerland are two different countries.

And no I'm not on an anti-Switzerland kick. I have spent time training their military back in the late 80's and early 90's.

[Janq]

As related to history it is the Swiss' own view of liberty who was the model and spiritual motivator for many there after as including our own founding fathers as in direct relation to our second amendment.

To think that now after all these centuries such a concept much less vote would and could come up in Switzerland just goes to show and prove that literally anything can happen, anywhere.

Switzerland and the gun

Guns are deeply rooted within Swiss culture - but the gun crime rate is so low that statistics are not even kept.

The country has a population of six million, but there are estimated to be at least two million publicly-owned firearms, including about 600,000 automatic rifles and 500,000 pistols.

This is in a very large part due to Switzerland's unique system of national defence, developed over the centuries.

Source - BBC News | EUROPE | Switzerland and the gun

Guns, Crime, and the Swiss
by Stephen P. Halbrook, Ph.D., J.D.

There have been no school shootings in Switzerland, but guns and kids sure do mix there. At all major shooting matches, bicycles aplenty are parked outside. Inside the firing shelter the competitors pay 12-year olds tips to keep score. The 16-year-olds shoot rifles along with men and women of all ages.

What, asks the tourist brochure Zürich News, are the annual events that one must see in Switzerland's largest city? Under "Festivals and local customs" is the entry: "Knabenschiessen (boy's shooting contest), the oldest Zürich tradition, takes place on the second weekend in September. It consists of a shooting contest at the Albisgüetli [range] for 12 to 16 year-old boys/girls and a colorful three-day fun-fair." After that, the next big event is St. Nicholas Day in December.

The Neue Zürcher Zeitung devoted an entire page to the 1996 Knabenschiessen, noting that 3,667 teens had participated and announcing the shooting "king" and "queen." Large pictures of girls and boys with assault rifles and driving bumper cars (not at the same time!) laced the page. The event has been held since 1657.

Source - Guns, Crime, and the Swiss - by Stephen P. Halbrook

The Wall Street Journal Europe
Stephen P. Halbrook, Ph.D., J.D.

Since its founding in 1291, Switzerland has depended on an armed populace for its defense. William Tell used a crossbow not only to shoot the apple from his son's head, but also to kill the tyrant Gessler. For centuries, the cantonal republic defeated the powerful armies of the European monarchs. Machiavelli wrote in 1532: "The Swiss are well armed and enjoy great freedom."

This coincidence has not escaped the notice of those who oppose liberty.

Monarchist philosopher Jean Bodin, writing in 1606, denounced free speech and arms possession by commoners. Subjects must be disarmed to prevent democratic sedition, he said. The Swiss proved, Bodin wrongly averred, that arms bearing was "the cause of an infinite number of murders."

The Swiss militia model, however, preserved democracy and held Europe's despots at bay. In fact, it inspired the rebellious American colonists.

John Adams praised the democratic Swiss Cantons, where every man was entitled to vote on laws and to bear arms. Patrick Henry, another American Founding Father, lauded the Swiss for maintaining their independence without "a mighty and splendid President" or a standing army.

The Swiss influence is clear in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which provides: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." Today, it has become fashionable to hate this orphan of the Bill of Rights.

However, a quick glance at history shows that tyrannical governments kill far more than do private criminals. But first, governments must disarm their victims. In 1933, the

Nazis seized power via massive search-and-seizure operations for firearms against "Communists," i.e., all political opponents. In 1938, during the Night of the Broken Glass, they disarmed the Jews. When the Nazis occupied Europe in 1939-41, they proclaimed the death penalty for any person who failed to surrender all firearms within 24 hours.

There may be various reasons why the Nazis did not invade Switzerland, but one of those reasons is that every Swiss man had a rifle at home.

For this we have no better record than the Nazi invasion plans, which stated that, because of the Swiss shooting skills, Switzerland would be difficult to conquer and pacify.

Source - US vs. Switzerland Gun Laws

God bless the Swiss, with their tools by which they have long secured and ensured liberty, freedom and justice for all it's citizens.


Credit: Tim Orrock - Swiss Stuff pictures by Tim_Orrock - Photobucket

- Janq

"All men have equal rights to liberty, to their property, and to the protection of the laws." - Voltaire

[skeet732]

Not going to happen IMHO, All the Swiss have to do is examine the impact of gun control on Britain, Australia and Canada. The results will deter them from disarming. I want that SIG 550 though,

[oneshot]

Neutral is not necessarily the same as timid. If I remember correctly even the Nazis didn't mess with them. Of course it helped that they were willing to let the Nazi's store their stolen valuables in their banks, but that's a conversation for another day/board.

I had read a story a long time ago, and it went like this,...

Prior to WWII , two battalions (one German, and one Swiss) were doing manuevers on a mountain that bordered the two countries, and the German leader during his small talk with the Swiss leader, asks, what would you do if Germany invaded Switzerland?, and the reply went something like this, "We would all come from our homes and villages, and fire one shot and go home"

I can't believe this myself what is going on there now.



"To my mind it is wholly irresponsible to go into the world incapable of preventing violence, injury, crime, and death. How feeble is the mindset to accept defenselessness. How unnatural. How cheap. How cowardly. How pathetic." Ted Nugent