The Swiss government had put out a referendum to ban army fireguns from Swiss homes. This referendum, however, had been overwhelmingly rejected. I am glad that this referendum did not pass. After all, Switzerland has had a long history of gun ownership. Aside from chocolate, watches, and skiing, Switzerland is also known for its militia. This militia has served Switzerland well, most notably keeping them out of both World Wars.
I'm sure those on the Left weren't happy about the referendum. According to them, guns kill people. You would think that if this were the case, Switzerland would be a nation out of control with gun violence since Switzerland is the European country with the largest ratio of gun ownership per capita. Quite the contrary! The rate of gun-related crimes is so low in Switzerland that they don't really even keep track. Why would that be? My educated guess is that Swiss citizens are brought up to respect the power and responsibility of gun ownership, as well as understanding the deterring effect of committing a crime since everybody owns a gun in Switzerland. This is wonderful because Switzerland continues to be a shining example of the fact that private arms ownership does not lead to violence.
I know five dads who blew their brains out with their army gun that they kept in their basement. Five. I live in a very small town.
ReplyDeleteFrank,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear that. Any suicide is a tragedy, especially when it's five men who bravely served their country. However, that should be no reason to ignore the Second Amendment or even blame guns for that matter. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a legitimate worry amongst soldiers who come back from war (http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2008-03-06-soldier-stress_N.htm), and should not be taken lightly. But the guns were not the cause here, but merely the method. The causation was the intolerable stress (e.g., PTSD) caused by warfare.
Rather than go after gun ownership and Second Amendment, this discussion should be focused on how we should take care of our soldiers when they come back from the battlefield, and even in more general societal terms, how to better go about suicide prevention so we can lower the suicide rate.