Summary about guns in Switzerland

A lot of false information circulates about guns, gun laws and crime in Switzerland, occasionally from gun rights supporters, but most of the time from gun haters. I'll try to set the record straight based on my first-hand experience as Swiss citizen who has been involved in the gun debate since the 1980s.

Setting the facts straight:

• gun ownership in Switzerland is widespread
• at least 50% of all households own at least one gun, military or private
• contrary to some claims circulating in social media, there is absolutely no obligation to own a gun
• the immense majority of guns in Swiss households were acquired privately
• there is no requirement to have done military service to be allowed to own guns

Number of guns in circulation

• the total number of guns in circulation is totally unknown, as in most cantons, no official records were kept before 2007
• estimates range from 2 million to 6 million; the most plausible number is 4 to 5 million for 8.5 million inhabitants (7 million before 2007)
• the range of guns owned by Swiss residents is enormous; people owning 5, 10 or 20 guns is quite common
• shooting is a very popular sport with hundreds of thousands of participants in federal shooting competitions
• 5'000 to 6'000 teenagers from 13 to 17 participate every year in the popular Knabenschiessen in Zurich
• they are lent SIG 550 rifles by the army, to take home, as they need to be personally adjusted for the shooting competition
• at least 3 times, a young girl won the competition since 2000; shooting distance is 300 m
• gun safety rules are strictly followed; maybe 1 accident occurs every 10 - 20 years

Gun laws

• from 1848 to 1998, i.e. for 150 years, gun laws were canton laws (a canton is equivalent to a US State)
• in a majority of cantons, gun carry was legal, open or concealed, without a permit
• under canton laws, it was legal to buy any long gun (except fully automatic ones) without a permit,  included assault, pump action and BMG .50 rifles
• since 1999, canton gun laws were replaced with a federal law
• the federal law prohibits carry without a very hard to get permit and demands purchasing permits for long guns
• buying a gun requires a gun purchasing permit; a mere formality costing 50 CHF for 1 to 3 guns
• one has to present proof that one has not been condemned for any violent crime, which can be done via internet and takes about 3 days, at a cost of 15 CHF
• there's a field on the purchasing permit that asks for the intended use of the guns; this field can remain empty
• the federal court ruled that no reason needed to be given, as gun ownership is a right, not a privilege
• until 2003, it was legal to buy and sell guns privately without any official papers
• full-auto weapons require a special permit; one can get it without a problem when considered a "collector", which includes anyone who owns 15 or more guns
• registering as "collector" (not mandatory) implies the obligation of "safe storage" (gun safe), which the police may decide to verify
• any legal resident of Switzerland has the right to buy any number of guns they want
• it is entirely legal to use a gun in self-defense in one's home
• if one makes use of a gun in legitimate self-defense outside one's home, the violation of the carry law is ignored, as it was based on a necessity
• unless one enters places that frisk for guns and knives (e.g. night clubs), the only way the police would know about a carry violation is if one makes use of a gun

Military guns

• about 600'000 guns in Swiss households are military ones, including about 300'000 held by active members of the militia army
• the majority are assault rifles (SIG 510, since the 1990s SIG 550), some are handguns (officers, special units)
• assault rifles held by active members of the militia are capable of fully automatic fire
• since 2009, ammo is no longer handed out to active military members take home, since the leftists freaked out about it
• this is pointless, as anyone can buy ammo in any gun shop
• members of the military can opt to keep their military gun as private property when they are released from their military service
• this used to be done without any formalities
• I myself  just had to say that I wanted to keep my rifle (a SIG 510), they took 5 minutes to transform it into semi-automatic and it was handed to me
• since the late 2000s, they require members of the military to get a gun purchasing permit to keep their military gun

Violent crime and homicides

• there is no such thing as a "gun crime", there are only violent crimes and homicides, the tool is irrelevant
• the number of homicides in Switzerland is very low, about 0.5 to 0.7 per 100'000 or about 50 to 80 per year
• on average, only 10% of all homicides are committed with the widely available guns, i.e. about 7 to 10 per year
• even people who own guns usually use some other method to commit violent crimes
• those who do use guns to commit crimes usually do it with illegal guns
• there has been a recent up-tick in violent crime and homicides over the last few months, almost all committed with knives
• 70-80% of all homicides are committed by immigrants or migrants without residence status

Here is a link to the Swiss self-defense laws:
https://www.minds.com/newsfeed/1298257433419845644?referrer=SMetzeler