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February 16, 2011

Guns And Crime, Part I

"An empty Swiss arsenal is a happy arsenal..."

One of the most heavily armed countries in the world also has one of the lowest crime rates. The country I am referring to is ... Switzerland. In this country there are almost 2 million publically owned firearms stored in citizen soldiers' residences - this includes over a half million fully automatic weapons and ammunition.

Where else would you keep your Sig SG 550? By the BBQ!

Recently a coalition of Swedish socialists progressives tried to remove these weapons from the homes of citizen soldiers. From Sunday's Deutsche Welle:

Swiss voters on Sunday rejected a proposal to ban army firearms from their homes, following a nationwide referendum.

The referendum was launched by a coalition of non-governmental groups, religious authorities and center-left parties, who sought to get the weapons stored in armories instead.

Voters upheld their national tradition of having an ever-ready army, and many see keeping a weapon at home as a crucial aspect of national identity.

Just two hours after polls closed, 22 out of 26 cantons returned final results, with a majority of cantons - 17 - voting firmly against the move. For the referendum to have passed, it would have needed the support both a majority of cantons and a majority of people.

Progressives use studies indicating that gun suicides will decrease when restrictive gun laws are enforced - yet these studies do not show what happens to the overall suicide rate; is the weapon of choice simply displaced? Of course they don't care to pontificate on other means of death readily available to the clinically depressed and insane.

Progressives also promote the deaths of people who have committed no crime; i.e., abortion, euthanasia and Teri Schiavo-style slow death by starvation. So why should they argue against a gun suicide since one less adult means a smaller carbon footprint for Mama Gaia? Oh, of course - an evil firearm was used. No mention of suicide by rope, dagger, train, bus, bridge, booze, boa constrictor or aspirin. They have no problem with that.


Tomorrow: What the GAO and ATF refuse to tell you about gun crime in Mexico.

20 comments:

Jg. for FatScribe said...

classic socialists, er, progressives. love that this standing army and reserve army of theirs is so successful at keeping some sense of 2nd amendment sanity on the continent. good on 'em.

Woodsterman (Odie) said...

"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." That's all I have to say about that.

Anonymous said...

Lefties often give away their latent conservatism by purchasing stylish Swiss Army revolvers.

Andy said...

Good on the Swiss!
Whenever I hear a prog tossing about strawmen arguements for gun grabs, my mind goes back to an exchange between Gloria and Archie Bunker. Gloria is whining on about how many are killed by guns in the home. Archie replies "Would ya feel better if they were pushed out the window?"

Anonymous said...

I'm going to link to this on my Facebook page. Thanks for putting this report together.

Anonymous said...

They can have my gun when they pry it from my cold hall closet.

sig94 said...

FatScribe - There's nothing wrong with keeping the friendlies well armed. As long as you keep them friendly. The socialists in America are not keeping the friendlies happy so they want to disarm them.

sig94 said...

Odie - those words almost belong in the bible. I gotta check again to see if they aren't already there.

sig94 said...

Nickie - or stylish Swiss Army jack knives.

sig94 said...

Andy - I'd rather be shot than hacked up with a knife.

sig94 said...

Guy - that's great. Thatnk you.

sig94 said...

Zio - just keep it lightly oiled; treat them like children. I also keep my kids lightly oiled and ream out their bores twice a year. It took a while but now they love it.

WomanHonorThyself said...

sure disarm the citizenry so they can tyrannize with impunity..argg! Have a great rest of the day~!:)

Anonymous said...

Gun are the ultimate violence so less guns means less hurting people.

Kid said...

Just think for a moment how INSANE it is to allow someone to tell you that you don't have the right to defend yourself. WTF??


By the way Anon. You're wrong. Go look up Australia and England crime statistics. Violent crime has been going up now (and since) law abiding citizens are disarmed.
In England, where guns are illegal, 1 in 3 youths carry a gun of knife.

So it's time to question your childish dreams versus reality. And tell us how you're going to disarm criminals (the folks that matter in this discussion) when after 40 years of the war on drugs, any 13 year old kid can get whatever he wants on the street 7 days a week. Time to grow up.

sig94 said...

WHT - disarm the citizenry, that's what every fascist/communist nation in the 20th centruy did before they commenced slaughtering their citizens.

sig94 said...

Kid - the war on poverty is ten years older than the war on drugs. And yet the poverty rate is basically unchanged and our largest cities have been turned into shitholes. The most stringent gun control laws have been unable to control gun violence. Also look at Mexico - their gun laws are just as restrictive as the UK and their homicide rate is almost 3X that of the USA.

Kid said...

Sig, exactly, the facts simply don't back it up. And I'd Also rather be shot than stabbed. I'm either going to live or die quick. Knives almost do damage to vital organs and death is slow and painful. And messy.

Course liberal don't think that far ahead - even if it Was possible to remove all guns from the Earth. (And I could Make One in my shop btw)

Liberals only know what they want - at any given moment - and nothing else matters.
Exactly, like 3 year olds.

Michael said...

During my 4 years stationed in Germany, I would go skiing in Interlocken on a regular basis. I would see the Swiss Army (similar to our National Guard) setting up their mortars in the city parks on Saturdays after clearing the snow. I was an Army soldier at the time and it gave me a great feeling of security. Ich leibe Schweiz!

sig94 said...

Michael - thanks for your service. Did you bring me back any chocolates?