Posted on 02/13/2011 7:37:18 AM PST by Incorrigible
by Hui Min Neo Hui Min Neo
GENEVA (AFP) – Switzerland, which has the highest rate of suicide by firearms in Europe, voted Sunday to hold fast to its long-standing tradition of letting citizens keep army-issue weapons at home.
A referendum, launched by a coalition of non-governmental groups, religious authorities and centre-left parties, sought to get the weapons stored in armouries instead.
The initiative also wanted to abolish the practice of allowing those on military service to keep their government-issue assault rifles even after they leave the army.
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.
...
Swiss society is built on trust between the citizen and the state, he argued.
"If we take away the weapon, which represents this trust, that means that we are breaking the sacred union between democracy and citizen."
...
Nevertheless, some have been alarmed by episodes such as the 2001 shooting in central Switzerland's Zug canton, when 14 people were gunned down during a local parliament sitting.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
and higher than the rates in: Germany, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Liechtenstein, UK, Croatia, Romania
Society — and the politicians who lust to RULE IT — won’t change for the better until HUMAN NATURE changes.
Unless your favorite facial skin color is bright blue, don’t hold your breath waiting for THAT to happen.
The American Second Amendment is NOT about sport shooting and hunting. It is the FINAL CHECK on criminals, private and, more importantly, PUBLIC ones who would abuse their grant of power.
“The right of citizens to bear arms is just one guarantee against
arbitrary government, one more safeguard against the tyranny
which now appears remote in America, but which has historically
has proved to be always possible.” The late Senator – and presidential candidate — Hubert Humphery (D Minnesota) My my how the Democrats have changed.
“Those who beat their weapons into plows will plow for those who do not.”
Spot on, smokingfrog.
I think we should do it here in the United States. Allowing the most patriotic men and women to be ready and well armed for whatever may come down the road sounds good to me.
I had no idea that M-16s work so well in shooting down ICBMs.
An M-16 in the right hands would kill the hsit out of a terrorist.
A government that will take your guns will certainly take your life.
Video story on Swiss gun ownership. Every adult male has his military issued firearm and the government pays for them to practice.
They like their suicide in Switzerland, and to spice it up they've created a new category called "suicide tourism" ~ just bring granny on down and you get her stuff.
What a vacation!!!!!
Who the hell do you think bought them? Where did the money come from to start with?
I don’t believe that the Swiss practice of keeping military firearms at home is the same as our Second Amendment. Correct me if I’m wrong, the Swiss practice of keeping firearms in their homes has everything to do with rapid mobilzation and little to do with a comparable Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
I suspect the high suicide rate is due to SAD....seasonal affective disorder. They get very little direct sunight due to them being shaded from the sun by the Alps......
Thats just my guess.....
They kill themselves rather than live next to France.
If the Swiss military is like ours, then the moneys to buy those rifles come from appropriate funds (i.e. tax moneys). Allowing the soldiers to keep the weapons after their discharge from the military means that more weapons have to be bought, thus raising the cost of maintaining a military. I've looked into buying a military style weapon for my personal use; they are not cheap! It would make sense for the Swiss military to not give weapons away any more.
The high suicide rate is not due to guns. It's due to their liberal education system which coerces parents to put kids into nurseries at 2. They let the liberal weaken families and suicides result. The tool used is immaterial.
"Would you feel better if they jumped out of windows, little girl?" - Archie Bunker
Good for the Swiss!!
And where does "tax money" come from?
New weapons are always purchased as older ones are retired. Why shouldn't a soldier who earned it keep it as opposed to the government selling them back to those who already bought them?
Great way to keep an armed militia too.
This isn't difficult.
By the Federal Constitution of 1874, military servicemen are given their first equipment, clothing and arms. After the first training period, conscripts must keep gun, ammunition and equipment an ihrem Wohnort ("in their homes") until the end of their term of service.
The Swiss Armed Forces perform the roles of Switzerland's militia and regular army. Under the country's militia system, professional soldiers constitute about 5 percent of military personnel; the rest are conscript citizens 18 to 34 (in some cases up to 50) years old.
The nation is ready to mobilise on a moment's notice. Said one Swiss citizen-soldier, "If we start in the morning, we would be mobilised by late afternoon. That is why the gun is at home, the ammunition is at home. The younger people all have automatic rifles. They are ready to fight."
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