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this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2023
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So, there's a problem with those statistics; they're looking at civilian arms per capita. In Switzerland, a large number of the firearms that are in 'civilians' hands are military arms. The Swiss--in general--have to serve a term in the military as conscripts, and then have the option of taking their issued rifle home with them. That's not a "civilian" weapon though. I strongly suspect that once you account for the assault weapons--real, select-fire assault weapons, not assault-style firearms--that the numbers go up sharply. Likely not to American levels. But much higher than they are listed.
Dog there is 1.5 guns per american
Yay! I get to be above average in at least one thing!
Seriously though - the numbers and averages don't really give a good picture of gun ownership in the US. Something like 40-ish% of US households have at least one firearm. But then somewhere around 1-5% of people in the US have something like 50% of all of the guns in the US (I'm pulling these numbers out of my ass, but it's pretty stark). If you get into competitive shooting, it ends up being really easy to have a lot of guns. So while the average might be 1.5, lots of people have no firearms at all, and a relatively small number of people have, like 20 each.
Those rifles are transferred to civilian ownership once they are discharged from the military.
Happy to see a source that says otherwise but it's illogical that because you previously served your gun is somehow "still in the military". Especially given that virtually anyone is free to own a gun once they've discharged.
Up until recently, you were given a block of ammunition for the gun that you were supposed to keep sealed in case of the militia being called up. So you were given gov't ammunition for a civilian weapon? IDK.
It seems like the numbers are getting fudged somewhere, partly because the Swiss don't keep any kind of official records. I saw one claim that put the number at roughly double the one cited, so...?