Swiss Voters Defeat Latest Gun Grab

[Iraqgunz]

I thought this was interesting. I remember the old days of Switzerland when it was easy to get full auto weapons (with approval), suppressors and even CCW licenses.

Thanks to some shootings and changes in the social make up the laws were tightened. Fortunately this time around their latest efforts were rebuffed.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/can...?docId=5937494

[TOrrock]

Good on them!

I had a customer about 20 years ago who was Swiss and worked for a multinational corp. They moved him all over the world.

He was a shooter, and I'm quoting here..."The worst firearms laws I've ever experienced were when we lived in New Jersey."

Apparently, military calibers (7.65x21mm Parabellum, 9mm Parabellum, 5.56x45mm and 7.5x55mm) are subsidized by the government to help keep costs low and promote people shooting their weapons, but non standard calibers like .357 magnum or .45 ACP were extremely expensive over there, which prompted most shooters to handload them.

I was over there in '84. Beautiful country, friendly people from what I remember.


Village shooting range:







Going to market after the range....




Grabbing some chow at the food court....

[Iraqgunz]

I remember going to a store outside of Basel in around 1993/94. They had AK's, M16's with M203's mounted, belt feds, all kinds of stuff. I bought a 7.62 suppressor over the counter for cash.

They even had some crazy .357 rounds with explosive tips. I was amazed.

[Suwannee Tim]

Village shooting range:

That's some range. Looks like it can be used in winter. I wonder what happens if some clueless person points a firearm down the firing line.

[variablebinary]

Gotta love the Swiss. No politician in the USA would have the balls to say this:

In a newspaper interview Defence Minister Ueli Maurer argued that women are more likely to approve the initiative because of an inability to handle firearms

[Magic_Salad0892]

Goddamn. I gotta go to Switzerland.

[TOrrock]

That's some range. Looks like it can be used in winter. I wonder what happens if some clueless person points a firearm down the firing line.

The Swiss take their shooting competitions and training very seriously.

Those ranges are gov't subsidized, and especially in more rural cantons (states), young men are taught to shoot at a very early age. Gun safety is drilled into them from the start.

Since Switzerland is an alpine country, those guys shoot in the snow.

One big reason Hitler never invaded Switzerland was the cost-benefit analysis.....sure, they might have taken the country eventually, but at a huge cost.

The bridges that span alpine valleys have explosives built into them so that in case of invasion, Switzerland can cut the autobahn off. Many of the major roads have built in tank obstacles that can be raised at a moment's notice. Many of the mountains are hollowed out and filled with F-18 Hornets and shelters for the population.

Magic.....dude, I need to get back there soon!

[TOrrock]

Swiss ProTell Organization

[GermanSynergy]

It was a toss up between Budapest or Switzerland for my first R&R, now it's gotta be the latter....

Swiss German does sound funny to me though.

[woodandsteel]

This is telling.

From the article;

There are signs, however, that even in Switzerland attitudes to guns are changing. Young people are among those most likely to favour curbs on gun ownership.

In most shooting clubs the average age is "closer to 50 than to 40," says Gerhard Schneider, president of the pistol shooters association in Bueren an der Aare.

There's a lesson to be learned there. Need to get the kids out of the house and onto the range.