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Stop Comparing American Gun Culture With Switzerland’s if You Are Not Willing To Do What the Swiss Do
Time to debunk myths about gun ownership in Switzerland
Xavier Lopez was only ten years old with a bright future ahead of him when a lunatic shooter snuffed out his life.
It’s déjà vu all over again: yet another school shooting. It is impossible to put into words what the families of the victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, feel. This happened just days after ten people lost their lives in a mass shooting in a grocery store in Buffalo.
Gun violence in the United States is out of control, with no end in sight. What is surprising is that after a mass shooting, gun sales always increase. Try discussing regulations and you will get hostile responses.
While reading a prayer for Xavier and other victims of the Texas shooting on Facebook, a comment caught my eye. I’ve heard many Americans use this rationale while discussing gun violence.
“But what about Switzerland?”
Well, yes, let us discuss Switzerland.
It is easy to say, “Look, Switzerland has guns and they don’t have shootings.” But we rarely try to get a deep understanding of why Switzerland has guns and zero mass shootings.
Switzerland has one of the world’s highest per capita gun ownership rates. Despite this, it has very few mass shootings. Since a gunman opened fire in a government building in 2001, Switzerland has not had a single mass shooting.
Perhaps they don’t have a gun culture like the USA?
That isn’t the case. Guns are popular in Switzerland. Not just with adults, kids as young as 12 years old take part in shooting competitions.
Then why hasn’t a Columbine or Sandy Hook happened in Switzerland? Yet there have been 27 school shootings in the US this year alone. Let’s look at Switzerland’s history to figure out the justification behind its high gun ownership.
