@ twiceAweek
@ jetsetting2much
The Swiss vote of 56% to 44% of not tightening gun control regulations on 13 Feb is sufficiently narrow that the anti gun lobby will continue to fight for better control.
24 gun homicides a year is relatively low say compared to the highest, which is of course the US, or about 0.3 gun homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. By comparison, the U.S. rate in 2007 — the most recent available figure — was 4.2 per 100,000 people. But if you consider the socio-econimical back ground, adjust for the affluence and the relative absence of the "underclasses" in Switzerland, the figures paint a different picture.
More guns doesn't mean more crimes. It means more crimes committed with guns. And as a consequence, more likely to result in deaths & serious injuries.
Your figures and arguments are often cited by the gun lobby but they don't stand up to serious scrutiny.
Also, almost everyone I know who has to deal with firearms as part of his work wants strict firearm regulations, preferably a complete ban. Guns have one purpose: kill.(That's why names like H&K MP5 make me laugh, it is not Multi-Purposes, it has one)
Even when operating in countries where it is permitted for private agencies & citizens to carry firearms, many professionals chose not to carry. Firearms escalate conflicts to a lethal outcome very quickly. In 2011, a traffic cop in HK drew his firearm when a couple in a stationary vehicle refused to comply with a request to step out. At which point the feisty, and perhaps mental, woman jumped out and "threatened" him with a pair of small scissors
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oSKPMelYjs
This reflects the appalling training of the HK police and for my point, he went for his sidearm as his first defence option. Unless exceptionally experienced, almost everybody opts for firearms as their first option when they are carrying. That's bad, bad, bad!
When they are NOT carrying, the "trained" personnel has a myriad of techniques to deescalate most situations. An untrained individual may even have a few. But when they are carrying, they opt for the last resort first, every time!
Now why did the HK cop backed away and ended up looking like such a complete cunt (and for the whole world to see)? Because once his weapon was drawn, it left him with only one escalation: shoot. He was never going to shoot a mouthy woman with a pair of nail clippers for not wearing a seatbelt in the first place. So why did he, a supposedly trained individual, left himself with no option but to escalate the confrontation to the extreme immediately? Because he had a gun (and badly trained).
Imagine gun enthusiasts without the years of experience & training in dealing with conflicts resolution (or badly trained policemen), in any slight provocation, they will whip their guns out faster than a Frenchmen whip out his dick in a brothel. No more options except deaths & mayhem.
Even with gun restrictions, it is not impossible to obtain weapons. In Frank Coles book "How to Drive a Tank: and other Everyday Tips for the Modern Gentleman", one chapter talked about how to obtain a gun in any foreign country in short notice, with or without a permit. He significantly left out a primary source on which we exchanged a correspondence. For the same reasons he left it out, I will not mention it here either but suffice to say if anyone, for any reason, believe that they need firearms, they are shockingly easy to obtain. For me, that's a bad thing.
The only times when I would acquiesce to carrying firearms are in places where assault rifles can be carried openly by all and sundry.
I practice as much as I can at various ranges in Eastern Europe when possible. We work only after opening hours as the ranges' insurance don't cover our drills and we work on private land where we need no permit. But I am not a gun enthusiast. Be an enthusiast if that rocks your boat but perhaps do some re-think on supporting any gun lobby. It's very masculine to shoot guns but I suggest that it is more manly to act responsibly for the safety of all in society. Gun controls save lives.