this post was submitted on 15 Jul 2026
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It's weird because Switzerland is one of the most armed countries in Europe, as in they have firearms but barely any shootings of any kind (so you don't often hear news equivalent to a guy shooting students in a classroom or killing people at a shopping mall over there). Part of it has to do with the draft (most people who purchase firearms have a form of training, as they learnt how to properly handle them during military service).

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[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

I don't know much about Switzerland, but America has an incredible dehumanizing education system where if you don't fit into a highly competitive capitalist, you have no value. Some kids don't feel like they want to be a part of that, but they don't have an alternative, so they don't care anymore. Adults that that happens to become deranged and may think shooting up a school is doing the kids a favor. A few of them have had copies of Catcher in the Rye in their pocket which has those themes.

It's not access to guns that's the problem. It's that we fundamentally have a broken psyche at a social level.

[–] CADmonkey@lemmy.world 96 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Im going to guess there are fewer desperate, discarded, angry people in Switzerland.

[–] snooggums@piefed.world 27 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Yeah, guns are the tools and not the root cause. Significant income disparity, racism, social pressures, and a ton of other triggers cause murders and suicides and while guns enable them there still needs to be something that causes someone to use the guns in that way.

Violent crime that doesn't involve guns in the US is significantly higher than other western countries.

[–] halcyoncmdr@piefed.social 4 points 2 days ago

Same with hard drugs, and the associated crime... they're a symptom, not the root cause. Hard drugs are used to escape reality. If there's fewer reasons to escape, usage drops dramatically.

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 19 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Because nearly all of those arms are under lock and key. They don't exist for fun shooting. They are federal property which is stored in the homes of reservists in case they are called in. Like they have their uniform and other items for their countries defence at home for this event. And people don't have the ammunition for it, which would be supplied at the assembly locations when push comes to shove.

[–] MrsDoyle@sh.itjust.works 2 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Who needs ammo when you've got a pointy stick?

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago

Don't underestimate those guys. They are highly motivated and trained, and excellent at crowd control.

[–] justaman123@lemmy.world 1 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Oh they have guns but no ammo?

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 1 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Nope. The gun is government property, stored alongside uniform and other things at every reservists home. In case of an attack, they will assemble at predetermined locations and supplied with ammo. Same with training. And woe to you if you use the gun for private purposes.

[–] justaman123@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

So the reason is sensible gun laws

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 1 points 59 minutes ago

In a way, yes.

[–] Today@lemmy.world 68 points 3 days ago (3 children)

My mom (if she were still here) would say it's from Reagan taking money out of mental health.

[–] unmagical@lemmy.ml 50 points 3 days ago (1 children)

My mom would say it's from the fall of man and America turning away from God. Your mom seems smarter than mine.

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 34 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Your mom seems like the reason why there are so many mass shootings in the USA

[–] Sirius006@sh.itjust.works 12 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The "your mom" jokes are getting really cryptic. I'm completely OOTL.

[–] Whostosay@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

If the loop is "your mom"

Are you implying that you trying to get back in the loop is you fucking that guy's mom?

[–] Sirius006@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

If so it might have been better to if I remained "too afraid to ask"

[–] Whostosay@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 days ago

Not cryptic enough, we need to go deeper... Into that guy's mom

[–] nocturne@slrpnk.net 13 points 3 days ago

It always seems to go back to Reagan.

[–] AskewLord@piefed.social 44 points 3 days ago

switzerland has mandatory military service, a small population, and is higher per capita wealth. their quality of life is among the highest in the world and swiss gun culture is very responsible and chill.

USA is the opposite of most of that.

[–] Pamasich@kbin.earth 12 points 2 days ago (1 children)

One reason I haven't seen mentioned yet is practicability.

Yes, people have the tools. But how do you get that tool to where you need it?

In the US I believe you can just carry weapons for whatever reason you want. That's not quite the case in Switzerland. If you've got a gun for military service, for example, you're only allowed to carry it from and to military service or the shooting range. You can't just go to a school with it. Same applies to other purposes. You can only carry a gun for the specific purpose you have your permit for. You can't just take it to a school or mall.

Plus, the people who have guns at home usually only have the guns, no ammo, iirc.

[–] hockeyboss77@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

I can only comment about what goes on in the US. In many states you cannot just carry the guns wherever you want. In states that allow you to carry a gun that's concealed, you will need a special permit. Some states don't require this though. If you are carrying in the open, some states allow this, but many don't. There are also rules about where you can take the gun. For example, many states do not allow you to bring it on school property.

In California you very very rarely see anyone with a gun. In some red states it's pretty common.

The issue is easy access to guns with ammo and the culture behind them.

[–] swordgeek@lemmy.ca 36 points 2 days ago (2 children)

You got part of it. The Swiss get formal training during their military service, and understand that owning a gun is a responsibility and an obligation, not a right. They have a sense of duty around their ownership.

But another big part is that nobody on the planet fetishizes guns like the US. Guns are a symbol of virility, of sexual prowess, of "American Freedom." Facebook recently showed me a reel by a woman who poses (nude) on OnlyFans with guns and motorcycles. That is a profoundly US mindset. (And of course the guns are assault rifles.)

Only in the US and a few other pockets of rednecks are guns fetishized.

[–] YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 4 points 2 days ago

You missed the countries those rednecks ironically hate, because they share so much. They both want to impose their version of religious law, both fetishize guns, both hate women, and both have some serious problems with closeted POS.

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[–] ikidd@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 2 days ago

Socio-economic sanity.

[–] notsosure@sh.itjust.works 42 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

People in Switzerland have a bit of discipline, common sense and a baseline of education. There are also rules what kind of weapons you’re are allowed to have: you CANNOT get a subwoofer AK573-ultra assault rifeletta with powerbooster that shoots 263 253mm bullits per second. For your toddler.

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 24 points 3 days ago (4 children)

That, and also likely better mental healthcare, less laws that would cause situations where someone can be pushed over the edge, etc...

[–] notsosure@sh.itjust.works 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

That and a magnum 53, a box of handgrenades and an ice cream as welcome gift. And a bonus card.

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[–] Nibodhika@lemmy.world 20 points 3 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

According to a quick check on Wikipedia Switzerland has 27.6 firearms per 100 people, so in average you can expect 1 in 4 people to be armed. While the USA has 1.205 weapons per person, so you can expect in average that 1 in 5 people has an extra weapon besides the one 100% of the population does.

I think the 436% increase in weapon per capita might contribute to an increase with gun violence, but that's just my guess.

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 10 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I think that should be 1.205 guns per person, or 120.5 guns per hundred people. I know we have some people with massive collections, but I've never met someone with literally 10s of thousands of guns. Also the people that own a few hundred are skewing the statistics. We aren't actually all armed.

[–] Omgpwnies@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

120.5/100 == 1.205, it's the exact same number expressed differently. However, 1.205 implies that everyone has at least one firearm, which is not true. 120.5/100 implies that if you go to 100 random people and count all their guns together, you'll end up around 120 guns on average.

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[–] Zeppo@sh.itjust.works 21 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Probably Switzerland has less morons

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[–] Dookieman12@piefed.social 17 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Because guns don't cause gun violence; poverty, unemployment, drug addiction, and mental health issues cause gun violence.

Switzerland's society and government place value on treating the underlying causes of gun violence. The US's government has been captured by corporations who derive profit from the incarceration of people who commit gun violence.

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[–] gdog05@lemmy.world 19 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I think it's a combination of factors but the largest (in my mind at least) is the capitalist fed toxically-independent mindset that has thrived in the US. It keeps people afraid of other people. It keeps them isolated which prevents community and safety and trust. It sows xenophobia. It prevents any preference toward a government collective.

Take a look at the difference between US towns and towns anywhere else in the world. Suburbs are extremely rural in comparison. They're re devoid of life. Life only exists in the little boxes. In Europe a town of 300 is built around an active town center and rural properties are all focused on that center. US suburbs are less connected than rural Europe or Asia. And then much of the US is way more rural than the suburbs. You've got a media and political system telling everyone they're alone and on their own. So when people have a psychotic break (not super uncommon) or just some form of extreme emotion, they do so with the fear of others in mind. And they lash out with one thing that makes them feel powerful in their solitude.

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[–] canniest_tod@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago

It's a bunch of reasons, but the one that we can actually do something about is the social democratic safety nets. We have way fewer in the US and that causes rampant anxiety, which leads to violence. Switzerland's population isn't on the brink of snapping, so they tend not to shoot each other.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

in the US, theres significant propaganda to maintain gun ownership and ammosexuals, usually amongst conservatives and are quite misinformed about gun control in blue areas, because it also preys on paranoia, its ties into low education,not always but often. its also part of movies, shows,,,,etc.

plus the ammosexuals fantasize about shooting people all the time(they would love for people to give them an excuse to do so)

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

The swiss only store those guns, and they don't have the ammo for it.

[–] UnspecificGravity@piefed.social 10 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

"Most armed country in Europe" is still a pretty different category from the level of gun ownership in the US and they have CONSIDERABLY higher standards for background checking and permits than the US. The US is one of the only country on earth that just lets some random walk into a store and walk out with a firearm.

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[–] discow@lemmy.zip 10 points 3 days ago
[–] MrNesser@lemmy.world 11 points 3 days ago

Difficult to shoot that guy you don't like when there's a mountain in the way

[–] Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org 9 points 3 days ago

Society is extremely different. They are sensible people there..

[–] yenahmik@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago

It's almost like gun violence is a symptom of larger sociological issues....

[–] Nomad@infosec.pub 3 points 2 days ago

There is a decent Johnny Harris video about that exact question. The answer seems to be gun culture but different.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnBDK-QNZkM

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