http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate
they seem pretty middle-of-the-road when it comes to homicides.

the YT description comes from this 2001 article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1566715.stm

which also says:

"Some pro-gun groups argue that Switzerland proves their contention that there is not necessarily a link between the availability of guns and violent crime in society.

But other commentators suggest that the reality is more complicated.

Switzerland is one of the world's richest countries, but has remained relatively isolated.

It has none of the social problems associated with gun crime seen in other industrialised countries like drugs or urban deprivation."

was gonna sift this... sad it didnt make sift. i liked this vid alot.

fantastic.

There is a documentary out there about the high suicide rate among Swiss males. About 17.6 percent of the entire population in 2005 offed themselves, Satan knows the Swiss have some blood on their hands with regard to WW2....this has little to do with the common sense of having arms around to match or exceed the firepower of invading assholes, which is simple good sense. They DO have to protect all that Nazi gold they still hoard, not to mention all those numbered accounts of similar assholes alive and kicking.

Stop that nonsense at once, and start building minarets!

Just like when Britain had national service - i believe the lower crime rate is linked to service in the military. Think of the respect and discipline it teaches a person? And also not to take things for granted, that there are consequences to acting like a dick, that they are not invincible, not tough, it teaches them teamwork and how to bond with people from all backgrounds (the people they train with).

Yeah, national service can be a very very good thing for some people.

Yer right there dannym3141, give it up to the Jews and every nation that requires their folks to drop a nut....matter a fact, something good to be said about living at the top of the fucking world too expensive for most to afford to visit and too hard to get to to make the trip worthwhile, as the TOP member of the food chain as well!...they make fuckin' sweeeet watches, too!

Ok, ok... A Game. The Swiss gave the world what??...Everybody...

1. Chalets

Choggie... you know that CERN is in Switzerland, right? You should have some fun ranting about that too. Just making sure you don't miss anything else off-topic.

america's high crime rate is due to our crappy selfish citizenry who vote against social services and allow massive wealth inequality.

people don't normally want to live a life of crime, but when you take away all their other options, what's left?

*quality

Boosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by schmawy.

They also recently voted out outlaw Minarets. So clearly, all is not well in CH.

The more I hear about Switzerland, the more I want to move there and become a citizen.

Choggie, your stats are completely off. I'm guessing you pulled that number off this wiki article, in which case the actual number is 17.6 suicides PER 100,000 PEOPLE, which is actually 0.0176%, not 17.6%.

....not that it matters since you're ranting out your ass anyhow.

dupe comment

stop using all your sciency mathematics, rembar

poor tiger's fucked

>> ^choggie:
Ok, ok... A Game. The Swiss gave the world what??...Everybody...
1. Chalets


2. Toblerone chocolate
3. Quality time pieces
4. Picturesque skiing resorts
5. A funny, wintry episode of Top Gear
6. Brazen neutrality in the face of Nazi imperialism
7. Ursula Andress
8. H.R. Giger

>> ^lampishthing:
Choggie... you know that CERN is in Switzerland, right? You should have some fun ranting about that too. Just making sure you don't miss anything else off-topic.


Mmmm.... Swiss Chalet. I'll have extra sauce please.

Particle physics?? Cooool! Yeah I did get that crap offa wiki, and my math skills are non-existent...thanks for the correction, guess self-offin' themselves is a minor past time. Geiger, Fuckin' A...Oh yeah...those doggies with booze or hot chili on their collars in cute little barrels..St Bernards!

We must never forget the finest man ever to mic-over and ride his bike....Albert Hoffman @ the Sandoz Laboratories in Besel!! LSD-25...Concocted In Switzerland!

Hmmm, and yet the US has a higher crime rate and a higher gun ownership rate.

I don't really get it. They claim they can "mobilise a pretty large army, even by European standards." Ok, but composed of what? I somehow doubt a bunch of middle aged men who had a year or two of military service 20 years ago and spend weekends at a rifle range are a match for professional soldiers.

I've never been in the military, but I'm pretty sure there's a lot more to combat than just the ability to use a gun.

I don't like guns.

>> ^ctrlaltbleach:
I don't like guns.

I don't like cake.

...and other people are interested in this factoid why?

While the comparison of the requirement of military service to rate of gun violence is interesting, it needs more investigation. I don't think these statistics hold true in other countries where military services is also required, like Israel. This seems more cultural than anything.

As sepatown pointed out, Switzerland is nowhere near the safest place to live, with 63 other countries having lower murder rates including England, Ireland, Canada, France, Spain, Italy and Australia. It seems the only wealthy western nations with higher murder rates are the US and Northern Ireland.


Obviously there are a huge number of factors that will contribute to a country's murder rate, the availability of military training and guns being just a couple. Median income, population density, effectiveness of law enforcement, and education come to mind as equally important. If you want to test the effect of just military training and gun ownership, compare groups that have only that differences within the same society.

Honestly I didn't expect anyone to be interested in the comment. Glad to know someone was. : )

>> ^oohahh:
>> ^ctrlaltbleach:
I don't like guns.

I don't like cake.
...and other people are interested in this factoid why?

*promote the video and my 2nd amendment rights

Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Sunday, December 6th, 2009 11:08am PST - promote requested by tedbater.

Switzerland: 36.1864 crimes per 1,000 people

Ireland: 20.2376 per 1,000 people

Mexico: 12.8406 per 1,000 people

Greece: 9.6347 crimes per 1,000 people


I'd say this is based on a false premise. Switzerland has no where near the lowest crime rate. In fact it's in the top 20 of 60 countries surveyed for crimes per capita.

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_tot_cri_percap-crime-total-crimes-per-capita

Switzerland is near the lowest murder rate (but still beaten by Greece, Hong Kong, Japan (which has very strict gun control by the way) and others.

They're around the middle of the pack for rapes.

Why haven't they turned into the Wild West?!

i love switzerland, like alot. it's one of my favorite places on the planet to go. and i'm eating a piece of toblerone right now.
but, the title is bullshit. and there is more to freedom than the ability to defend yourself. and there are more tools in an arsenal for self defense than just guns. its safer to walk around just about any given european city than just about any given american city at night because of the poverty rate.

keep it shortsighted though boy.

how do they define crime though? by what standard of law could you compare crime rate?
murder is always murder, so i would tend to trust that number a little more.

and they didn't say they "could" ready a large army, they said that was the goal their government had in mind when they enacted that practice.
if you were in direct threat by way of men marching into your country and taking it over by force, you may have the same ideals.
i don't presume to know where anyone is from, but i can only speak from the viewpoint of an american. we are not under direct threat of men marching into our country, so i believe we (as a society) are a little jaded when it comes to war. we've not seen the likes of what we regularly do to other countries (necessary or otherwise) happen in our own land. the closest in recent history would be 9/11 and that was extremely minor when you compare what awaits you in other parts of the world.


tldr; think about if 1,000 soldiers marched into your city right now. how would/could you defend yourself? the swiss have found a solution for that.

>> ^DrivelsAdvocate:

2. Toblerone chocolate
3. Quality time pieces
4. Picturesque skiing resorts
5. A funny, wintry episode of Top Gear
6. Brazen neutrality in the face of Nazi imperialism
7. Ursula Andress
8. H.R. Giger
choggie said:
Ok, ok... A Game. The Swiss gave the world what??...Everybody...
1. Chalets


9. Cheese with holes

>> ^sepatown:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homic
ide_rate
they seem pretty middle-of-the-road when it comes to homicides.
the YT description comes from this 2001 article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1566715.stm
which also says:
"Some pro-gun groups argue that Switzerland proves their contention that there is not necessarily a link between the availability of guns and violent crime in society.
But other commentators suggest that the reality is more complicated.
Switzerland is one of the world's richest countries, but has remained relatively isolated.
It has none of the social problems associated with gun crime seen in other industrialised countries like drugs or urban deprivation."


shhhhh.... don't spoil the fantasy.