WHAT THE SWISS HAVE

[Matt Beland]

On Fri, 20 Jul 2001 12:46:44 -0700
 "Sandy Sandfort" <sandfort at mindspring.com> wrote:
> Folks,
> 
> Here's a Swiss military museum site:
> 
> http://www.cybershooters.org/morges_museum.htm
> 
> Here's what they say about Swiss firearms ownership:
> 
> One of the most common things you will find in Swiss
> homes, the SIG 90
> assault rifle.  The Swiss Army comprises 450,000 men who
> are given their
> service rifles and who have to complete a minimum of two
> weeks service each
> year, serving from the age of 18 until they are 50 (this
> age will be dropped
> to 45 soon).  After completing their service, the
> fully-automatic capability
> of the rifle is permanently disabled, and the rifle is
> given back to the
> former soldier who may keep it.  Soldiers are also issued
> a comprehensive
> cleaning kit, three 20-round magazines, and a "corn-beef
> can" of 50 rounds
> of 5.6mm ammunition, as well as a bayonet.  Swiss
> soldiers must practice
> their marksmanship regularly under the terms of the
> Obligatory Rifle
> Shooting Programme.  Switzerland has one of the highest
> rates of gun
> ownership in the world, yet maintains a remarkably low
> homicide and armed
> crime rate.
> 
> The part I like is that the wording suggests that the
> writer is surprises
> that a population can have a lot of guns and "yet
> maintains a remarkably low
> homicide and armed crime rate."  Duh.

Hmm... my reading of the page, particularly given the domain
the page is at and the banners at the bottom, is that the
author is using irony. I doubt he or she is really
surprised.