Where should an Assault rifle be stored?

[DC]

Soon the swiss voters have to vote.
Do we want our Assault rifles be stored at home like it is now?
or do we want to change the law, so the assault rifles would be stored in Army armories.

At the moment all people that serve in the army have stored their full automatic assault rifle at home, including the ammunition (in a sealed box)

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIG_550

What do you think, should we keep them at home or give them to the army?

those that want them to be stored at the Army also claim that up to 300 people* a year die do to the Assault rifles. not sure how correct those numbers are.

ETA: * this number includes cuicide, which is the biggest part of that number.

 

[Lolly]

I think they are a work tool of the army members and should be kept at work. It's not something you'd need to take home.

 

[DC]

I think they are a work tool of the army members and should be kept at work. It's not something you'd need to take home.

our Army is a Militia

 

[DC]

One of the most famous and ancient militias is the Swiss Armed Forces. Switzerland long maintained, proportionally, the second largest military force in the world, with about half the proportional amount of reserve forces of the Israeli Defence Force, a militia of some 33% of the total population. Article 58.1 of the 1999 Swiss constitution provides that the armed forces (armee) is "in principle" organized as a militia, implicitly allowing a small number of professional soldiers. In 1995, the number of soldiers was reduced to 400,000 (including reservists, amounting to some 5.6% of the population) and again in 2004, to 200,000 (including 80,000 reservists, or 2.7% of the population). However, the Swiss Militia continues to consist of most of the adult male population (with voluntary participation by women) required to keep an automatic rifle at home and to periodically engage in combat and marksmanship training.[31] The militia clauses of the Swiss Federal Constitution are contained in Art. 59, where it is referred to as "military service" (German: Militärdienst; French: service militaire; Italian: servizio militare; Romansh: servetsch militar).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militia#Switzerland

 

[bozothedeathmachine]

The militia concept aside, is it really a worry anymore that Swiss will be invaded so quickly as to need the guns immediately?

As for the number of deaths, people really who want to kill themselves will find a way. The gun is just convenient. I've only heard of one homicide case that involved a military rifle since moving here in 2007. Not an overwhelming statistic.

 

[DC]

The militia concept aside, is it really a worry anymore that Swiss will be invaded so quickly as to need the guns immediately?

As for the number of deaths, people really who want to kill themselves will find a way. The gun is just convenient. I've only heard of one homicide case that involved a military rifle since moving here in 2007. Not an overwhelming statistic.

well, i personally dont think there is a real danger of invasion. from that point of view i think they should be stored at armories.

I see it more as a good tool if the government turn against its own people.
but also this danger is almost non existent i think.

Its strange i have troubles to form an opinion. I am actually against weapons of all kind. But somehow i like the Idea that we the people are in power and also have fire power if needed.

strange^^

 

[bozothedeathmachine]

Its strange i have troubles to form an opinion. I am actually against weapons of all kind. But somehow i like the Idea that we the people are in power and also have fire power if needed.

strange^^

You hate all guns except your guns.

Not so strange. Very human nature.

 

[Lolly]

our Army is a Militia

Please forgive my ignorance. As mentioned above, if there is no need to access the weapons immediately for defence, I think they should be kept at an armory. They are required for purposes of defence and unless those purposes require the guns to be taken home, they don't need to be .

 

[DC]

You hate all guns except your guns.

Not so strange. Very human nature.

no, my only weapon is a swiss army knife

i did not serve in the Army, i am a member of the Zivilschutz. (civilprotection)

no assault riffle in my house

 

[DC]

Please forgive my ignorance. As mentioned above, if there is no need to access the weapons immediately for defence, I think they should be kept at an armory. They are required for purposes of defence and unless those purposes require the guns to be taken home, they don't need to be .

mmh good point.

 

[Ocelot]

The militia concept aside, is it really a worry anymore that Swiss will be invaded so quickly as to need the guns immediately?

As for the number of deaths, people really who want to kill themselves will find a way. The gun is just convenient. I've only heard of one homicide case that involved a military rifle since moving here in 2007. Not an overwhelming statistic.

I guess then the increase in suicide rate amongst gun owners is due to people who just want to kill themselves a little bit, and if they didn't have a gun would either think better of it in the time it took to find a way, or choose a less effective option and increase the chances of failure.

However there's no disputing the facts. There's strong evidence that moving the guns to an armoury would indeed reduce the suicide rate.

 

[WildCat]

no assault riffle in my house

How do you keep the neighborhood kids off your lawn?

 

[brodski]

How do you keep the neighbohood kids off your lawn?

Land-mines.

 

[Cleon]

Duh - the best place to keep your assault rifle is under your pillow.

 

[bozothedeathmachine]

i did not serve in the Army, i am a member of the Zivilschutz. (civilprotection)

The Zivilschutz is responsible for checking all the public bomb shelters in the communities, correct? Why not keep the rifles in the shelters? It keeps them in the community if they are needed, and does not make them immediately accessible for someone who's in a bad mood.

Now, as to who would be the gatekeeper for the shelters, no idea.

 

[DC]

How do you keep the neighborhood kids off your lawn?

I let them play with the dog

 

[DC]

The Zivilschutz is responsible for checking all the public bomb shelters in the communities, correct? Why not keep the rifles in the shelters? It keeps them in the community if they are needed, and does not make them immediately accessible for someone who's in a bad mood.

Now, as to who would be the gatekeeper for the shelters, no idea.

yes, thats part of our duty.

keeping them in the shelters is no option, as often the shelters are used as basement to store stuff. thus those guns would be more save in the apartments. the shelters are not closed , they must be accessable.

 

[Flo]

Please forgive my ignorance. As mentioned above, if there is no need to access the weapons immediately for defence, I think they should be kept at an armory. They are required for purposes of defence and unless those purposes require the guns to be taken home, they don't need to be .

¨


The average Swiss citizen, when notified 1 month in advance he has to report for his two-yearly 2 weeks service period, spends on average

- 1 week whining about it, trying to find an excuse not to go (work, illness, 5th grandmother on her deathbed, whatever) and having his boss write his captain about it.
- 1 week hoping for a positive answer.
- 1 week fuming about the negative answer.
- 1 frantic week trying to remember where his rucksack, uniform - including the damned belt -, rifle, various part of said rifle, ammunitions, and other stuff he'll need for inspection are stored (cellar ? attic ? garage ? daughter's house ? ...), then pestering his wife/girlfriend into having it cleaned and ironed, or more often to buy new shirts, pants, shoes, and trying to find an excuse for not finding that ****** belt !


Brought to you courtesy from years of experiences with a father, brother, 5 cousins, and several friends ...

 

[Flo]

The Zivilschutz is responsible for checking all the public bomb shelters in the communities, correct? Why not keep the rifles in the shelters? It keeps them in the community if they are needed, and does not make them immediately accessible for someone who's in a bad mood.

Wrong. It makes them accessible to all the women who use the shelters to store food and spare furniture, and then inaccessible to the men who need them for their regular military periods.

That is when there's still space to store food or furniture despite the teenager's music equipment taking all the space ...

 

[malbui]

As a foreigner who has worked in Switzerland for the last dozen years, I've always been baffled by the business of reservists keeping their weapons at home. There's no way they would ever be called upon to mobilise rapidly: firstly if Switzerland did ever get attacked it would see its major cities wiped out from the air in the first ten minutes; and secondly the idea of having a mass fundamentally infantry militia as an effective fighting force has been recognised as useless since the Crimean War (not that that stopped hundreds of thousands of poor bastards being marched forwards to their deaths during WW1, of course). So keep the weapons locked up at the barracks, safely out of harm's way.