International News
See other International News Articles
Title: Swiss Vote to Keep Guns at Home (Militia defeats gun grabing socialists)
Source:
The Wall Street Journal
URL Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100 ... 3515504576142190857662716.html
Published: Feb 13, 2011
Author: DEBORAH BALL
Post Date: 2011-02-13 14:48:44 by Hondo68
Keywords: men between 18 and 30, three months military training, Swiss militiamen
Views: 48150
Comments: 55
ZURICH—Following an emotional debate over gun control, Swiss voters firmly rejected a referendum that would have forced soldiers to end the longstanding practice of keeping army-issue firearms at home and tightened restrictions over civilian gun ownership. According to exit polls, 57% of voters rejected the initiative. The referendum sparked a heated debate over the right to bear arms in a country that has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world. Between 1.2 million and 4.5 million firearms are estimated to be in circulation in Switzerland, putting the Alpine country behind only the U.S. and Yemen in guns per capita. The number is particularly high because members of the Swiss militia have traditionally keep their army-issued rifles or pistols at home, to be ready to defend the nation at a moment's notice. Switzerland has virtually no standing army, relying instead on conscripted militia for national defense. All Swiss men between 18 and 30 years old are called up to do three months' military training, followed by regular refresher courses. The notion of the citizen-soldier is a cornerstone of Switzerland's armed neutrality policy. For decades, Swiss militiamen kept their army-issued firearms stashed in closets or under beds at home. But support for keeping so many guns at home has eroded, with opposition led by women, doctors and police, who claim that the easy availability of arms facilitates domestic violence, suicides and homicides. They contested the need to keep guns at home given that Switzerland hasn't come under threat since World War II. Opponents of the referendum argued that the initiative was tantamount to a vote of no confidence in the Swiss army. Each side used stark images to sway voters. The referendum's supporters used a teddy bear with blood dripping from a hole in its chest, brandishing the motto, "Protect your family." A right-wing group's posters featured a man with dark glasses pointing a gun at the viewer, a play on anti-immigrant sentiment. The Swiss government opposed the referendum, arguing that soldiers are now allowed to store their weapons on base and that civilian gun possession laws—once very liberal—are now tight enough. The "no" vote exceeded 70% in some rural cantons, which are more conservative and are the home to many shooting clubs. The Swiss people won't let themselves "be disarmed," said Jakob Buchler, a leader of the conservative Democratic People's Party.
Poster Comment: 
Swiss Militiaman Shopping
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 55.
#42. To: hondo68 (#0)
Hitler invaded the largely German speaking Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. He invaded the German speaking Austria. However, he never invaded the largely German speaking Switzerland. Why? Because they all had guns in their closet. This is the lesson from history that we must understand.
Why? Because they all had guns in their closet. That's a myth. Hitler nor any German general or statesment ever said that or thought that. Hitler never wanted war with the West. He wanted to move eastward and attack the USSR and take their land. Germany did not declare war on France or the British. It is was those nations that declared war on Germany, which suprised Hitler that they did so on behalf of Poland. All other western battles (from Norway to the Balkans) were a result of Germany securing their flanks. The Allies were planning to invade Norway to block Swedish iron ore. Germany invaded the Balkans because Italy was losing her war against Greece and the English were landing there while he was preparing to invade the USSR. When Hitler thought the war with France and England was almost over he invaded his real target - the USSR. Hitler did not want to rule over all Germans like the Swiss. He wanted to expand eastwards and gain land. Hitler wanting to "liberate" the Sudetenland was racially motivated - the Nazis did not like the idea of so called Aryans ruled by what he thought were sub-human Slavs.
Germany did not declare war on France or the British. You've entirely missed the point as usual. I never mentioned anything about the U.K. or France one. Here is what I DID say: It was Hitler's goal to unify all of the ethnic German in Europe into a "greater-Germany. Hitler DID marched into German-speaking Austria. Hitler DID march into the German-speaking Sudetenland. Hitler never marched into German speaking Switzerland. Why? Because the population was well armed. Those are called facts.
That part of my comment was aimed at FerretMike, in that Hitler did not want war with France or England and invading Poland was not a trick that he did to force France and England to declare war on Germany. I frankly have no clue where FM pulled that from. As for you, jw, your assertion Hitler was held back by Swiss force of arms is false. We don't know what Hitler would have done if he defeated the USSR but I am sure after that threat was eliminated the Swiss may have been rolled over but that is speculation. The Swiss, serving as a neutral financial center at this time was much more important to Germany while war was being waged and she was denied access to foreign financial markets (Germany funded her embassies via Swiss bank transfers for example and did this with payments of gold - German Marks were no longer accepted internationally).
he Swiss, serving as a neutral financial center at this time was much more important to Germany while war was being waged Textbooks in Germany included Holland, Belgium, Austria, Bohemia-Moravia, the German-speaking parts of Switzerland, and western Poland from Danzig to Krakow in maps of Greater Germany... Germany started planning the invasion of Switzerland on 25 June 1940, the day France surrendered. The third of these plans was called Operation Tannenbaum. The plan was submitted by 12th Army on 6 September 1940 to Army Group C. There are several possible reasons that the Germans did not execute the plan... ...While the Swiss military was markedly inferior to German forces in artillery and aircraft, to control the nation the Germans would have had to destroy a large and well-trained infantry force drawn directly from the Swiss population. The small arms of the Swiss, including the Schmidt-Rubin repeating rifle, were equal or superior to the best German small arms of the early war period, and Swiss marksmanship was well established. The example of the Winter War showed how a similar force of trained riflemen could stop a much larger, better equipped army. While revisionists have questioned the notion that Swiss rifles stopped the invasion, there can be no doubt that an invasion would have cost the Germans troops and resources needed elsewhere because of those rifles. Had there been no meaningful Swiss military force, the potential invasion would have been considerably less costly.
LOL - you post some war geek's ramblings as authoritative history? In June of 1940, all that remained, surrounded by enemies, was the Swiss Confederation. Riiiiiiiiiiiiight. Because Hitler had no plans to invade the USSR - his obsession since he became politically aware............ What next, nimrod? Posting Wikipedia as your source? The real reason Hitler did not invade the Swiss? Why bother at that time? The Swiss were more valuable to the German war effort as an neutral independent nation. I know you want to make it a pro-gun and pro-militia thing but that had zero to do with anything.
There are no replies to Comment # 55. End Trace Mode for Comment # 55.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#44. To: jwpegler, hondo68 (#42)
(Edited)
Hitler invaded the largely German speaking Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. He invaded the German speaking Austria. However, he never invaded the largely German speaking Switzerland.
#52. To: Godwinson (#44)
Hitler never wanted war with the West. He wanted to move eastward and attack the USSR and take their land.
#53. To: jwpegler, Ferret Mike (#52)
Here is what I DID say: It was Hitler's goal to unify all of the ethnic German in Europe into a "greater-Germany. Hitler DID marched into German-speaking Austria. Hitler DID march into the German-speaking Sudetenland. Hitler never marched into German speaking Switzerland. Why? Because the population was well armed.
#54. To: Godwinson (#53)
your assertion Hitler was held back by Swiss force of arms is false
#55. To: jwpegler (#54)
(Edited)
Replies to Comment # 55.
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]