www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/02/europe/EU_GEN_Switzerland_Soldiers_Rifles.php
Swiss defense minister rejects calls to stop soldiers storing rifles at home
The Associated Press
Published: September 2, 2006
ZURICH, Switzerland Swiss soldiers should continue to store their army-issue rifle at home, defense minister Samuel Schmid said, rejecting calls for the weapons to be kept in military storage to reduce Switzerland's high rate of suicide by firearms.
In an interview published Saturday in the daily Tages-Anzeiger, Schmid said storing soldiers' rifles away from their homes "would not solve the underlying social problem" of suicide.
Researchers at the University of Zurich published a study recently which showed that every day one person in Switzerland commits suicide with a firearm, usually a military weapon.
The data, published in the current edition of the American Journal of Public Health, showed that the Alpine republic and the United States have the world's highest suicide rate involving firearms. The researchers blamed the countries' liberal gun ownership laws.
By contrast, Australia and Canada significantly reduced the rate of successful suicides in the late 1980s by limiting the availability of guns in private households.
Following the publication of the report, left-wing politicians called for all military weapons to be securely stored outside soldiers' homes.
But Schmid said the militia army needed to be able to mobilize rapidly, "for example to quickly protect airports and train stations."
All able-bodied Swiss males aged between 20 and 30 are conscripted for about three months and issued with a rifle, to be used only in the event of an alert.
After their initial training, the conscripts are required to do three or four weeks of army service every year until they have served a total of 260 days or reached the age of 34. Throughout this time they keep their rifles and 50 rounds of ammunition at home.
ZURICH, Switzerland Swiss soldiers should continue to store their army-issue rifle at home, defense minister Samuel Schmid said, rejecting calls for the weapons to be kept in military storage to reduce Switzerland's high rate of suicide by firearms.
In an interview published Saturday in the daily Tages-Anzeiger, Schmid said storing soldiers' rifles away from their homes "would not solve the underlying social problem" of suicide.
Researchers at the University of Zurich published a study recently which showed that every day one person in Switzerland commits suicide with a firearm, usually a military weapon.
The data, published in the current edition of the American Journal of Public Health, showed that the Alpine republic and the United States have the world's highest suicide rate involving firearms. The researchers blamed the countries' liberal gun ownership laws.
By contrast, Australia and Canada significantly reduced the rate of successful suicides in the late 1980s by limiting the availability of guns in private households.
Swiss defense minister rejects calls to stop soldiers storing rifles at home
The Associated Press
Published: September 2, 2006
ZURICH, Switzerland Swiss soldiers should continue to store their army-issue rifle at home, defense minister Samuel Schmid said, rejecting calls for the weapons to be kept in military storage to reduce Switzerland's high rate of suicide by firearms.
In an interview published Saturday in the daily Tages-Anzeiger, Schmid said storing soldiers' rifles away from their homes "would not solve the underlying social problem" of suicide.
Researchers at the University of Zurich published a study recently which showed that every day one person in Switzerland commits suicide with a firearm, usually a military weapon.
The data, published in the current edition of the American Journal of Public Health, showed that the Alpine republic and the United States have the world's highest suicide rate involving firearms. The researchers blamed the countries' liberal gun ownership laws.
By contrast, Australia and Canada significantly reduced the rate of successful suicides in the late 1980s by limiting the availability of guns in private households.
Following the publication of the report, left-wing politicians called for all military weapons to be securely stored outside soldiers' homes.
But Schmid said the militia army needed to be able to mobilize rapidly, "for example to quickly protect airports and train stations."
All able-bodied Swiss males aged between 20 and 30 are conscripted for about three months and issued with a rifle, to be used only in the event of an alert.
After their initial training, the conscripts are required to do three or four weeks of army service every year until they have served a total of 260 days or reached the age of 34. Throughout this time they keep their rifles and 50 rounds of ammunition at home.
ZURICH, Switzerland Swiss soldiers should continue to store their army-issue rifle at home, defense minister Samuel Schmid said, rejecting calls for the weapons to be kept in military storage to reduce Switzerland's high rate of suicide by firearms.
In an interview published Saturday in the daily Tages-Anzeiger, Schmid said storing soldiers' rifles away from their homes "would not solve the underlying social problem" of suicide.
Researchers at the University of Zurich published a study recently which showed that every day one person in Switzerland commits suicide with a firearm, usually a military weapon.
The data, published in the current edition of the American Journal of Public Health, showed that the Alpine republic and the United States have the world's highest suicide rate involving firearms. The researchers blamed the countries' liberal gun ownership laws.
By contrast, Australia and Canada significantly reduced the rate of successful suicides in the late 1980s by limiting the availability of guns in private households.
