Re: Guns [was Re: property Rights]

KPJ (kpj@sics.se)
Fri, 28 May 1999 11:56:54 +0200

Somebody appears to haver written:
|
|2) Have you pro gun activists got any idea how completely mad you
|sound to non Americans?
|
|The USA is one of the top gun-owning countries, but there are others
|which have as high or higher rates of gun ownership. Switzerland and
|Afghanistan, for instance, though those two countries could hardly be
|more different from each other. In Switzerland, target shooting is a
|popular sport, with a patriotic flavor. Most adult males (up to 50 years
|of age) are members of the militia and normally keep a military rifle at
|home. Switzerland claims that it can mobilize a 600,000 man force in 48
|hours.

It appears as if Rick <Rick@cyborg.force9.net> commented:
|
|If this is true, then why does Switzerland not have a terrible history of
|school murders and psychotic teenagers branding the weapons of their 'decent
|normal FREE citizen' parents. The reason is because their society isn't
|as screwed up like in the US.

The Swiss "social contract" differs very much from the U.S. "social contract".

In Switzerland, one have a rather rigid social context to adhere to, which might give various U.S. citizens a feeling of claustrophobia after a while.

This creates a firmer social fabric than in the freedom oriented U.S.