History of Weapons in Switzerland

Note: "History of weapons in Switzerland" is the second part of a bigger article. If you just want to read about that, you can scroll down.

"When talking about firearms, we often compare Switzerland and the US – one of the most heavily armed populations in the world.

"Despite a large number of weapons in circulation in both countries, there are – proportionally – more gun-related deaths in the US than in Switzerland. Even though the Zug parliament shooting has left its mark, this is the only mass murder that has taken place within Switzerland in recent years.

Each year, slightly over 200 deaths are caused by firearms in Switzerland, but about 90% of these are suicides.

Meanwhile in the US, several tens of thousands of people are dying from guns as a result of mass shootings or other accidents. In 2015 alone, the Federal Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 36,252 such deaths in the country. In the same year, ‘only’ 231 people died from gunshot wounds in Switzerland."

Population US in 2015 : 321'000'000 Population CH in 2015 : 8'238'000

US rate in 2015 : 0,011293 % CH rate in 2015 : 0,002804 %