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Sure, Hitler could have taken Switzerland. It's just that the cost was too high. One comment from his staff was "Switzerland doesn't have an army, Switzerland is an army." That country has roughly one gun for every three people, many of them full automatic army-issued assault rifles. Military basic training is universal for men, and when they go home from boot camp, they take the rifle they learned on and keep it the rest of their lives. Shooting is a national pastime with local and regional contests most weekends. When the military upgrades their arms, they sell off the other guns to their people. The suicide rate is average for Europe, although gun suicides are higher. The crime rate is very low, and gun crimes are almost unheard of. The Swiss even contend that most of the criminals are not native Swiss.
There is no gun registration yet, but like in the US, the left keeps chipping away. In 2007 a law was passed making it a requirement that military ammunition be stored on bases, rather than in the homes. The citizens kept their guns, and I assume, a clip or two of ammo, but now the bulk of what they could shoot is aggregated on the bases "for safety". A referendum is soon to be scheduled to ask the Swiss if they now want to require that all military weapons also be stored on military bases. Since the majority of guns folks have at home now are their government issued rifles, most of the citizens would then be disarmed. What would be gained? Switzerland is already one of the safest places on earth. I can't intellectually grasp the compulsion to disarm regular folk. They are not the problem.
Back here in the US, a bill is working its way through congress called H.R. 45: the Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009. This measure seeks to create licensing for all purchasers of firearms and registration of all guns purchased going forward. Within two years, all previously purchased guns must be registered or the owners will be fined or imprisoned for failure to do so. Bring on the whipping boy! To make America safer, lets add further expense and burden to law abiding citizens. Let's create a license to buy which can then be rescinded at will, and have a list of where the good guys keep their guns so we can round them up. (Remember, in New Orleans the police attempted to round up all the guns to keep violence down after Katrina. It can happen here.) This bill is currently in the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. It is sponsored by Representative Bobby Rush, a former Black Panther. While this bill is not on the fast track, it is real and could pass out of committee at any time. We need to act quickly and strongly to stop this. It is easier to control a brushfire at the beginning. Please write to the Democratic members of the committee, or call them and tell them you don't want this legislation. We need to let them know there is vehement opposition to a measure that will effectively geld the 2nd Amendment.
Comments
Gee, the government wants us all to register ourselves with the government, specifically divulging any and all information appertaining to our ability to resist the continued predations of said government? Didn't some old dead white guys warn us about that long ago and far away?
Pssh. I must be dreaming. Times are different now, you see. King George may have been a real tyrant, but now we have people in office who know what they're doing. What could possibly go wrong with granting a monopoly of force to the government? It's not like it's ever gone wrong before, right?
Strange...it's like I suddenly hear tens of millions of dead people, murdered by their own governments, and they're trying to tell me something. Well, I suppose I should tune them out and get back to proper hero worship of this "newer and better" state, lest I start to get, you know, ideas.
There will be violence if they do not desist. I promise it.
As somebody of Germanic Swiss heritage from the Glarus region:
There is a story told among the Swiss about a visit from Kaiser Wilhelm at the turn of the century to view the Swiss militia in training. The Kaiser asked the Swiss commander how many men he had under arms. The commander said, "1 million," referring to the male Swiss population.
The Kaiser then asked what would happen if 5 million German soldiers crossed the Swiss border tomorrow. The commander answered, "Each of my men would fire five shots and go home."
Most feel the same today. the story is likely true, at least on some levels. Note that the only people that bothered the Swiss in close to recent times were the French and in return for their efforts Switzerland gained additional territory from France when the ceasefire was called.
as an addendum: I saw one gunfight (aberrant thing, but I have odd luck about such things at times) once between a shopkeeper and mafia types from Eastern Europe in Zurich which was quickly ended. I've seen an extended road and street gun battle in Pretoria (not so aberrant but still unusual in scale).
When I lived in Chicago near UIC, briefly, I heard gun battles most every day and night, saw looting and overturning and burning of cars when the Bulls won, and nobody is allowed to have guns there.
Go figure...
I personally don't like guns because they're too heavy on my waist. To keep from one side sagging, I've got to stock a second arm, but that in turn sags by britches even further. How do you guys deal?
the usa has totally lost it's mind. We are going to un-arm normal everyday people and then take their money for stupid things like stem-cells. In turn they will become poor and more dependant on the government for health care and welfare....while at the same time becoming more and more exposed to attacks Is it just me or does this all sound like it's going down hill extremely fast.
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