Easy access to army guns said to increase Swiss suicide rate
The suicide rate using a gun is considerably higher among Swiss men than men in other European countries. This is probably down to easier access to firearms linked to military conscription, according to a report in the journal Swiss Medical Weekly.
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Acesso fácil a armas do exército aumenta taxa de suicídio dos suíços
The report, “Suicide in Switzerland: why gun ownership can be deadlyExternal link”, was written by a researcher from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and is based on studies of gun violence in the US and Europe. It shows that one third (33.6%) of male suicides in Switzerland are caused by firearms, compared with 9.7% in the rest of Europe. This mainly concerns the 20-35 age group.
“The likely reason for this discrepancy is the easy access to guns for Swiss men,” it said. “Whereas such access is severely restricted in most European countries, this is not the case in Switzerland.”
All able-bodied Swiss men must do military service and have the option of keeping their army rifle at home. The vast majority do. After they retire from the army they can hang on to their rifles. However, ammunition may not be taken home; it is stored in central armouries.
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Soldiers prefer to keep guns at home than in barracks
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The vast majority of Swiss militia soldiers prefer to store their weapons at home rather than at a local military base. The government introduced this option in 2010 to improve firearm safety. As of the end of June 2016, only 789 army guns out of a total of 170,000 in circulation (0.5%) had been handed…
The study addressed the question of how people could kill themselves with an army weapon if they had no ammunition.
“Apart from the fact that this ammunition can easily be bought in gun shops, and that soldiers often take ammunition home during their time of service, it seems that at least by November 2009, 60,000 tins of ammunition previously distributed, each containing 50 cartridges, had not been returned,” it said.
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“An analysis of suicide rates before and after the reform indicated that male (but not female) suicide rates decreased by 8%, with no evidence of substitution with other means of suicide. If the army would require that the remaining half of conscripts had to keep their weapons at their barracks rather than at home, a further decrease in male suicide rates could be expected,” it concluded.
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.