I thought I mentioned that the swiss do not attribute their low violent crime rate primarily to their degree of weaponry. The paper I read quoted swiss authorities as saying the primary thing they thought kept their crime rate down was the fact that most swiss live in the same general area most of their lives. They do not have a mobile population.

The second thing mentioned was the ready availability of firearms. Tertiary was that the swiss population is relatively homogeneous despite diverse ancestry.

I’m sure the individuals you talked to mentioned that the seals were on the auto switch only? If we want to compare apples to apples, we can look for data in areas where guns laws have been changed. It may not be the data we want to make our own point, but it would have a degree of consistently that would be helpful in determining reality.

Thank you La Shawn, for allowing this discussion.

I wanted to buy a handgun when an old boyfriend broke a restraining order, but my male friends convinced me to buy a 20-gauge shotgun instead. I shot it once… Scared the bejesus out of me! But because they cared for me, and knew I lacked firearm skills, they reasoned that all I’d have to do is grab that sucker and fire in the general direction of the intruder. They also said – like so many others here on LBC – if someone hears you cocking a shotgun, they’ll likely hightail it outta there before you get a chance to shoot. I couldn’t argue with that philosophy. I keep it beside my bed at night in case I ever need it. So far I haven’t had to use it… Could be because I no longer live in Durham!

Women with guns don’t get raped!

I know, I know ….where are my statistics ???

Eric, I’m completely biased as to the “proper” handgun. I refuse to own a handgun unless it’s a semi-auto, a revolver, a derringer, or a single-shot.

That being said, I would recommend a revolver for anyone who is not a regular (twice a month) shooter. I bought my wife a Taurus 605 and she loves it. I liked is so much, I bought one for myself. A semi-auto is like a SLR in that it takes a little more effort to master. A revolver is like a point and shoot camera, you just load it, point, and click.

Maybe there might be a slight reason to care about ‘how they do things’ in other countries after all?

Even I’m not too proud to learn by either my mistakes, or others…

That “seal” is to switch the weapon from semi-automatic to fully automatic fire, a procedure that must be authorized by a militia officer. But semi-auto and bolt action rifles are without such restrictions, and widely owned by private citizens. Handgun permits are issued to anyone without a criminal record. There is a firearm in Switzerland for every two people, yet the crime rate with firearms is so low as to be almost non-existent.

I will check out Tomas Sowell’s short articles. Thanks.

I did talk to some Swiss friends yesterday. They are here doing cancer research at a nearby university. They explained gun ownership in Switzerland. There are lots of rifels in people’s homes because the army keeps them there with the reserves. These weapons have a seal that if you break you go to jail.

They also were amazed at how easy weapons were to buy in the US. They mentiond the ease of buying a hand gun in particular. In Switzerland you need a license, and to take a test, even to keep it in your home. Almost no one is issued a carry permit. If you want to hunt you must also have a license, and it is contingent on your belonging to a club where you can use the gun to hunt.

Expense is also an issue in Switzerland. Guns there are very expensive, they say.

After talking to my friends it is clear to me that the Swiss example, of a safe place where guns are prevalent, is not comperable to the US. Perhaps Canada is a closer parallel.

As for handguns, the .45 ACP is one of the finest sidearm cartridges ever designed. My old military 1911A1 pistol has been tuned and polished so that it will digest any ammunition without jamming. The combination of the 1911A1 design and the .45 ACP cartridge is simply (in my humble and unbiased opinion) the best thing going in a sidearm. For concealed carry it’s a bit bulky, but that can be solved with the new compact frame designs out there. Springfield and Kimber have some nice ones.

One reason oft stated for the military leaving the .45 and going to the lesser 9mm, that the 9mm is “easier” to handle, has never made any sense. Sounds like lowering the training standards to me.

I don’t own any of the “compromise” calibers like .38, .357, 9mm; only .44 and .45 stuff, plus a couple of .22s for plinking. My favorite handgun (just for fun) is my Navy Arms .44 Walker Colt, a nearly 5 pound black powder hand cannon with a 9″ barrel. It’s bigger than Dirty Harry’s S&W .44 magnum. When it goes off, with a big cloud of greasy smoke and the sound of a field artillery piece, there’s no mistaking it for anything else.

Shooting isn’t everything.

Never underestimate the power of a good pistol-whipping.

(Just kidding!)

My concern for the home was jamming. I’ve shot enough of them and jamming has been an issue.

The .357 mag. and anything from .40 up has the potential to knock down an attacker with almost any hit. It’s why the Army went to .45 when they were facing an enemy high on drugs in the Philippines. You might face the same situation.

Stopping power is important but if you can’t handle something that size, then stopping power doesn’t matter if can’t hit the target.

In my state I would have to get a permit from the sheriffs department to purchase a handgun. I think that’s good. But I have this suspicion in the back of my mind that those who advocate gun control want a lot more than that. D.C. was a good trial. Handguns were banned. Did it drop the incidence of gun crime?