u/fried-raptor

Sister Republics. The United States and Switzerland share a deep historical and constitutional link, copying major elements of their constitution from each other.

Switzerland is the most armed, but also the safest country in Europe. Which begs the question of how that compares to the US?

Comparing guns per capita is misleading, as the US has many gun collectors owning hundreds of weapons. In Switzerland, the guns are more evenly distributed among the population. For example, all Swiss men are required to serve in the army and keep an assault rifle at home after service. What truly matters is firearm access, or households with access to a firearm.

HOUSEHOLDS WITH FIREARM ACCESS (% of population)
Switzerland🇨🇭 29% ###############
United States🇺🇸 44% ######################

How often are guns used for homicide?

FIREARM HOMICIDES (per 100,000 people per year)
Switzerland🇨🇭 0.13 #
United States🇺🇸 5.60 ###########################################

We can therefore calculate the ratios.

U.S. / Switzerland	Ratio
Firearm access	1.52×
Firearm homicide	43.1×

Comparing homicide clearance rates.

	🇨🇭 Switzerland	🇺🇸 United States
Homicide clearance rate	94%	61.4%
Not cleared	~6%	~38.6%

The U.S. gun debate often focuses on the guns while overlooking the deeper problem: the country has unusually high levels of criminals and social dysfunction, and low homicide clearance rates. People who are already willing to commit serious crimes are also the least likely to obey gun restrictions. That means laws aimed primarily at reducing legal gun ownership will disarm compliant citizens more effectively than criminals, without addressing the underlying problems.

https://www.swissstats.bfs.admin.ch/data/webviewer/appId/ch.admin.bfs.swissstat/article/issue21000252100-23/package

https://news.gallup.com/poll/513623/majority-continues-favor-stricter-gun-laws.aspx

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db526.htm

https://pure.rug.nl/ws/portalfiles/portal/1087995863/1-s2.0-S1359178924000776-main.pdf