[mmmpop]

If you were an officer of the law pressed to go door-to-door to say, purely hypothetically, take the oldest child by force to inscribe them in some dystopian military program, you'd probably be a lot more hesitant if you knew that there was a chance you'd get shot in the process right?

I believe that's the security that us Americans (I imagine your sneer with that) feel by being armed.

Isn't it that the Swiss are all armed as well? They seem to have fared rather well in a 20th century Europe fraught with conflict. Tell me that's a coincidence with absolutely no correlation to their pro-gun culture.

[mike00632]

There is a reason why you have to resort to "pure hypotheticals" and you should dwell on that.

[betwixthewires]

Every authoritarian regime is a pure hypothetical until it is not. I believe that the US has not fallen to that, partly, because the population is armed to the teeth.

[PhineasRex]

Switzerland has heavy restrictions on owning ammunition, it is not comparable to the US

[spyder]

It also makes it more likely that innocent people gets shot by police because they could have a weapon on them, and this is not hypothetical.

[ahtihn]

Swiss gun culture has nothing to do with American gun culture. Guns are for hunting and sport that's it.

Essentially no one even thinks of getting a gun for self defence. There also has never been an idea that guns are for defending yourself against your own government here.

[beerandt]

Yet every swiss male citizen does military training and is issued a weapon to keep, to use in staying proficient.

There's no need for a military culture, when the government has already mandated it for you.

Not that it isn't popular:

>On September 22, 2013, a referendum that aimed to abolish conscription was held in Switzerland. However, the referendum failed with over 73% of the electorate voting against it, showing strong support for conscription of men in Switzerland.

[ahtihn]

Military service isn't popular at all, but the majority of people do agree that it's necessary to have a military and they don't want a professional army. So that leaves the current system.

[beerandt]

The popular mechanism remains- there's no need to encourage a voluntary interest in military culture and therefore military readiness, when it's already a popular idea to mandate the readiness.

In the absence of that mandate, there would be a vacuum in which citizens suddenly have self-interest in promoting voluntary readiness, which is implemented culturally.

[mmmpop]

> Guns are for hunting and sport that's it.

I'm not sure your source but you should double-check it; it's entirely incorrect.

> There also has never been an idea that guns are for defending yourself against your own government here.

Says who? Are you Swiss?

[ahtihn]

I am Swiss yes and have done military service.