[TheCoelacanth]

Switzerland has very high rates of fun ownership, but their laws are far from lax. They are much stricter than the US.

You need a permit to buy anything other than a hunting rifle. You can't buy a gun if you have been convicted of a crime, have an alcohol or drug addiction or express a dangerous attitude.

You generally can't carry a gun except when going to and from hunting or a shooting range and you can't have the gun loaded in transit.

It's also compulsory for most male citizens to learn to handle a gun safely, something which the US doesn't require even if you buy a gun.

[yjftsjthsd-h]

> You need a permit to buy anything other than a hunting rifle. You can't buy a gun if you have been convicted of a crime, have an alcohol or drug addiction or express a dangerous attitude.

...as opposed to the US? Do you think you can just buy a machine gun over the counter without any checks in the states?

[tialaramex]

Not an actual machine gun (a weapon specifically designed for automatic high rate of fire), no.

The US Supreme Court has repeatedly struck down reasonable restrictions for hand guns and rifles though, and seems likely to conclude that modifying a weapon to in effect become fully automatic is somehow OK. This creates a convenient gap which I don't think a reasonable person can believe is a mistake.

[TheCoelacanth]

You don't need a permit to buy a handgun (i.e. the ones used for nearly all of the crimes) in the US to my knowledge.

[ThunderSizzle]

You don't need a permit to buy a gun, depending on the state, but you do need to pass a background check, show an ID, and if you wish to carry it outside your house, you probably need a permit, again depending on the state and whether you wish to conceal or open carry.

[TheCoelacanth]

37 out of 50 states do not require a permit for open carry.

30 out of 50 states allow purchasing a gun from a private seller without a background check.

There is simply no basis for the claim that US and Swiss gun laws are comparable.