Call to Arms or Arms to Recall?
There are over 11,000 annual gun murders in the United States, making gun violence an incontrovertibly critical issue. The issue has roughly divided the country into two camps. The first espouses that the only solution to gun violence is government firearm control; the second suggests the only answer to an armed criminal is an equally armed citizen. Most Democrats argue that background checks, waiting periods, and bans on high capacity magazines protect people from gun violence. Most Republicans contend that any government regulation of gun trade violates the second amendment. Both of these approaches to gun violence are wrong. The ideal solution is deeply pro-gun while acknowledging the value of government oversight.
Switzerland does not have a standing military. Instead, every male citizen is trained to use and can legally acquire assault weapons. While Switzerland allows civilians to own assault weapons to protect their homes and country, the government takes four preventive gun control measures to prevent high homicide rates. First, all gun owners must undergo psychiatric evaluations to prove mental stability. Second, each individual can only own three weapons. Third, all weapons must have serial number registration allowing government regulation of firearm distribution. Finally, all gun-owners must have had training and take annual refresher courses. These caveats prevent irresponsible gun ownership from culminating in mass shootings.
Government’s purpose is to protect individuals. It must infringe on gun ownership rights, ever so slightly, to protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Republicans should retreat from their rigid interpretation of the 2nd Amendment and move towards the idea of practical ownership. Democrats should embrace elements of gun culture because the Swiss gun experiment is proof that, with oversight, individuals can responsibly own high capacity weaponry.
Gun control proponents argue that the Swiss example will not work in the United States due to our lack of national service requirements and larger population. Swiss law requires all male citizens to undergo a twenty-one week course in which they are taught to handle, fire, and maintain assault weapons. The United States lacks a draft or a gun ownership training program, which can explain the homicide disparity. Assault weapon opponents argue that loose gun laws account for the disparity between the almost 11,000 people killed by guns per year in the United States versus only sixty in Britain, which bans most firearms. These numbers account for neither per capita gun murders nor total homicide statistics that stem from gun regulation. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, there were only fifty-three total homicides in Switzerland in 2012. The UK, France and Italy have all banned civilian gun ownership and seen their homicide rates rise to 722, 682 and 529 in 2012, respectively.
It is easy to see why gun bans fail. Fear of fatal retaliation deters crime. Mutiny in modern militaries is nonexistent because of its fatal consequences. When everyone knows that everyone else is likely a trained and armed military officer, the law becomes a deterrent against crime. Conversely, gun bans disarm people who want to defend themselves legally. Banning guns will drive them into an underground market, much like drugs, gambling or prostitution. Criminals will acquire their weapons illegally, leaving the government with no record of their existence. Criminals who illegally acquire their weapons know that their victims have less self-defense capability, making gun owners more likely to assault unarmed civilians. Not only would a privatized Swiss style military reduce crime, it would save billions of dollars on defense.
The federal government should mandate that all retroactive and current gun owners either relinquish their weapons or go through a Swiss-style training course. This program would initially be a new federal expenditure but can eventually become revenue neutral by reallocating some military spending. Our defense budget can afford cuts when Americans become responsible for their own security. In the wake of rising gun violence, a government-trained private military can no longer be a pro-gun pipe dream, but rather the American reality.