The Davos Shooting Club at Davos Monstein is rather alarming, as the shooting benches for the 300 metre range are on one side of the main road and railway, and the targets the other side. Check it out on GoogleMaps.
Everybody shoots in Switzerland and it is taken very seriously. The population is 8.3 million, and they own 2 million guns, but gun crime is extremely rare. Suicides on the other hand are rather high, and most gun deaths in the country are due to people deliberately taking their own lives. Military service is mandatory for men, who are all taught to shoot pistols or rifles. Many men keep their service weapons after they have done their national service stint.
Most weapons require a licence, with background checks and registration on a local list. Hunting rifles are a notable exception to this. Gun owners also have to pass a test to demonstrate they can use the weapon safely and competently. Anyone with a criminal record or addiction issues is not permitted to own a gun.
Guns are generally not kept at home, and it is illegal to carry a weapon on the street. Guns kept at home can be transported to the shooting range by car, but they must be unloaded, and you can't stop off to run an errand or have a coffee.
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10 comments:
The NRA must be fuming there is nothing it can do about it.
Although it should be noted that Switzerland and the US have one problem in common due to high gun ownership -- men killing themselves.
My understanding is that, even in the UK, at least one group of those who are allowed to hold a gun illegally (farmers and their shotguns) have a high rate of suicide.
Yes, exactly. Where there are guns, most of the deaths by shooting are of men shooting themselves.
I rode past this in 2004 riding south out of Davos. Saw the things on the hillside and recognized them as targets. But where were the shooting positions? I stopped and looked behind me and there they were on the other side of the road up on the hillside. Road traffic isn't visible from the shooting stations.
I've since seen quite a number of other ranges beside the road with the most notable being the fortress of Mesocco where they shoot across the Autostrada (which is FAR below the line of fire) at targets on the opposing mountainside.
Michael: It is rather disconcerting, isn't it?!
I don't find it disconcerting in the least. The range operates safely with no possibility of danger to the populace. This is, of course, assuming that no one is going to do anything overtly stupid.
Michael: Well, it was unusual enough that you stopped to check where the other half of it was. I'd say you were disconcerted, at least briefly...:-)
More bemused than disconcerted. As a lifelong shooter I rather envy the Swiss in their practicality. Now that I know what to look for (and where to look) I've seen many similar ranges, although most don't involve shooting over traffic.
Michael: Bemused is a good word.
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