Hello SMLPSA Membership,
Sorry I haven’t published a newsletter in a few months but between working pretty much full time hours at Safeside Tactical and my bad shoulder, I haven’t had the time or energy to sit at the computer and type for long periods. We started the New Year off with a slightly different weekly range schedule and have not seen much activity at the range, other than the bi-weekly shooting league. I also have not seen much activity on Saturday when we are open the longest. I know it’s been cold, and the last month has been snowy, but we still would like to have more activity and use of the range during scheduled coverage hours. We now have over 200 members again with renewals, and new memberships so our yearly support remains pretty steady. DCJS activity is way down at the range with one Instructor only holding special event classes on Sunday’s and the other having small classes a couple of times a month. There are other people interested in using the range who have contacted us, but no commitments have been made. We also went to a lot of work to hold a large specialty event for the Greater Roanoke Valley Realty Association for private Realtor Only firearms training, but did not get the response we were hoping for. March, will see an increase in activity at the range and there will be the Annual Virginia Air Rifle Tournament will be held again this year at the range from Wednesday March 4th to Sunday March 8th at which time the range will be closed to the public and SMLPSA. Also – the Virginia Tech Wildlife Conclave will be holding a large event toward the end of the month in which the range will be closed to the public and SMLPSA for at least two days or more. I will make adjustments in the schedule in March to allow for alternate times for club use. I am also expecting to hold (which could be my last for many months) CCW class on 3/14/15 since I will probably be having full shoulder replacement surgery by the end of March and will be unable to use my right arm for most of the summer. I wish you all a great year and I am still working diligently on getting the 22LR ammo order filled with a new resource and some other options as well. Thanks for all your patience with me on that. We also still have some handguns available in our Club inventory to sell if anyone needs anything including a KelTec PMR30 and the Kriss Sphynx Alpha Compact 9mm in Sandstone. Also, for any of you guys who are Hog Hunters, I have a ATN-X-Sight Night/Day Vision scope for sale 5-18x magnification with two high level illuminators, latest firmware updates, and all mounting accessories as well as SD card. Will sell this unit for the cost the Club has into it. This is an outstanding electronic device with incredible accuracy and features. Has GPS and Wi-Fi built in as well as record through reticle for live filming of your hunt! I’ve also posted some nice handguns and long guns on our website for sale by Club members if anyone is interested.
Peter A. Fisette
President SMLPSA
Upcoming Events
NRA Basic Pistol Safety and CCW Class.
Saturday, March 14th, 9am-5Pm, 2015 Price $100 including lunch and use of a firearm.
Call Peter for details at 540-400-1070.
Men’s and Woman’s Shooting League for March:
Monday March 9th, 2015 6Pm-9Pm and Monday March 23rd, 2015 6Pm-9Pm.
Call Paul Giammattei for details at 540-525-7312.
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"What America can learn from Switzerland is that the best way to reduce gun misuse is to promote responsible gun ownership."
By David B. Kopel and Stephen D'Andrilli(American Rifleman, February 1990)
In the right to bear arms debate, pro-gun Americans point to Switzerland, where almost every adult male is legally required to possess a gun. One of the few nations with a higher per capita rate of gun ownership than the United States, Switzerland has virtually no gun crime. Therefore, argue the pro-gunners, America doesn't need gun control.
Yet Handgun Control, Inc. (HCI), in its brochure "Handgun Facts," points to Switzerland as one of the advanced nations with strict handgun laws." The brochure states that all guns are registered, and handgun purchases require a background check and a permit. Gun crime in Switzerland is virtually non-existent. Therefore, concludes Handgun Control, America needs strict gun control.
Who's right? As usual, Handgun Control is wrong, but that doesn't necessarily make the pro-gun side right. Gun ownership in Switzerland defies the simple categories of the American gun debate.
Like America, Switzerland won its independence in a revolutionary war fought by an armed citizenry. In 1291, several cantons (states) began a war of national liberation against Austria's Hapsburg Empire. In legend, the revolution was precipitated by William Tell, although there is no definitive proof of his existence.
Over the next century, the Swiss militia liberated most Switzerland from the Austrians. The ordinary citizens who composed the militia used the deadliest assault weapons the time, swords and bows. Crucial to the Swiss victory was the motivation of the free Swiss troops.
From the very first years of Swiss independence, the Swiss were commanded to keep and bear arms. After 1515, Switzerland adopted a policy of armed neutrality. For the next four centuries, the great empires of Europe rose and fell, swallowing many weaker countries. Russia and France both invaded, and the Habsburgs and later the Austro Hungarian Empire remained special threats. But Switzerland almost always retained its independence. The Swiss policy was Prévention de Ia guerre par Ia volonté de se défendre During World War I, both France and Germany considered invading Switzerland to attack each other's flank. In World War II, Hitler wanted the Swiss gold reserves and needed free communications and transit through Switzerland to supply Axis forces in the Mediterranean. But when military planners looked at Switzerland's well-armed citizenry, mountainous terrain, and civil defense fortifications, Switzerland lost its appeal as an invasion target. While two World Wars raged, Switzerland enjoyed a secure peace.
At home, the "Swiss Confederation" developed only a weak central government, leaving most authority in the hands of the cantons or lower levels of government. The tradition of local autonomy helped keep Switzerland from experiencing the bitter civil wars between Catholics and Protestants that devastated Germany, France and England.
In 1847-48, liberals throughout Europe revolted against aristocratic rule. Only in Switzerland did they succeed, taking control of the whole nation following a brief conflict called the Sonderbrund War. (Total casualties were only 128.) Civil rights were firmly guaranteed, and all vestiges of feudalism were abolished.
Despite the hopes of German reformers, the Swiss did not send their people's army into Germany in 1848 to assist popular revolution there. When the German revolution failed, autocratic Prussia considered invading Switzerland, but decided the task was impossible.
As one historian summarizes: "Switzerland was created in battle, reached its present dimensions by conquest and defended its existence by armed neutrality thereafter." The experience of Swiss history has made national independence and power virtually synonymous with an armed citizenry.
Today, military service for Swiss males is universal. At about age 20, every Swiss male goes through 118 consecutive days of recruit training in the Rekrutenschule. This training may be a young man's first encounter with his countrymen who speak different languages. (Switzerland has four official languages: German, French, Italian and Romansch.)
Even before required training begins, young men and women may take optional courses with the Swiss army's M57 assault rifle. They keep that gun at home for three months and receive six half-day training sessions.
From age 21 to 32, a Swiss man serves as a "frontline" troop in the Auszug, and devotes three weeks a year (in eight of the 12 years) to continued training. From age 33 to 42, he serves in the Landwehr (like America's National Guard); every few years, he reports for two-week training periods. Finally, from ages 43, to 50, he serves in the Landsturm; in this period, he only spends 13 days total in "home guard courses."
Over a soldier's career he also spends scattered days on mandatory equipment inspections and required target practice. Thus, in a 30-year mandatory military career, a Swiss man only spends about one year in direct military service. Following discharge from the regular army, men serve on reserve status until age 50 (55 for officers).
By the Federal Constitution of 1874, military servicemen are given their first equipment, clothing and arms. After the first training period, conscripts must keep gun, ammunition and equipment an ihrem Wohnort ("in their homes") until the end of their term of service.
Today, enlisted men are issued M57 automatic assault rifles and officers are given pistol, Each reservist is issued 24 rounds of ammunition in sealed packs for emergency use. (Contrary to Handgun Control's claim that "all ammunition must be accounted for," the emergency ammunition is the only ammo that requires accounting.)
After discharge from service, the man is given a bolt rifle free from registration or obligation. Starting in the 1994, the government will give ex-reservists assault rifles. Officers carry pistols rather than rifles and are given their pistols the end of their service.
When the government adopts a new infantry rifle, it sells the old ones to the public.
Reservists are encouraged to buy military ammunition (7.5 and 5.6mm-5.56 mm in other countries-for rifles and 9 and 7.65 mm Luger for pistols, which is sold at cost by the government, for target practice Non-military ammunition for long-gun hunting and .22 Long Rifle (LR) ammo are not subsidized, but are subject to no sales controls. Non-military non-hunting ammunition more powerful than .22 LR (such as .38 Spl.) is registered at the time of sale.
Swiss military ammo must be registered if bought at a private store, but need not be registered if bought at a range The nation's 3,000 shooting ranges sell the overwhelming majority of ammunition. Technically, ammunition bought at the range must be used at the range, but the rule is barely known and almost never obeyed.
The army sells a variety of machine guns, submachine guns, anti-tank weapons, anti-aircraft guns, howitzers and cannons. Purchasers of these weapons require an easily obtained cantonal license, and the weapons are registered, In a nation of six million people, there are at least two million guns, including 600,00 fully automatic assault rifles, half a million pistols, and numerous machine guns. Virtually every home has a gun.
Besides subsidized military surplus, the Swiss can buy other firearms easily too. While long guns require no special purchase procedures, handguns are sold only to those with a Waffenerwerbsschien (purchase certificate) issued by a cantonal authority. A certificate is issued to every applicant over 18 who is not a criminal or mentally infirm.
There are no restrictions on the carrying of long guns. About half the cantons have strict permit procedures for carrying handguns, and the other half have no rules at all There is no discernible difference in the crime rate between the cantons as a result of the different policies.
Thanks to a lawsuit brought by the Swiss gun lobby, semi-automatic rifles require no purchase permit and are not registered by the government. Thus, the only long guns registered by the government are full automatics. (Three cantons do require collectors of more than 10 guns to register.)
Gun sales from one individual to another are regulated in five cantons and completely uncontrolled in all the rest.
Retail gun dealers do keep records of over-the-counter gun transactions; transactions are not reported to or collected by the government. (This is also the policy in the U.S. during those periods the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms feels like obeying the law.) In Switzerland, purchases from dealers of hunting long guns and of small-bore rifles are not even recorded by the dealer. In other words, the dealer would not record the sale of a .30-06 hunting rifle, but would record the sale of a .30-06 Garand.
Thus, Handgun Control's assertion that all Swiss guns are registered is just plain wrong, and its claim that "Switzerland and Israel strictly control handgun availability" is more than a little inaccurate.
Anybody, including this author, can make mistakes about the complexities about foreign gun laws. Nevertheless, even the most careless authors ought to do better than Handgun Control's brochure "Handgun Facts," in which almost every "fact" about Switzerland is wrong.