In the last 21 years, Switzerland has not had a mass shooting.
In the US, there are almost one every day.
There are strict rules for who can get a gun in the Swiss.
The last mass shooting in Switzerland was in 2001 when a man killed 14 people in the local parliament.
There are about 2 million guns in the country. There were 47 attempted homicides with firearms in the country last year. There is no murder rate in the country.
More rules on gun ownership aren't necessary, according to the National Rifle Association. The European country had one of the lowest murder rates in the world according to the National Rifle Association.
There are certain rules and regulations for gun use in Switzerland.
Insider looked at the country's past with guns to see why it has lower rates of gun violence than the US, where after a mass shooting that killed 5 and injured 25 at an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado, gun-death rates are now at their highest in more than 20
Getting shooting right is something Switzerland is interested in. The shooting contest is held every year.
The Knabenschiessen is a festival that started in the 1600s.
The competition used to be only for boys, but since 1991, teenage girls have been admitted.
Kids in the country flock to the competition every September to shoot army-service rifles. They are proud to show off their shooting skills.
The Schutzenkonig, a king or queen of marksmen, is determined by the results of the competition.
It took more than 200 years for the Swiss to be neutral.
One of the Swiss stances is armed neutrality.
Switzerland has not participated in any international armed conflict since 1816.
Gun ownership is seen as a patriotic duty by many Swiss.
Swiss men are taught how to shoot a gun.
Men in Switzerland are required to serve in the military.
All men between the ages of 18 and 34 are given a pistol or rifle and training on how to use it.
Men who have finished their service can usually buy and keep their service weapons, but they have to get a permit.
The size of the country's armed forces has been reduced.
Switzerland is similar to a well- designed fort.
Switzerland's borders are designed to blow up on command, with at least 3000 demolition points on bridges, roads, rails, and tunnels.
John McPhee wrote about it in his book.
Every railroad and highway tunnel near the German border of Switzerland has been prepared to blow up. Entire divisions can fit inside the mountains that are nearby.
Roughly 25% of the gun-toting Swiss use their weapons for military duty.
More than 25% of Swiss gun owners kept their weapons for military or police duty in 2000, compared to less than 5% of Americans.
Over the past decade, the number of privately owned guns in the country has plummeted.
Half of the guns in the country are former service rifles, according to the government. There are indications that the Swiss gun-to-human ratio is decreasing.
According to the Small Arms Survey, Switzerland had the third- highest ratio of civilian firearms per 100 residents, behind the US and Yemen.
Over the past decade, that figure has fallen. There is an estimated one civilian gun for every three Swiss people.
Strict licensing procedures are followed by gun sellers
Local authorities decide whether to issue gun permits. Though hunting rifles and some semiautomatic long arms are exempt from the permit requirement, a log of everyone who owns a gun in their region is kept.
Cantonal police give out gun licenses with great care. They might talk with authorities in other canton where a prospective gun buyer has lived to see if they are a good fit.
Anyone who is violent or incompetent can't own a gun in Switzerland.
In Switzerland, people who have an alcohol or drug addiction are not allowed to buy guns.
Anyone who expresses a violent or dangerous attitude will not be allowed to own a gun.
To get a license to carry a gun, gun owners have to prove they can load, unload, and shoot their weapon.
Switzerland is one of the most pleasant countries in the world.
The UN ranked Switzerland sixth in their happiness report.
The Swiss are close to the top of the list. The authors of the report noted that Switzerland does well on all the main factors found to support happiness, such as caring, freedom, generosity, honesty, health, income, and good governance.
Over the last decade in the US, happiness has taken a dive.
According to the report, there has been a decline in social support and an increase in corruption.
When it comes to firearms, the Swiss aren't perfect.
In Europe, Switzerland has one of the highest rates of gun violence and suicides.
Guns have been linked to fewer deaths around the world. It's been the case in Switzerland as well.
Switzerland passed its first federal regulations on guns in 1999 after the country's crime rate increased.
More provisions have been added by the government to keep the country on par with EU gun laws.
Only a small percentage of Swiss citizens kept their military-issued guns at home.
Guns are not allowed to be carried around in Switzerland.
Most people who aren't security workers or police officers don't have a permit to carry a concealed weapon in Switzerland.
"We have guns at home, but they are kept for peaceful purposes," said a professor of criminology. You can't take the gun out of your home in Switzerland because it's illegal to have a gun in the street.
Most of the time that's true. Sports shooters can only take their guns to the firing range if they want to stop for coffee.
Guns can't be loaded during transportation to prevent them from accidentally firing in a place like Starbucks, which has happened in the US at least twice.
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