__The suicide rate using a gun is considerably higher among Swiss men than men in other European countries. This is probably down to easier access to firearms linked to military conscription, according to a report in the journal Swiss Medical Weekly.__
The report, “Suicide in Switzerland: why gun ownership can be deadly”, was written by a researcher from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and is based on studies of gun violence in the US and Europe. It shows that one third (33.6%) of male suicides in Switzerland are caused by firearms, compared with 9.7% in the rest of Europe. This mainly concerns the 20-35 age group.
“The likely reason for this discrepancy is the easy access to guns for Swiss men,” it said. “Whereas such access is severely restricted in most European countries, this is not the case in Switzerland.”
All able-bodied Swiss men must do military service and have the option of keeping their army rifle at home. The vast majority do. After they retire from the army they can hang on to their rifles. However, ammunition may not be taken home; it is stored in central armouries.
The study addressed the question of how people could kill themselves with an army weapon if they had no ammunition.
“Apart from the fact that this ammunition can easily be bought in gun shops, and that soldiers often take ammunition home during their time of service, it seems that at least by November 2009, 60,000 tins of ammunition previously distributed, each containing 50 cartridges, had not been returned,” it said.
The study noted that when the number of conscripts was nearly halved in 2003/4 as a result of the Swiss Army Reform XXI, the number of army-issued firearms was reduced by an estimated 20%.
“An analysis of suicide rates before and after the reform indicated that male (but not female) suicide rates decreased by 8%, with no evidence of substitution with other means of suicide. If the army would require that the remaining half of conscripts had to keep their weapons at their barracks rather than at home, a further decrease in male suicide rates could be expected,” it concluded.
i thought we have known this for decades now, wasn’t it one of the reasons personel no longer takes ammo home with them?
Well of course there’s going to be a higher proportion of suicides with firearms if a lot of people have access to firearms.
However I don’t buy the fact that it will increase our overall suicide rate, especially in a day and age where its so easy to find hard drugs and overdose on them. Our overall suicide rate and male suicide rate (they are more likely to have access to guns) is still lower or somewhat similar to European countries with much lower gun ownership rates and/or that don’t have conscription.
This includes countries like France, Hungary, Lithuania, Slovenia, Latvia…
[Edit]
I think it’s also important to point out that women’s suicide rate sharply dropped from 2008 to 2010, despite them not being conscripted.
Coupled with the exceptionally high gun ownership of Switzerland, this is a small number.
24% of male suicides are gun related, 32% is hanging, 10% is poison and the rest is “miscellaneous”.
While the conclusion of a correlation might not be wrong per se, the “easy access” thing is blown out of proportion, like the rest of that article. I’m not sure what the underlying intention is the way the article is written.
Before anyone chimes in about any insensitiveness from my side, there were suicides by gun in my family (not army issued) and also assisted suicide.
They cite larger percentage of suicides using firearms, not larger incidence of suicides. In rest of Europe suicides happen at comparable rate to Switzerland (in fact Europe average is higher) just not by firearms.
What happened with pay Billag so that we have more objective reporting like SwissInfo?
5 comments
__The suicide rate using a gun is considerably higher among Swiss men than men in other European countries. This is probably down to easier access to firearms linked to military conscription, according to a report in the journal Swiss Medical Weekly.__
The report, “Suicide in Switzerland: why gun ownership can be deadly”, was written by a researcher from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and is based on studies of gun violence in the US and Europe. It shows that one third (33.6%) of male suicides in Switzerland are caused by firearms, compared with 9.7% in the rest of Europe. This mainly concerns the 20-35 age group.
“The likely reason for this discrepancy is the easy access to guns for Swiss men,” it said. “Whereas such access is severely restricted in most European countries, this is not the case in Switzerland.”
All able-bodied Swiss men must do military service and have the option of keeping their army rifle at home. The vast majority do. After they retire from the army they can hang on to their rifles. However, ammunition may not be taken home; it is stored in central armouries.
The study addressed the question of how people could kill themselves with an army weapon if they had no ammunition.
“Apart from the fact that this ammunition can easily be bought in gun shops, and that soldiers often take ammunition home during their time of service, it seems that at least by November 2009, 60,000 tins of ammunition previously distributed, each containing 50 cartridges, had not been returned,” it said.
The study noted that when the number of conscripts was nearly halved in 2003/4 as a result of the Swiss Army Reform XXI, the number of army-issued firearms was reduced by an estimated 20%.
“An analysis of suicide rates before and after the reform indicated that male (but not female) suicide rates decreased by 8%, with no evidence of substitution with other means of suicide. If the army would require that the remaining half of conscripts had to keep their weapons at their barracks rather than at home, a further decrease in male suicide rates could be expected,” it concluded.
i thought we have known this for decades now, wasn’t it one of the reasons personel no longer takes ammo home with them?
Well of course there’s going to be a higher proportion of suicides with firearms if a lot of people have access to firearms.
However I don’t buy the fact that it will increase our overall suicide rate, especially in a day and age where its so easy to find hard drugs and overdose on them. Our overall suicide rate and male suicide rate (they are more likely to have access to guns) is still lower or somewhat similar to European countries with much lower gun ownership rates and/or that don’t have conscription.
This includes countries like France, Hungary, Lithuania, Slovenia, Latvia…
[Edit]
I think it’s also important to point out that women’s suicide rate sharply dropped from 2008 to 2010, despite them not being conscripted.
https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/CHE/switzerland/suicide-rate
—————————
(2017)
https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/248379/umfrage/anzahl-der-suizide-in-ausgewaehlten-laendern-nach-geschlecht/
(2019)
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/suicide-rate-by-country
This is a delicate subject.
Are there any specific numbers for the years 2021-2023?
[This report from BFS](https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/gesundheit/gesundheitszustand/sterblichkeit-todesursachen/spezifische.assetdetail.23145267.html) states 167 male suicides by gun (unspecified what kind), which is on a steady decline since years.
Coupled with the exceptionally high gun ownership of Switzerland, this is a small number.
24% of male suicides are gun related, 32% is hanging, 10% is poison and the rest is “miscellaneous”.
While the conclusion of a correlation might not be wrong per se, the “easy access” thing is blown out of proportion, like the rest of that article. I’m not sure what the underlying intention is the way the article is written.
Before anyone chimes in about any insensitiveness from my side, there were suicides by gun in my family (not army issued) and also assisted suicide.
They cite larger percentage of suicides using firearms, not larger incidence of suicides. In rest of Europe suicides happen at comparable rate to Switzerland (in fact Europe average is higher) just not by firearms.
What happened with pay Billag so that we have more objective reporting like SwissInfo?