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Marksmen fill the recreation hall of this sand-colored shooting club in the wooded hills outside Bern， capping off a weekend competition to commemorate the 1798 Battle of Grauholz in the French Revolutionary Wars.1
There is no shortage of patriotism here—there is even a yodeling club dressed in traditional redtrimmed black felt jackets—and indeed， for many Swiss citizens， guns are as central to their identity as the Alps.2 Switzerland has one of the highest per capita3 rates of guns in the world. “Every Swiss village has a range just like this one，” says Renato Steffen， a top official of the Swiss Shooting Sports Association，4 representing the group at the event. The association counts 2，800 such clubs across the country， with a youth wing5 for children as young as 10.
If this seems like a scene that belongs in gunloving America， there the similarities end.6 The Swiss’s historic relationship to their arms as members of a standing militia， their motives for keeping them， and the regulations around them diverge from the American experience.7 It’s one reason that the prevalence of arms here is not accompanied by a scourge of gun violence.8
Yet Switzerland does provide clues for gun ownership in America. Here divisions also have emerged after gun tragedies and efforts to rein in use—and the story is not settled as a new gun-control directive comes from the European Union.9 But ultimately the two sides have found consensus， getting beyond polarization that paralyzes the American debate even after such tragedies as the school shooting in Parkland， Fla.10 Those who loathe guns here accept their deep-seated position in Swiss tradition as they push for more controls， while gun advocates have pushed back but ultimately accepted more rules and oversight in the past 15 years.11
“Sport and protection of country only”
There is no official count of guns in Switzerland. But according to the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey， Switzerland has more guns circulating per capita than any country besides the US and Yemen.12 The most recent government figures estimate about two million firearms13 in Swiss households. Conscription is mandatory for Swiss males， and citizen soldiers store their weapons at home， making up the bulk of guns in households today.14