Asklemmy

I have lived in Switzerland.

They have mandatory service and many people choose the military service option.

As I understand it, they get basic training and then do annual service. Most people seem to enjoy this as they serve with people from where they grew up and hae a lot of fun (and beer).

Each of these people has a military rifle in their home (and uniform, etc) with live ammo. They are a standing army. A well ordered militia, maybe?

You often see them on the train in fatigues with their weapon on the way to training.

https://www.ch.ch/en/safety-and-justice/military-service-and-civilian-service/military-service/#basic-training

https://www.reddit.com/r/MilitaryPorn/s/I1GLtIcQ4c

While the Swiss do tragically have "mass shootings", they are not US style terror attacks, typically: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_shootings_in_Switzerland

Netherlands here. You can get a permit for sport shooting or hunting. Guns for self defense are not allowed.

Any violence used to catch a burglary or somebody breaking in has to be a reasonable response. So if they have no weapon and you hit them with a baseball bat you are actually in trouble. This can be very frustrating but there is a point to it. Minimal violence is the name of the game here.

Even the police are trained to talk first and only resort to violence when absolutely necessary. Drawing a weapon as a cop means filling out paperwork and there will be a review to make sure it was the right move.

However, for sport shooting you have to join a shooting club and shoot competition. The first year you can only shoot with air guns.

If you get a gun for sport shooting, you have to have a safe for the weapon, grounded to the wall and the floor. It will be inspected and police can check on you at random times.

Ammo and weapon should be separated at all times, transport can only be done in cases.

You are not allowed to load the gun until you are basically ready to shoot. If you have to shoot five times, you are not allowed to load six shots. You can have a maximum of 5 guns. Assault rifles are not legal I think. There are no competitions with them, so you have no reason to buy them.

The rules are strict. We only had one big "recent" shooting and I think it is at least 10 years ago. I like it.

Of course criminals stil have guns, but for a random guy who lost his job and want to take revenge it is neigh impossible to just buy an AK47 and shoot all his colleagues. Quite a safe feeling actually.

India : guns are licensed, and licenses aren't easy to get. Huge black market of low standard gins though.

In Dominican Republic the laws don't allow anyone to carry, however, if you have enough money, you can pay your way through owning a gun and carrying legally. It's messed up. I wish the law about guns here was like in Australia. No guns. End of story.

Dutch here. Gun laws are strict. Generally, only the police and military carry guns in public. To legally own a firearm without being in either the police or the military you need to be a member of a firing range/club type of deal iirc. And even then only senior members get to take their guns home with them.

There is gun related violence but it’s less of a problem because there’s few guns and they’re harder to come by. It does seem like gun violence might be increasing but I’m unsure if that is due to a few high profile cases and extra media attention or that it’s actually getting worse.

I like it this way. I personally have never felt the need to arm myself and I’m glad it’s mostly professionals that get to carry weapons. It’s not a perfect system and weapons do end up in the hands of the wrong people but it’s the exception more than the rule really.

Czechia: To get a gun for self-defense, you need to get a permit, which includes mandatory training, tests and a psychological evaluation (which, from what I've heard, is not hard to get). You need to have a clean criminal record and they check your misdemeanors too (you may not be allowed to get a permit if you've had issues with public drunkenness for example). However, after that you can not only buy a gun but also are automatically allowed to concealed carry.

There are several types of permits and getting a permit for sports or hunting is slightly easier. You need to be 21 years old to get a self-defense permit, you can get a hunting or sports permit when you're 18 or in special situations (used under supervision) when you're 15. The permits last 10 years, but you can lose them if you get a criminal record. The gun permit registry is managed by the state police, so it's easy for them to check the validity of your license if they need to do so.

Gun violence is very rare, so I'm happy with this and see no reason to change it. The people that I know who have a permit (it's quite uncommon) are very responsible with it.

There are restrictions on which weapons a civilian can buy. No automatic weapons for sure, but I think you can get some semi-automatic guns with a suppressor (cause I've heard a guy recommending one such gun with sub-sonic ammo for potential home-defense, stating "if I really have to use it, there's no reason why my family should go deaf in the process", heh).

Austria: relativly strict: you have to have a reason (hunting, self defense or sport). depending on the category of weapon a mental assessment could be necessary (not in case of hunting rifles only). automatic weapons, explosives and some other weapons are not legal to own privately. you have to securely store the weapon and need an extra permission for carrying - which is nigh unobtainable, even for active police. Transportation in a locked container and unloaded.

I've lived in the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany.

Europe has gun laws which are of varying severity. AFAIK some places it's relatively easy to buy a gun, some ban handguns (because they're concealable), some ban larger stuff, some you'll need to store your gun at the ammo range, some you're not allowed to have ammo in the home, varying levels of background and mental health checks too. Some places you'd have a hard time finding a gun, visit Budapest and you'll come across ads for a day out in a tank + shooting stuff with an AK.

The main thing is that self-defense isn't really a thing and gun culture is often very low key. Outside (perhaps but not always) the police, mainly hunting and shooting at a club. Most people don't even care enough about guns, to know what the laws are where they live. Eg. plenty of guns in the UK countryside, but most British people don't know that because they're not hunters/farmers/clay pigeon shooters, and often assume they'd be harder to get a hold of than they actually are. Netherlands, Belgium and Germany also have plenty of gun shops, but most people are oblivious, because they don't really care. Might as well be a fishing shop.

IME gun control isn't really a political issue most places. Unless there's been a (exceptionally rare) mass shooting, I honestly don't think most people even have a fully formed opinion on gun control, so they'll likely just answer they're happy with the status quo.

Sweden: you can apply for a licence from the police for target shooting if you're an active member of a club, or a hunter if you have passed a hunters exam (like drivers license basically). You'll have your criminal record checked.

Either way the gun must be suitable for the purpose. Shotguns and hunting rifles are not very hard to get. If your criminal record is clean and you've got the hunters exam you'll probably be granted a licence for up to 4 hunting rifles/shotguns with the only question being if you have a large enough gun safe. You'll get to keep them forever unless you're convicted of a crime. (There is a debate right now if doctors should tell the police if someone is unsuitable, the argument against is that people would not go to the doctor if they suspected they could lose their guns)

Hand guns are harder to get and the license needs to be renewed every few years and you've got to prove that you are actively hunting/target shooting.

Magazine size for semi automatic is limited. Length of rifles and shotguns are regulated as to not be easily concealable. All firearms must be stored in a heavy safe when not used. You're not allowed to carry it around town.

As for my opinion as a hunter it's not excessively burdensome to get your license. The time delay has been due to under staffing rather than the laws itself. I do take issue with the "suitable for purpose" as they can arbitrarily deny you a licence because it "looks" like a military rifle.

Here's a YouTube playlist talking about the gun laws in Malta, Russia, Canada (now outdated), South Africa, France, Sweden, & Estonia.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9e3UCcU00TR3nvqlRMsEuFAiOqr1WHV1&si=kZ4iTSVKp55XWkit

Tldr: Typically in other countries handguns are much more restricted than rifles. Plus many require good cause for ownership (like hunting).

I'm from NZ. I was very surprised to learn that our gun laws were quite lax up until the relatively recent mosque shooting in Christchurch - the assault-style weapon the shooter used was quite legal, including the special modifications he had made to make it better for killing people.

in the wake of that tragedy, things have gotten a lot stricter, though I'm afraid I can't provide specifics - while I love guns, my collections are confined to the virtual, and I really have no interest in owning one IRL.

Canadian, not a gun owner but here's the gist: To have guns you need a license and a clean criminal record which is automatically checked so long as you are registered to use them (the PAL). If you are convicted of violent or weapon related crime, you lose privileges. The license has a 28 day mandatory waiting period. Canadian gun owners are free to fact check or clarify this for me.

Once registered can use most long guns, shotguns as they are non-restricted for hunting and typical activities like that (of course you'll need to be registered separately to publicly conduct that activity). Restricted and prohibited weapons like handguns, semiautomatic and automatic weapons can only be possessed or acquired for people who use it as specifically necessary for their occupation, someone who does target practice as part of a registered club (restricted only), collectors knowledgeable on the series of equipment and certain exemptions for old hand-me-downs. Any time you move these categories of firearms to another location, legally you need to fill out a form and notify authorities.

Illegal firearms often show up here after being smuggled from across the border, where they seem to give them out like candy in comparison.