European Railroad Discussion > Guns in and about the Swiss Railways

I could.nt believe my eyes when I came accross Swiss Military Automactic Rifles literally stacked, unsupervised, at Swiss Train stations. It must have been a tradtion from years ago, maybe WW 2 ?
You would see them, sometime stacked in the military triangle position, 3 rifles to a stack. But often one would see them alone leaning up against practically anything completely unsupervised.
No one would take any notice. I saw this in 1969, my first year over there but this practice continued thru the 70's. I can't remember when I didn't see this anymore, mabe early "80's.
The rifles were chambered for the 7.5mm swiss military cartridge. In a large station like Zurich, you could easily see 50 rifles in no time at all. I think Swiis soldiers take their guns home or
they used to.
You would also see Swiss Rifle Ranges out of the train window as you were traveling along. They were commonplace.

Swiss model railways are very popular here in the U.S.

My first trip on the SBB was in 1987, and I encountered a soldier carrying his rifle on the train. At the hotel in Basel, some soldiers, there were soldiers in the dining room having breakfast, complete with sidearms and other weapons leaning against the wall. 

The Swiss are famous for the neutrality, but they are hardly pacifists. I believe that all Swiss men up to a certain age are more or less automatically reservists, and they keep a government-issued rifle in their homes, with ammo in a sealed container. 
This was the case some years ago, but it may have changed.

 

Swiss women are also eligible for military service on a volunteer basis.

Unlike the US, the very well regulated Swiss militia members are required to meet rifle range and annual training standards.

Posted from Android

Perhaps this just reinforces the replies above as it has been several years since I was in Switzerland. At that time I saw several men on public transportation, mainly trains, carrying rifles. I can't recall if they were in uniform at the time but clearly they didn't attract attention from other passersby.

DaleR

I think it is law , that all Swiss homes are required to have a fire arm. Corrections welcome.
Regards,DK

When I was on a tour in Switzerland in 2018 our guide told us that the requirement that all army members (which meant most men of the appropriate age) were required to have a gun at home no longer existed.  In any case, this gun posession was under military discipline and use of the gun was controlled by military law.  I'm not sure if the requirement ever applied to anything other than a standard military rifle like the WWII M1.

               Either way, what ever is still standard or not -  they got em, And it is well respected.

dcfbalcoS1 Wrote:
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>                Either way, what ever is
> still standard or not -  they got em, And it is
> well respected.

As I said, it's well respected because it's for a public, not a private, purpose and because it's under military discipline.  And as I also said, it's not clear that they've still got them.

Swiss law generally requires guns be unloaded when transported in public, and that ammunition be transported separately.

Dave

           Apparently if the Swiss are transporting their weapons in unloaded fashion and the ammunition is transported separately ( whatever that may actually mean ) they are then infact carrying a stick. Kind of useless in the event they should be called upon to do some heroic deed. 

dcfbalcoS1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>            Apparently if the Swiss are
> transporting their weapons in unloaded fashion and
> the ammunition is transported separately (
> whatever that may actually mean ) they are then
> infact carrying a stick. Kind of useless in the
> event they should be called upon to do some heroic
> deed. 

It sounds like the Swiss don't buy in to American lore.