Monday, February 07, 2011

Fight the Tyrans! Arm the People!?!

Switzerland has the highest number of arms per capita, with estimates varying between 1.2 million and 2.3 million, spread over a population of 7.8 million. However on February 13, we are called to a nationwide ballot to decide whether access to firearms has to be restricted.

Emotions are going high in our small country. Even my CEO (a German!) wrote me a letter to remind me of my patriotic duty to defend our national identity, which seemed to be based on the easy access to firearms.

Strangely, it took an extract from a novel published in 1860 to shaken my firm aye stand towards this initiative. Master tailor Hediger said in Gottfried Keller's novel Das Fähnlein der sieben Aufrechten:
The idea of founding a Swiss marksmen club could only evolve in a Swiss soul and take root only in Swiss territory. For who was born into a monarchy, the very idea of a club, which includes and arms all the people, must had been madness.
Me supporting monarchy? Never!! Nay it is!!!


Me defending our precious soil back in 1987.

1 comment:

Jason Shaw said...

Yes, arm us all, everyone should have arms.