How Military Reforms in Switzerland Accidentally Prevented Gun Suicides
Easy access to deadly weapons makes a big difference.

The Swiss own so many guns because military service is compulsory, and active members are required to store their firearms at home. When members of the military leave the armed services, they are given the option to purchase their guns at a discount. In March 2003, the Swiss army introduced new reforms — titled “Army XXI” — that reduced the number of troops from approximately 400,000 to 200,000 over the period of one year. Reisch speculated that if there were fewer men in the army — and therefore fewer men with access to guns at home — the law could have contributed to a reduction in the suicide rate.
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The link between gun ownership and suicides is well-documented. One sweeping study in the U.S. of 33 years of suicide and gun ownership data from all 50 states found a direct correlation between the two. The higher the gun ownership rate, the higher the suicide rate, the study found. One explanation for the phenomena: Guns are incredibly lethal when compared to other methods of suicide.
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Reisch’s research wasn’t the first to link changes in military policies to suicides. A 2010 study of the Israeli army, for instance, found that requiring soldiers to leave their weapons on base over the weekend, as opposed to bringing them home, decreased the suicide rate among troops by almost 40 percent.