“And I believe every Swiss citizen in the country is still required to keep a long gun in their home.”
“Swiss males grow up expecting to undergo basic military training, usually at age 20 in the Rekrutenschule (German for “recruit school”), the initial boot camp, after which Swiss men remain part of the “militia” in reserve capacity until age 30 (age 34 for officers). Each such individual is required to keep his army-issued personal weapon (the 5.56x45mm Sig 550 rifle for enlisted personnel and/or the 9mm SIG-Sauer P220 semi-automatic pistol for officers, medical and postal personnel) at home. Up until October 2007, a specified personal retention quantity of government-issued personal ammunition (50 rounds 5.56 mm / 48 rounds 9mm) was issued as well, which was sealed and inspected regularly to ensure that no unauthorized use had taken place.[4] The ammunition was intended for use while traveling to the army barracks in case of invasion.
...When their period of service has ended, militiamen have the choice of keeping their personal weapon and other selected items of their equipment. In this case of retention, the rifle is sent to the weapons factory where the fully automatic function is removed; the rifle is then returned to the discharged owner. The rifle is then a semi-automatic or self-loading rifle.
The government sponsors training with rifles and shooting in competitions for interested adolescents, both male and female.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_Switzerland
I wonder what the home burglary rate is in Switzerland?
I particularly like the Sturmgewehr 57, which has the delayed blowback operating system (but flaps, instead of rollers).
Training in fire and maneuver is interesting. When providing overwatch fires, you keep your fire two fingers above the maneuver forces if firing a free rifle or bipod, and can come as close as one finger if you are firing from a tripod mounted gun.
Rubin was the inventor of the jacketed bullet, which made high velocity fire practical.