Tim Lambert (deltoidblog AT gmail.com) is a computer scientist at the University of New South Wales.
Steve Kao said:
Perhaps someone from Switzerland can enlighten us. Are not all males between the ages of 18 and 55 issued rifles?
No. All male Swiss citizens between 20 and 50 who are in the army are issued rifles. Roughly 15% of Swiss residents are not citizens, and 20% of the citizens called up do not serve in the army. So, very roughly, that's (50-20)/70x0.8x0.85 = 15% of the population.
I would guess that >90% of the households in Switzerland have males between the ages of 18 and 55 in them, implying that >90% of the households have a gun in them.
In the Encyclopedia of the First World, I found the following information:
Pop of Switzerland: 6,800,000
Average household size: 2.5
Size of Swiss army: 625,000
There are therefore 6,800,000/2.5=2,700,000 households in Switzerland. The percentage of households containing a soldier is at most 625,000/2,700,000=23%. (Possibly less if some households have more than one soldier.)
I doubt if >90% of the households in the US have a gun in them.
Correct, it's about 50%.
