I spent lots of time in Lausanne in the Eighties--
at least 33 one-week trips up through '92. Most of that time I would stay with a Swiss couple who lived right downtown--just off Saint Francois.
After I had returned to shooting in '87 and was fully-bitten by the enthusiast bug, I inquired after the ability to shoot there, visited urban gun shops, went to a local range, etc., etc.
The husband of the couple I knew had done his turn, etc., but no longer had an Assault Rifle and ammunition at home--he was, IIRC, in the "inactive reserve"--and he really wasn't interested in shooting, or the military; he was an artist.
Other men I met, however, were active, and some were what we would call shooting enthusiasts. It was quite common during the summer months to see the Reservists going off to training carrying their HK91s (uncased) through the streets, in taxis, on the train....nobody ever got excited.
I inquired about having a gun there, to shoot whenever I came to town. It was not possible, although I had the impression that one of my shooting friends would get one that I could call mine.
Ammo was available in gun stores, but I think you had to be ID'ed for it. Ammo bought at the range had to be used there, and I had to be sponsored by a club member (citizen or Resident) to shoot there. The Resident 'range friend' I knew was going through numerous governmental hoops to try to get his marksmanship / military rifle in to the country. He still hadn't received permission after eightteen months, but there was no real reason to believe it wouldn't happen.
Switzerland was / is a highly-regulated place. However, the regulation is relatively unobtrusive, IMO.
One example of this government "awareness" came in one of my later visits--earlier, Passport Control had asked for a specific destination; later I just said "Lausanne"--but since I never stayed at a hotel, I didn't show up later in the registrations. My US Passport number came up promptly, I do remember that. However, after one visit, when I stayed at my friends' apartment while they were not there, they told me later that their neighbor had been queried by the local police to see if I had been there (and I had never met this neighbor; she had seen me and knew of me, however).
It was / is the "safest" urban environments I have ever been in--never hesitated to walk the streets anywhere in Lausanne and environs, Bern, other cities save Geneve.
It was my impression that the Swiss do not have strong ideological beliefs for their gun culture--rather, it was based in a pragmatic cultural belief in national identity--e.g., to maintain their political identity and its strict neutrality, they knew that citizen firearms and a strong military would be the only way to keep their country.
My impression was the the middle class Swiss I met were generally what we would call NOT ideological--but they did have a generally-negative impression of U.S. people; it's the "ugly tourist" / Ugly American syndrome. I thought it was generally justified, given the behavior of many tourists I saw. Needless to say, that negativism was also based in European stereotyping, as Wacki's Wikipedia quote about disliking U.S. gun culture. Anyone else remember the impressions Europeans had of Ronald Reagan?
