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Comment by YeGoblynQueenne | Hacker News Reader

To clarify, are Swiss citizens allowed to use the assault rifles they keep at home to defend themselves or their property against criminals?

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Not a lawyer, but as far as I remember in Swiss law a criminals live is valued higher than your property. There would have to be an immediate threat for someones live for it to be even considered justified self defense. E.g. in a armed robbery you are expected to hand over the valuables they ask for before defending yourself with force.

Edit: assuming we are talking about shooting the criminal not just use the weapon as a deterrent. No idea what happens in that case, but I reckon either or both civil and military justice are going to have a word with you.

To clarify a bit. By law, a human life is the "good" of highest value above everything else. Just committing a crime does not exempt you from that principle. Wether self defense was justified is judged by whether the level of force used was an appropriate reaction to the threat at hand. So not sure whether using a military weapon (assuming not going full automatic) vs. private actually matters at all, or if that would just be a separate violation.

It's a separate violation because you'd be breaking then also the military laws and regulations (see other comments why)

The problem with this is that you are trusting that the robber is only going to rob. Unfortunately, all too many shoot their victims anyway because the take wasn't as much as they expected or other reasons.

Calm, reasonable robber--of course you hand it over. Crazy methhead, if he makes a mistake and gives you an opportunity you very well might be better off taking it. America doesn't try to judge the situation in advance.

I don't disagree when looking at it in isolation. But my comment was specifically to Switzerland which has according to the department of statistics around 30 cases of robbery per year which basically never lead to physical harm. It is just not something you worry about in your day to day live.

Drug addicts usually want to be left alone and won't bother you. Exception being people chuck full of cocaine and alcohol in and arounds nightclubs frustrated about not getting layed.

The problem is being tackled the other way around by trying to keep poverty, inequality and thus acts of desperation low.

From an ealier comment:

> They are not allowed to possess ammunition unless in special militias. Any ammunition bought or issued at ranges cannot be taken off premises.

So potentially yes, but only if you mean using the gun as a club.

The earlier comment is conflating general Swiss firearms ownership with the service-weapon take home system in use with Swiss military conscripts.

Swiss gun owners are allowed to buy, own, and use ammunition. They may also use a privately-owned firearm in self-defense situationally, but the legal justification for use of deadly force in Switzerland will obviously be more stringent than it would be in the United States.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearms_regulation_in_Switzer...

No.

Thanks!

So there is a big difference to gun ownership in the US (and elsewhere).

It also varies dramatically between US states. If you shot a burglar in your house with an AR-15 in Florida the local DA might give you a medal. In New Jersey they would arrest you just for having the AR-15, and then likely charge you with murder.

(I'm not commenting on the morality of either state's laws; just pointing out that US states differ widely on gun laws.)

[Edit: I originally said California instead of New Jersey. NJ's laws are stricter but it appears that the vast majority of states allow much leeway when in your own home, so I might even be wrong about NJ.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand-your-ground_law

]

FWIW, even before the advent of the recent wave of "stand your ground" laws, there was an older legal principle, that was very widely held, called "castle doctrine"[1] which comes into play in terms of killing a home intruder. The details still vary from state to state, but AIUI, many locales hold to a form of castle doctrine such that if you kill an invader who is actually in your home, you would be unlikely to be charged with murder.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_doctrine

That would prove very handy against vampires. Could they resist an invite to your home?

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