plains, “To me, the only reason for gunsrnin civilian hands is for sporting purposes.”rnThis view is antithetical to legislationrnenacted in Colorado and otherrnstates which makes explicit the common-rnlaw right to use deadly force againstrnviolent home invaders. Thus, the antigunrnlobbies push for laws like Canada’s,rnwhich effectively abolishes home defense.rnIn Canada, “safe storage” laws requirernthat guns be stored unloaded orrnlocked up, thus making them difficult torndeploy in a sudden emergency. The antigunrnlobbies and their numerous mediarnallies are also running a propagandarncampaign against guns in the home—arncampaign which tries to convince ordinaryrnAmericans that they are just asrnprone to criminal violence as are convictedrnfelons and substance abusers. Butrnas long as tens of millions of Americansrncontinue to exercise their constitutionalrnright to own a gun to protect their homesrnand families, then all Americans willrncontinue to enjoy lower risks of assaultrnand greater safet}’ in their homes, thanksrnto the widespread community benefits ofrnguns in the right hands.rnDavid Kopel is the research director forrnthe Independence Institute in Golden,rnColorado. His most recent book is NornMore Wacos: What’s Wrong With FederalrnLaw Enforcement and How to FixrnIt (Prometheus Books).rnHISTORYrnSwitzerlandrnand Its ArmedrnCitizenryrnby Stephen P. HalbrookrnSince the origins of the Swiss Confederationrnin 1291, it has been the dutyrnof every male Swiss citizen to be armedrnand to serve in the militia. Today, thatrnarm is an “assault rifle,” which is issuedrnto every Swiss male and which must bernkept in the home. During Germany’srnThird Reich (1933-1945), that arm was arnbolt-action repeating rifle, which wasrnhighly effective in the hands of Switzerland’srnmany sharpshooters.rnAmericans of the wartime generationrnwere familiar with the fact that brave andrnarmed little Switzerland stood up tornHitler and made him blink. As a map ofrnEurope in 1942 shows, the Nazis hadrnswallowed up most of everything on therncontinent but this tiny speck that Hitlerrncalled “a pimple on the face of Europe.”rnThe Fiihrer boasted that he would bern”the butcher of the Swiss,” but thernWehrmacht was dissuaded by a fullyrnarmed populace in the Alpine terrain.rnAs I point out in my forthcoming book,rnTarget Switzerland: Swiss Armed Neutralityrnin World War II, Switzerland’s historyrnillustrates the will and ability of an armedrncihzenry to resist tyranny to the death.rnThe Swiss federal shooting festival,rnwhich remains the largest rifle competitionrnin the world, was held in Luzern inrnJune 1939. Hitler’s takeover of Austriarnand Czechoslovakia was complete; bothrncountries had been surrendered by tinyrnpolitical elites who guaranteed that therernwould be no resistance. Swiss PresidentrnPhilipp Etter spoke at the festival, stressingrnthat something far more serious thanrnsport was the purpose of their activity.rnHis comments demonstrated the connectionrnbetween national defense andrnthe armed citizen:rnThere is probably no other countryrnthat, like Switzerland, gives thernsoldier his weapon to keep in thernhome. The Swiss always has hisrnrifle at hand. It belongs to thernfurnishings of his home.. .. Thatrncorresponds to ancient Swissrntradition. As the citizen with hisrnsword steps into the ring in therncantons which have the Landsgemeinde,rnso the Swiss soldier lives inrnconstant companionship with hisrnrifle. He knows what that means.rnWith this rifle, he is liable everyrnhour, if the country calls, to defendrnhis hearth, his home, his family,rnhis birthplace. The weapon is tornhim a pledge and sign of honorrnand freedom. The Swiss does notrnpart with his rifle.rnOn September 1, 1939, Hitlerrnlaunched World War II by attackingrnPoland. Within a day or two, Switzerlandrnhad about half a million militiamenrnmobilized out of a population of justrnover four million. General HenrirnGuisan, commander in chief of thernSwiss miliha, responded with OperationsrnOrder No. 2:rnAt the border and between the borderrnand army position, the borderrntroops and advance guard persistentlyrndelay the advance of the enemy.rnThe garrisons at the borderrnand between the border and thernworks and positions making up therndefensive front conhnue resistancernup to the last cartridge, even if theyrnfind themselves completely alone.rnThis astonishing order was the oppositernof the policies of the other Europeanrncountries, which either surrendered tornHitler without a fight or surrendered afterrna brief resistance. For example, inrnApril 1940, Denmark’s king surrenderedrnthe country after a meeting with thernNazis and instructed his forces not to resist.rnNorway resisted, although —unlikernSwitzerland—it had no armed populacernand was ill prepared for combat.rnIn response to the invasions of smallrnneutral countries, Switzerland issued itsrn”directions concerning the conduct ofrnthe soldiers not under arms in event of attack.”rnIntended as a warning to Germany,rnit was pasted on walls all over therncountry. It prescribed the reactionrnagainst surprise attack and against thernfifth column as follows:rnAll soldiers and those with themrnare to attack with ruthlessnessrnparachutists, airborne infantry andrnsaboteurs. Where no officers andrnnoncommissioned officers arernpresent, each soldier acts under exertionrnof all powers of his own initiative.rnThis command for the individual to actrnon his own initiative was an ancientrnSwiss tradition which reflected the politicalrnand military leadership’s staunchrnconfidence in the ordinary man. Thisrncommand was possible, of course, onlyrnin a society where every man had his riflernat home.rnUnder no condition, the order continued,rnwould any surrender be forthcoming,rnand any pretense of a surrender mustrnbe ignored:rnIf by radio, leaflets or other mediarnany information is transmittedrndoubting the will of the FederalrnCouncil or of the Army HighrnCommand to resist an attacker,rnthis information must be regardedrn38/CHRONICLESrnrnrn