Crimes of Impulse High in Switzerland

Next up as evidence an abundance of guns leads to an abundance of impulse killings? Switzerland.

Last week, the Deseret News ran an article on how domestic violence murders account for many of the homicides in Utah. The article came two days after the Salt Lake Tribune reported most of the gun deaths in Utah come from suicides. 

No, Utah is not a state with way too much crime. Just isn't. Inserting a lot of guns into this state -- we are, indeed, high when it comes to the amount of guns we have -- hasn't translated into a lot of violent crime. But, domestic violence killings and suicides are both often crimes of passion, crimes of impulse . . . 

Crimes where the ready availability of a weapon translates into more casualties.

So, I'm reading today about Switzerland, which also has both a high gun ownership rate and a low crime rate. And, what does the article say? It says the country's family shootings and suicides are among the highest in Europe.

Switzerland shares that trend with Utah, then, and this furthers the thought that when it comes to crimes of impulse, the availability of guns is a driving factor.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2049136,00.html