Research: Switzerland has plenty of guns. Why so few gun homicides?
Data reviewed: Swiss Federal Statistical Office, police crime statistics 2025, cause of death statistics to 2024 and STATPOP population; Small Arms Survey, Civilian Firearms Holdings 2017; International Crime Victims Survey 2000; Swiss Armed Forces discharge rules; New Zealand Police Homicide Victims Report 2023; Stats NZ national population estimates; CDC and National Center for Health Statistics mortality data for 2022 and 2024.
Switzerland is often held up as proof that a country can have a lot of firearms and very little gun crime, and the official numbers back the core of that point. The Small Arms Survey estimated 2,332,000 civilian firearms in Switzerland in 2017, or 27.6 per 100 people, almost the same as New Zealand's 26.3. Yet the Swiss Federal Statistical Office recorded just 11 completed homicides with a firearm in 2025, and between 8 and 12 a year from 2021 to 2025. Using official year-end populations, that is about 0.12 completed firearm homicides per 100,000 people in Switzerland in 2025 (BFS), compared with about 0.25 firearm homicide victims per 100,000 in New Zealand in 2022, the latest official Police year, and a provisional 0.25 in 2023 (Stats NZ population; official published New Zealand counts for 2024 and 2025 are not yet available). For comparison, the United States had 120.5 civilian guns per 100 people in the same 2017 Small Arms Survey table, and a crude firearm homicide rate of 5.9 per 100,000 in 2022 (CDC). Much of that ownership comes from the militia army, where conscripts are issued a rifle and may keep it at home. The fair caveats: the often-quoted figure of 48 guns per 100 people is not supported by the latest estimate, keeping a service rifle after discharge needs a permit and a shooting record, and most Swiss firearm deaths are suicides. COLFO is looking at international research and trends to grow its reference library, so licensed firearm owners can use our site to find reliable information from around the world.
