KOSTA: America loves guns.
(screams)
Hell, I love guns.
But I also hate guns.
Another mass shooting in America.
-Another mass shooting. -Yet another mass shooting.
KOSTA: So I was wondering,
what if there was a world where people could keep their guns
and have no mass shootings?
Welcome to Switzerland,
a neutral country most known
for its cobblestone streets perfect for skipping,
its clocks, sophisticated pocketknives
and guns.
Turns out peaceful Switzerland
is one of the most heavily armed nations in the world.
And, like America, they love their guns.
Yet they have almost zero gun violence.
How the (bleep) is that possible?
Luckily, I ran into an expert.
Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just...
Oh, no, that's a gun.
Meet Mikko. For 20-plus years he's been a firearms instructor
for law enforcement personnel, military and special forces.
He also happens to be one hunk of a man.
So, Thor,
tell me about Swiss gun culture.
We respect the guns because we have a mandatory service.
Every man who goes to the army, they get training
and a rifle, um, in case of invasion.
KOSTA: Which, to be fair, is a real threat,
since the last time Switzerland was invaded
was in 1798 before color was invented,
so of course they have a militia.
The culture is a little bit different
comparing to some other country.
You're familiar that I'm American, right?
You can just say these things to my face.
You don't have to say "other countries."
I think the gun culture in America
is getting out of hand. It is a joke.
There should be common-sense gun laws.
Common sense. That's not our strength.
Yeah, I've noticed that.
Yeah, well, I can say that,
-but I don't like it when you say that. -Okay.
KOSTA: But what we do have
is that good old American gun freedom.
God!
You know how easy it is to get a gun in the U.S.?
I just go to Walmart, give them the money, gun.
-I know. It's crazy. -My Uncle Paul,
out of his truck, he's got a bunch of guns.
My brother Todd has a gun.
You want to use it? Boom, borrow it for the weekend.
-That's nice. -Not really.
In Switzerland, you can get a gun
from your grandparents or from your father,
but you still have to do the paperwork.
Even if I get a gun from my grandpa,
-I still got to tell the cops about it? -Yeah.
KOSTA: That's crazy,
because in most states in America,
you can buy a gun almost immediately
without any background check.
But not in Switzerland.
You apply the permit from the police.
You provide clearance of your criminal record,
that you don't have any convictions.
-Wait for two weeks. -What if it's a small crime?
What if you got caught urinating in public?
You got caught for sleeping with your cousin
'cause you didn't know it was a cousin
'cause it was at your family reunion
and she looked like she worked at catering?
-I mean... -What if it's, like, assaulting a police officer,
but really you were just tickling him?
If you can't be responsible of following
some other simple rules in society, to behave,
why should you have a gun?
You don't need to raise your voice over this.
Was there even a payoff to all these rules?
-How many school shootings have there been? -None.
-What about malls? Are there many people sh... -None.
What about, like, major holidays?
-People get shot up at major holidays here? -Nothing.
KOSTA: Come on. With all those guns,
they had to have at least one mass shooting somewhere.
After weeks of research,
I discovered there was, in fact, one mass shooting
in the Swiss Parliament in 2001.
But they haven't had one since?!
C'est incroyable.
You had a mass shooting 17 years ago.
We have one every 17 minutes.
This is something
that I'm having a hard time comprehending.
You learned from a mistake,
and you made an improvement in the law.
That's so Europe.
And while Switzerland's last mass shooting was in 2001,
America has had... No, keep going.
No, more. More.
Yeah, there you go.
Over 1,900 mass shootings since 2012,
averaging to about one a day.
Which is why Mikko felt I needed to be properly trained
before I headed back to the States.
We have the talk about safety first.
Can I, like, like... with this one?
-Yeah, just leave it alone. Don't-don't touch it. -Don't...
How are we gonna shoot it if I can't touch it?
Well ,let me explain you the rules first.
So, number one thing that you have to remember
is that you always treat the guns as if they're loaded,
because probably most of the accidents that happens
happens with "empty" guns.
-All right, so this one here, this... -Don't touch it.
Don't touch it.
I think you don't pay enough, you know, attention
-to what I'm saying. -Okay. I'm listening.
So, you just have to follow four simple rules.
Number one: you treat the guns always as they're loaded.
(distorted): Number two: you never point anything...
Number four...
I got a feeling that you're not paying attention.
What? No, I am. Let's do it.
Let's blow some shit up.
Mikko, when you load these things,
you ever get a little bit of a... (whistles)
...erection?
-Do exactly what I say, okay? -Okay.
-All right, pay attention. -Pay attention
Okay, and slowly press back until the gun goes off.
Jesus!
This scares the shit out of me.
I'm glad we had that safety instruction.
This is the dream.
Shooting guns without the fear of getting shot?
This is where America should be.
All we need to do is keep ammo separate
and have universal criminal and mental background checks,
have extremely strict open carry laws,
justification for ownership,
send written requests to authorities,
and... (sighs)
basically just change our entire gun culture.
We can do that, right?
It's not really that fun when you keep shitting yourself.
You'll get used to it.