A rare mass shooting in Europe puts spotlight on gun control laws

The Czech Republic is the only European country with a legal right to bear arms, but “exercising that right is contingent” on a test which quizzes potential gun buyers on a range of gun safety questions. This test – coupled with stringent background checks and reforms imposed after previous mass shootings to allow police to seize guns from those considered a danger – have made gun ownership “a niche interest” where “responsible, capable owners are essentially self-selected,” Charles University researchers wrote earlier this year. The researchers noted that despite the predominantly hobby-driven gun culture in the Czech Republic, more people wanted to own guns for personal use after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — a shift that has “parallels to the American experience.” The shift was especially noticeable with women, who accounted for 23% of new firearms licenses.

Following U.S. mass shootings, Republicans often point to Switzerland as a model example of a country that has high rates of gun ownership and nearly zero mass shootings. But while both the U.S. and Switzerland see guns as a national symbol, their histories have shaped two very different gun cultures, journalist and YouTuber Johnny Harris explained in a recent documentary. In Switzerland, the government historically mandated citizens to bear firearms as a duty to defend themselves from invaders, and that fervor for national defense has created a gun culture of “competition, camaraderie, and tradition.” America’s founding fathers used Switzerland as a model for their gun laws, but as the U.S. grew more powerful and impenetrable to invaders, the duty to bear arms was largely forgotten. Instead, Americans saw guns as a personal tool to “pursue their American dream, to hunt, to protect their family, to exterminate.” That has translated into a highly individualistic, anti-reform gun culture.

Outside the U.S., Thailand has seen a string of mass shootings in the past year, owing to what experts say are “its archaic and often ineffective gun laws” that have perpetuated a thriving black market for firearms. Nothing has changed since the Thai’s government promise to reform gun laws after a shooting at a nursery last year, as an October shooting at a Bangkok mall tragically showed. Experts say that high gun ownership rates in Thailand are likely due to a lack of trust in public safety, a sentiment shared by American gun owners. To reduce gun violence, Thailand needs to abolish laws that encourage a black market and restructure law enforcement, to regain public trust in law and order, the East Asia Forum said.