Judging by a recent Mercer Consulting survey, Switzerland is apparently one of the best countries in the world for one to call home. Of the top ten cities in the firm’s rankings (based on overall quality of life), tiny little Switzerland (population 7.6 million) had three of the top ten cities on the list – Zurich, Geneva and Bern were ranked nos. 1, 2 and 9, respectively. It should also be noted that Germany had three cities in the top ten, including Dusseldorf, Munich and Frankfurt. However, I’m more intrigued by Switzerland, perhaps motivated by the fact that I’ve actually experienced Germany firsthand while sweating my balls off in hostels and trains during the 2006 World Cup.

While interesting, this survey is clearly a bit off since it rates Honolulu as the top U.S. city (coming in at a weak #28). Anyone who has been to Honolulu has undoubtedly taken moments to appreciate the picturesque oceanfront views; however, the city center is surprisingly dirty and rundown, save for the shopping strips dominated by Japanese tourists.

Back to Switzerland – did you know that it has one of the highest rates of gun ownership of any country in the world? According to a Cambridge survey, there are 46 guns per every 100 people in Switzerland, placing it fourth in the world in that category (just ahead of Iraq). By the way, the U.S. ranks first at a whopping 90! Anyhow, why would such a peaceful nation have such high gun ownership levels? Because the Swiss Army is a militia-style one (designed to respond quickly to foreign aggression) where each male is expected to train with the militia at the age of 20 and stay a member of its reserves until 30. Upon completion of basic training, the graduate is given a government issued rifle, which can be fired at shooting ranges (for practice) using government-subsidized ammo.

Meanwhile, Switzerland is a relatively safe country with a crime rate half that of the U.S. More to the point, and more depressing, is the fact that the U.S. has 3.72 firearm-related homicides per 100,000 people compared to just 0.52 in Switzerland.