<P> It allows the free purchase of semi-automatic, but not fully automatic, firearms by Swiss citizens and foreigners with permanent residence . </P> <P> Permits for concealed carrying in public are issued only extremely restrictively . </P> <P> Switzerland thus has a relatively high gun ownership rate . There are no official statistics, and estimates vary considerably . The Small Arms Survey of 2016 placed Swiss gun ownership per capita at 24.45% . </P> <P> In 2016, the defence ministry estimated that 2 million privately owned guns are in circulation, which given a population of 8.3 million corresponds to a gun ownership rate of around 24 guns per 100 residents . This is roughly a quarter of the rate in the United States, and lower than that in the neighbouring countries of Germany, and Austria, but about the double of Italy and France . </P>

What is the gun ownership rate in switzerland