Reply to: Blood donation

[Churchill]

Well come on then - lets have it! Or do you only talk the talk - like the marines...

Don't be a complete twat, have a day off.

Check out the Vatican website.

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/sw.../storia_en.htm

[NotAllThere]

And xenophobic.

[Moscow Mule]

And they are all dreadfully nice chaps. Unlike most of our elite forces who should be kept away from civilians.

Boring.

[NotAllThere]

The swiss have the highest civilian gun ownership levels in the world. 6 million Swiss, 4 million guns in private hands. Everyone has to do basic military training and are effectivly reservisits until the age of 34. Once they have finished training they keep their army issued weapon at home with government issued supply of ammo. Once they are "de-mobbed" they get to keep their weapon, albeit first being modified to remove fully automatic capability.

So if you piss of a Swiss the chances are not only do they have a gun and ammo to hand, they have also been trained to use it!

Only the men do military service. And some of them opt for community service instead. The official estimates (!) are 1.5 - 3 million firearms in private hands. http://www.ssn.ethz.ch/info_dienst/m...vilewaffen.pdf

Switzerland does have the highest rate of domestic murder and suicide with a firearm. But other than that, gun crime is quite low. You're more likely to be a victim of knife crime.

[BrilloPad]

The swiss have the highest civilian gun ownership levels in the world. 6 million Swiss, 4 million guns in private hands. Everyone has to do basic military training and are effectivly reservisits until the age of 34. Once they have finished training they keep their army issued weapon at home with government issued supply of ammo. Once they are "de-mobbed" they get to keep their weapon, albeit first being modified to remove fully automatic capability.

So if you piss of a Swiss the chances are not only do they have a gun and ammo to hand, they have also been trained to use it!

And they are all dreadfully nice chaps. Unlike most of our elite forces who should be kept away from civilians.

[BrilloPad]

But seriously, the story of the Vatican Guard is a very interesting one.

Well come on then - lets have it! Or do you only talk the talk - like the marines...

[BrilloPad]

That was Austria BP

from the original "This is why they weren't annexed like Austria was."

[Spacecadet]

The swiss have the highest civilian gun ownership levels in the world. 6 million Swiss, 4 million guns in private hands. Everyone has to do basic military training and are effectivly reservisits until the age of 34. Once they have finished training they keep their army issued weapon at home with government issued supply of ammo. Once they are "de-mobbed" they get to keep their weapon, albeit first being modified to remove fully automatic capability.

So if you piss of a Swiss the chances are not only do they have a gun and ammo to hand, they have also been trained to use it!

Lots of Nazi gold to protect!

[PRC1964]

The swiss have the highest civilian gun ownership levels in the world. 6 million Swiss, 4 million guns in private hands. Everyone has to do basic military training and are effectivly reservisits until the age of 34. Once they have finished training they keep their army issued weapon at home with government issued supply of ammo. Once they are "de-mobbed" they get to keep their weapon, albeit first being modified to remove fully automatic capability.

So if you piss of a Swiss the chances are not only do they have a gun and ammo to hand, they have also been trained to use it!

Well that explains the holes in their cheese.

[DaveB]

I suppose if they get British blood in their people they might stand up to evil dictators instead of burying their heads in the sand.

I once had a swiss work colleague try to convince me their army was a force to be reckoned with - particularly in the mountains.

The swiss have the highest civilian gun ownership levels in the world. 6 million Swiss, 4 million guns in private hands. Everyone has to do basic military training and are effectivly reservisits until the age of 34. Once they have finished training they keep their army issued weapon at home with government issued supply of ammo. Once they are "de-mobbed" they get to keep their weapon, albeit first being modified to remove fully automatic capability.

So if you piss of a Swiss the chances are not only do they have a gun and ammo to hand, they have also been trained to use it!

[Troll]

A Gay man cannot give blood? Well bugger me, or don't in this case.

While safer sex, through the use of condoms, does reduce the transmission of infections, it cannot eliminate the risk altogether. men who have sex with men continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV and account for 63% of HIV diagnoses
Epidemiological evidence in the UK also shows that there has been a significant increase in sexually transmitted infections which can also be blood-borne, such as hepatitis B and syphilis, among men who have sex with men. Between 2002 and 2006, for example, there has been a 117% increase in syphilis infections in men who have sex with men

HTH

[cailin maith]

I have seen the sound of music and so know you are wrong!

That was Austria BP

[Churchill]

I asked my brother. He was not exactly quaking in his boots. Though he would fight anyone - and his number 1 choice for a fight? The marines - he hates them more than anyone else.

Most Paras do!
(And most of 'em come off second best!)

But seriously, the story of the Vatican Guard is a very interesting one.

[BrilloPad]

You're not a military man, are you.

Read up on your history before you start making sweeping statements like that.

Read about why the Vatican Guard are Swiss.

I asked my brother. He was not exactly quaking in his boots. Though he would fight anyone - and his number 1 choice for a fight? The marines - he hates them more than anyone else.

[Bagpuss]

A Gay man cannot give blood? Well bugger me, or don't in this case.