People manufacturing ammunition in the basement just put together gun powder, primers, bullets and cases. It would be really hard to manufacture any of those 4 individual pieces as a hobby.
As a whole, you're right. Primers, in particular, are probably beyond all but the most dedicated hobbyist's ability to produce at home. Still, lots of people cast their own bullets. People reuse shell casings, although there's a limit to how many times they can be reused. Smokeless powder is probably marginally easier to make than primers.
People have cast bullets and formed simple cases since the 1800s if not earlier. Primers are a bit more complex but not much so. Black powder has been produced by hand for several hundred years, and smokeless gun powder is not terribly more complicated.
Nonetheless, this is pretty much exactly the form of gun control practiced in Switzerland. Nearly everyone owns a gun, but ammunition is closely regulated.
Firearms and ammunition are regulated in the same way in Switzerland, and to purchase ammunition you just need to be able to show your right to purchase it at the shop - a proof of residency and a recent criminal records check. This is harder than in parts of the US, but no-one with a legal gun has problems getting ammunition.
Now, the boxes of 50 rounds that were issued as standard kit for military conscripts is no longer issued. This was designed to allow the conscript to fight their way to a designated muster point. As the need to do that is low currently the practice has been stopped to both save money and hopefully have a small effect on impulsive firearms related suicides. It's perfectly legal and normal to put one's own ammunition through an issued rifle.
There are also government sponsored shooting events, to encourage practice. The rounds here, being paid for by the government are tightly controlled to stop people walking off with handfuls for their own use.
But do note that it is not actually effective at all. Because of lack of border checks, you can purchase a trunk full of ammunition from a backyard dealer in the balkans, and then drive right to Switzerland.
Lack of gun-related crime is more caused by the law enforcement being very enthusiastic and effective about solving such crime, than it is caused by a lack of guns oe ammunition.
Backyard dealer in the balkans? Good luck crossing the Serbian border or in fact any EU/non-EU border with a trunk of ammo. I just mentioned Serbia because their border police is rather too vigilant. They wanted to tear a friend's RV apart to look for cigarettes or drugs. Imagine how delghted they'd be to find a trunk full of ammo. It would almost certainly be on the news. Also if you're under 30 and looking cool, you're very likely to be pulled off for a not-so-quick routine search. Also good luck crossing the Swiss border if you succeed.
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That's a fun blurb for a comedy routine, but ammunition is trivially easy to manufacture.
People do it in their basement as a hobby.
People manufacturing ammunition in the basement just put together gun powder, primers, bullets and cases. It would be really hard to manufacture any of those 4 individual pieces as a hobby.
As a whole, you're right. Primers, in particular, are probably beyond all but the most dedicated hobbyist's ability to produce at home. Still, lots of people cast their own bullets. People reuse shell casings, although there's a limit to how many times they can be reused. Smokeless powder is probably marginally easier to make than primers.
Manufacturing nitrocellulose, that is, smokeless powder, amounts to soaking cotton balls in concentrated nitric acid.
Not quite, you also need hydrochloric or sulphuric acid as a catalyst.
People have cast bullets and formed simple cases since the 1800s if not earlier. Primers are a bit more complex but not much so. Black powder has been produced by hand for several hundred years, and smokeless gun powder is not terribly more complicated.
Nonetheless, this is pretty much exactly the form of gun control practiced in Switzerland. Nearly everyone owns a gun, but ammunition is closely regulated.
Firearms and ammunition are regulated in the same way in Switzerland, and to purchase ammunition you just need to be able to show your right to purchase it at the shop - a proof of residency and a recent criminal records check. This is harder than in parts of the US, but no-one with a legal gun has problems getting ammunition.
Now, the boxes of 50 rounds that were issued as standard kit for military conscripts is no longer issued. This was designed to allow the conscript to fight their way to a designated muster point. As the need to do that is low currently the practice has been stopped to both save money and hopefully have a small effect on impulsive firearms related suicides. It's perfectly legal and normal to put one's own ammunition through an issued rifle.
There are also government sponsored shooting events, to encourage practice. The rounds here, being paid for by the government are tightly controlled to stop people walking off with handfuls for their own use.
But do note that it is not actually effective at all. Because of lack of border checks, you can purchase a trunk full of ammunition from a backyard dealer in the balkans, and then drive right to Switzerland.
Lack of gun-related crime is more caused by the law enforcement being very enthusiastic and effective about solving such crime, than it is caused by a lack of guns oe ammunition.
I think it's more because people in Switzerland just don't feel the need to shoot each other, to be honest.
I think this is an under-analyzed factor. It seems some jurisdictions are culturally more violent, and increasingly so (the U.S. in particular).
Backyard dealer in the balkans? Good luck crossing the Serbian border or in fact any EU/non-EU border with a trunk of ammo. I just mentioned Serbia because their border police is rather too vigilant. They wanted to tear a friend's RV apart to look for cigarettes or drugs. Imagine how delghted they'd be to find a trunk full of ammo. It would almost certainly be on the news. Also if you're under 30 and looking cool, you're very likely to be pulled off for a not-so-quick routine search. Also good luck crossing the Swiss border if you succeed.