I've read studies that suggest this phenomenon may be due, in part, to the long winters--cold and dark in Scandinavia, cold in alpine Switzerland. Alaska has a comparatively high suicide/substance abuse rate, also attributed to the harsh, long dark winters. Do Norway, Sweden and Hungary have liberal gun laws? -----Original Message----- From: Elizabeth H. Thiers [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Monday, February 28, 2000 8:43 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: shooting a dead horse (with an "assault rifle", no less) OR An Au ssie looks at US through Switzerland (they're such Swissies!) They may not kill each other but, they do have a really high suicide rate, so does Sweden, Norway and Hungary. I'd have to go looking for the statistics though.