The right answers.

Q. Is there a higher gun-crime rate in Switzerland, with all its weapons, or in Britain?

L.R.R., Mesa, Ariz.

A. Using a 1996 massacre in a school as an excuse, British authorities cracked down even further on legal gun owners. Even though all privately owned handguns "are now officially illegal," as the BBC has noted, "the tightened rules seem to have had little impact in the criminal underworld." Estimates of illegal firearms range from 200,000 to several million.

Armed crime has grown in London, as well as other U.K. cities. In the Metropolitan Police Area, murders committed with a firearm jumped nearly 90 percent between April and November 2001 over the previous year. Similarly, during the same period the number of armed street robberies in the capital rose by 53 percent.

Meanwhile, Switzerland, with its population of six million, has at least two million publicly owned firearms -- including 600,000 automatic rifles and a half-million pistols. The rate of gun crimes, reported the BBC on September 27, 2001, "is so low that statistics are not even kept."

Instead of a large standing army, Switzerland "requires every man to undergo some form of military training for a few days or weeks throughout most of their lives. Between the ages of 21 and 32 men serve as frontline troops. They are given an M-57 assault rifle and 24 rounds of ammunition, which they are required to keep at home. Once discharged, men serve in the Swiss equivalent of the U.S. National Guard, but still have to train occasionally and are given bolt rifles."

The Swiss have long been proud of their armed and independent traditions. For example, 19th-century Austrian statesman Klemens Metternich reportedly said: "Switzerland does not have an army; it is an army:' And Machiavelli wrote in The Prince that the Swiss were "armatissimi e liberissimi," or very well armed and very free.

Q. Is the Nature Conservancy part of the federal land grab?

V.C., Chillicothe, Ohio 

A. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) describes itself as the world's largest private international conservation group. It works closely with the federal government. Indeed, according to Foundation Watch, the TNC sells about two-thirds of the private land that it purchases to the federal government. "In this way," says the newsletter, "tens of thousands of acres of private land, and the tax revenues that land generates for local governments, disappear each year and become part of the growing federal estate."

Q. How many different countries have nuclear weapons?

D.U., Farragut, Tenn.

A. The following countries are believed to possess nuclear weapons: China, France, India, Israel, Pakistan, Russia, United Kingdom and the United States. North Korea likely has developed a nuclear-weapons program, and Libya, Iran and Iraq have been seeking the capability, reports a Congressional Research Service (CRS) study. Kazakhstan, South Korea, Taiwan and South Africa are said to have ended their programs. South Africa claimed in 1993 that it had secretly built six nuclear bombs; but, as noted by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Pretoria said it dismantled the bombs and its program.

Details can be found in Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Weapons and Missiles: The Current Situation and Trends, August 10, 2001.

Q. What percentage of our oil is imported? How much have OPEC's price manipulations cost the U.S. economy?

M.A., Kodiak, Alaska

A. The United States imports some 52 percent of its oil, an increase from about 42 percent two decades ago. OPEC of late has been losing market share. Nevertheless, according to government estimates, oil cartel manipulation between 1979 and 1991 cost the American economy about $4 trillion; an economic downturn followed each major price shock.

Recently, OPEC has been trying to deal with falling prices by cutting production. The January 1st withdrawal of 1.9 million barrels a day from the international market, reported the Asia Times, "led to a total removal of 5 million barrels a day from the market over the past 12 months. OPEC members are now exporting a total of 21.7 million barrels a day, 19 percent less than a year ago."

Faced with a price drop, OPEC ministers have fought back, agreeing to cut production of crude oil by 6 percent. In addition, said the Bradenton (Fla.) Herald, OPEC also "persuaded non-OPEC producer nations like Russia, Norway and Mexico to cut production as well, virtually guaranteeing the current oil surplus will dry up and prices will go up as a result."