Martin Killias

Christoph Martin Killias (born March 29, 1948, in Zurich, Switzerland) is a Swiss criminologist who has been a permanent visiting professor at the University of St. Gallen's law school since 2013. He is also the co-chair of the Campbell Collaboration's Crime and Justice Group.

Career From 1986 to 2006, Killias was a professor of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedural Law and Criminology at the University of Lausanne and Director of that University’s Institute of Criminology and Criminal Law. Another study by him found that gun ownership in Switzerland may have increased domestic crime rates in that country.

Views on gun violence Killias has said that "the fewer guns there are in cellars, attics and armoires, then that would be helpful, because there is a strong correlation between guns kept in private homes and incidences occurring at home - like private disputes involving the husband shooting the wife and maybe the children, and then committing suicide." He has also said that as the Swiss government reduced the size of its Army, gun violence rates in that country have dropped. In response to those who cite Switzerland as evidence that guns deter violence, Killias has said that in Switzerland, "We have guns at home, but they are kept for peaceful purposes. There is no point taking the gun out of your home in Switzerland because it is illegal to carry a gun in the street. To shoot someone who just looks at you in a funny way - this is not Swiss culture!" In 2020, Killias received the award for the Distinguished Services to the European Society of Criminology Award in recognition of outstanding service contributions to its effective functioning.