Strong Swiss gun culture faces EU pressure

Switzerland, where gun culture has deep roots, has managed to avoid the charged national debates over firearm ownership that have consumed other countries.

But in a state where compulsory military service means many are comfortable around weapons, voters might, in a May referendum, push back against gun reforms demanded by the European Union.

And there is evidence that the Swiss broadly support a citizen’s right to own weapons — and are acquiring guns at an accelerated pace.

In the eastern city of Lucerne last week, at one of the country’s largest arms trade fairs, vendors boasted of surging sales including a fresh appetite for weapons among the elderly.

This apparent pro-gun outlook may partly be driven by the lack of horrific mass shootings such as last month’s massacre in Christchurch, New Zealand. Lawmakers there are well on the way to restricting access to military-style semi-automatic weapons.

But Switzerland — which has the world’s 16th highest rate of gun ownership according to a 2017 report by the Small Arms Survey — is now being forced to confront tensions between its traditions and a demand from the EU to toughen its gun laws.

While the country is not a member of the EU, it belongs to the visa-free Schengen travel region and must therefore comply with various rules applied by the bloc.

Brussels called on the Swiss government to amend its gun laws to make them compatible with EU restrictions tightened following the 2015 Paris attacks.

Swiss lawmakers approved reforms that the EU has deemed sufficient.

But that prompted a fierce pushback by members of the rightwing Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which has gathered enough signatures to force a referendum on the measures next month.