People Of Switzerland Force Referendum Against EU Gun Regulations
In September of 2018, Switzerland agreed to a measure to comply with placing restrictions on gun ownership through the European Union’s Schengen Treaty. Switzerland is attached to the treaty even though they’re not an EU member. Gun regulations have been a part of the Schengen Treaty as part of an effort to reduce crime and terrorist activity, even though its main goal is to allow freedom of movement and trade throughout Europe. Switzerland was given a deadline of May 2019 to comply with the Treaty.
According to Swissinfo.ch, the Campaign for an Independent and Neutral Switzerland and the Swiss gun lobbyists mounted the opposition ahead of Parliament’s vote and said they would launch a referendum. According to a Swiss resident on ar15.com, they only had 100 days to get 50,000 verified signatures. Since that time, they were able to collect 125,000 signatures. The referendum vote will take place in May, the same month that compliance with the Schengen Treaty is required. Lawmakers had warned that failure to comply could lead to a dispute with the EU.
Switzerland has had strong gun owning traditions, including encouraging militia members to keep a government issued rifle and ammunition in the home for a rapid response to national emergencies. It appears that current and former militia members would still carry on that tradition through exemptions, however, restrictions on magazines for semi-automatic weapons are part of the general compliance measures along with heavier restrictions on the acquisition of firearms.
Another firearms tradition of Switzerland is shooting competitions. According to lebendige-traditionen.ch, the “ Feldschiessen” or Field Shoot garnered 128,000 participants over a weekend long, national shooting competition, making it the largest in the world. You can check out TFB TV’s Mike B’s article here to see some of what was available during his visit to a Swiss gun show in 2017.
We’ll be sure to stay abreast of this situation as it unfolds. Stay tuned to TFB for further developments as this unfolds in Switzerland.
Doug has been a firearms enthusiast since age 16 after getting to shoot with a friend. Since then he's taken many others out to the range for their first time. He is a husband, father, grandfather, police officer, outdoorsman, artist and a student of history. Doug has been a TFB reader from the start and is happy to be a contributor of content. Doug can be reached at battleshipgrey61 AT gmail.com, or battleshipgrey61 on Instagram.
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The EU has become an extension of it's former monarchies. It's clear the former ruling class has maintained it's control over the people and has found a way to subjugate the people under the rouse of security. This is something the US has to be very mindful of, and American citizens need to prevent at all costs. The EU is suffering from many systemic failures, most revolving around leaderships attempts to globalize and in turn sparking the desire to cling to nationalism. Different cultures, geographies, and populations cannot be homogenized and subjugated by and large. I wish the Swiss people the best in regaining their independence from the EU tyrants, they have no business subjugating the Swiss.
It is asinine that countries should be coerced by a foreign entity to reduce their own security though laws that don't have any logical backing. The EU pushes for open borders while reducing the nation's citizens the ability to do anything to protect themselves or their countries. I hope this is struck down.
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