Front page - SWI swissinfo.ch
EU pressure
Membership of gun lobby soars amid arms law debate
Politics
This content was published on May 3, 2018 3:46 PM May 3, 2018 - 15:46
PROTELL banner
The group is aiming for 20,000 members by the end of the year.
(Keystone)
Switzerland’s grassroots gun lobby PROTELLexternal link, which advocates for liberal firearms laws, has seen its membership increase by 44% over one year.
Between June 2017 and April 2018, the number of members rose from around 8,700 to almost 12,500. This at a time when the government has submitted gun reform laws to parliament. The aim of the legal changes is to bring Swiss legislation in line with the European Union directive aimed at tightening firearm regulations by the end of 2019.
"This increase shows that more and more citizens are worried about their rights and freedoms in this country," Jean-Luc Addor, interim president of PROTELL, told the Swiss News Agency (SDA-ATS).
The group is aiming for 20,000 members by the end of the year. The influential lobby – Switzerland’s equivalent of the American National Rifle Association (NRA) - has already announced that it will launch a referendum if parliament votes in favour of a tougher arms law.
+ What is Swiss the gun law reform all about?
+ How the Swiss regulate firearms
European insistence
The EU directive aims to make access more difficult to arms that can cause a large number of deaths, such as some semi-automatic weapons. Switzerland is not an EU member, but is a member of the Schengen Agreement on freedom of movement. As such, it must also reform its legislation or risk its Schengen membership.
The Swiss government has nevertheless obtained some concessions. With regard to arms for military service, they may still be kept at home after service has ended, and they may be used for sports. Twenty-shot guns will not be prohibited. Despite the concessions, the government proposal was criticised by the conservative right Swiss People’s Party, shooting associations, hunters and military officers.
gun
Opinion
What can the Swiss teach the US about guns?
By Erin Zimmerman
In the wake of another school shooting, a former police officer and Zurich resident argues that it’s time for the US to follow the Swiss example.
48 There are 48 comments on this article.
in depth: Opinion
Law and order
SDA-ATS/ac
Neuer Inhalt
Horizontal Line
swissinfo EN
The following content is sourced from external partners. We cannot guarantee that it is suitable for the visually or hearing impaired.
swissinfo.ch
Join us on Facebook!
subscription form
Form for signing up for free newsletter.
Sign up for our free newsletters and get the top stories delivered to your inbox.
Email address
Top stories (weekly)
Latest news (daily)
Business (weekly)
Politics (weekly)
Society (weekly)
Fintech (monthly)
Click here to see more newsletters
There are 2 comments on this article.
Related Stories
gun and bullets on table
Lining up with Europe
Swiss government puts gun law reforms to parliament
The Swiss government has submitted to parliament gun law reform proposals to bring Switzerland into line with a European directive.
3 There are 3 comments on this article.
Law and order
gun factory
Weapons
More guns registered in Switzerland
Switzerland has about 9% more guns than it did a year ago, according to a platform where owners can register their weapons.
in depth: Firearms
Politics
See in other languages: 2
Two guns hang on the wall in a shop
Many guns, few shootings
How do the Swiss deal with firearms? Your questions, answered
By Jo Fahy, Veronica DeVore
Amid US gun law debates, we answer your questions about guns in Switzerland, including why a place thought to have so many has few mass shootings.
4 There are 4 comments on this article.
in depth: Firearms
Politics
Conflict
See in another language: 1
gun
Opinion
What can the Swiss teach the US about guns?
By Erin Zimmerman
In the wake of another school shooting, a former police officer and Zurich resident argues that it’s time for the US to follow the Swiss example.
48 There are 48 comments on this article.
in depth: Opinion
Law and order
ignazio cassis
gun control
Future Swiss foreign minister quits gun lobby groups
By swissinfo.ch and agencies
Switzerland’s incoming foreign minister Ignazio Cassis has quit two pro-weapons lobby groups over negative reactions to news of his membership.
3 There are 3 comments on this article.
Politics
See in other languages: 2
Footer
The company | Partnerships | Imprint | Jobs | Play SWI | Newsletter subscription | Contact
Back to top
World partners:
Radio Netherlands Worldwide | Radio Canada International | Radio Praha | Polskie Radio
RTS | SRF | RSI | RTR | SWI
Front page - SWI swissinfo.ch
swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR
Front Page
Latest News
Direct democracy
Politics
Foreign Affairs
Business
Culture
Society
Sci & Tech
Multimedia
In Depth
Special reports
Switzerland: How To
Follow us:
en
English
de
Deutsch
fr
Français
it
Italiano
es
Español
pt
Português
ja
日本語
ar
عربي
zh
中文
ru
Pусский
Follow us:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment