Post date: Feb 13, 2011 6:5:10 PM
Swiss voters reject a popular initiative to ban army firearms from their homes in a referendum that followed weeks of emotional debates.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (FEBRUARY 13, 2011) REUTERS - In a move that upholds national traditions of an ever-ready citizen army Swiss voters rejected on Sunday (February 13) a popular initiative aiming to ban army firearms from their homes.
Result polls revealed that the highly debated reform was voted against by 57 percent of the public - highlighting how many citizens still view a weapon at home as a crucial element of national identity.The vast majority of Swiss men liable for military service store their guns at home and often keep them after leaving the army. Occasional shootings and the 2001 massacre in a cantonal parliament in Zug which killed 14 people, prompted calls for tighter controls.
"I'm extremely satisfied, it shows that the Swiss people mobilised to preserve our democracy, to preserve our rights and freedoms, and I think it seals a pact the Swiss people want to preserve Switzerland as it is today for the next decades or even centuries," said Xavier Schwytzguebel, president of the youth section of the Swiss People's Party (SVP) shortly after the provisional results were given.
Opposition, which included the populist right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP), campaigned heavily arguing that the ban would do little to improve security. The SVP took a strong stance in support of the long-standing Swiss tradition that male citizens who are also reserve soldiers keep their army gun at home.
Supporters of the initiative, which also aimed to restrict purchases of new guns and set up a central register of all gun owners, used posters featuring a teddy bear with a bleeding bullet wound in its torso.
Backed by the socialist and ecologist parties, the initiative aimed to ban the estimated 2 million guns kept at home - more than half of which were issued by the army according to the justice and police ministry website.