Sunday, February 13, 2011

Nein! Non! No! Na!

Switzerland is a quad-lingual country if you count the infrequently spoken Romansch. The other official languages are German, French, and Italian.

Regardless of the language, the voters of Switzerland have said "No" in today's referendum to greater gun control.

Pro-gun campaign poster in Switzerland.
A bit over 56% of the Swiss voters rejected attempts by a coalition of the Green Party, unions, pacifists, church groups, and NGO's to force military weapons to be kept in armories. The referendum would have also created a gun registry and banned the sale of both full auto weapons and pump-action rifles.

A overwhelming majority of the cantons - 20 out of 26 - were won by the pro-gun vote in this referendum. For a referendum to pass in Switzerland, both a majority of the cantons and a majority of the votes must be for it.

Here is how the AP reported the results of the vote.
Neutral Switzerland is among the best-armed nations in the world, with more guns per capita than almost any other country except the United States, Finland and Yemen.

At least 2.3 million weapons lie stashed in basements, cupboards and lofts in this country of less than 8 million people, according to the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey.

On Sunday, Swiss voters made sure it stays that way, rejecting a proposal to tighten the peaceful Alpine nation's relaxed firearms laws.
While gun rights forces won today, I think Sebastian is right that the anti's will be back. The membership of gun clubs is aging and younger voters were more likely to have voted for the gun restrictions proposed in the referendum.

5 comments:

  1. If they stay on the defense, the Swiss will lose their rights. Let's hope that they go on the offense and re-normalize guns in their society.

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  2. In my weak opinion it is an unfair vote based on the way the laws are there. Men have compulsory requirement to join the service and woman do not. But those same woman have an equal vote in how this goes.

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  3. why ban pump action rifles? What the hell is up with that?

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  4. Pump action rifles are (one of?) the Swiss antis' officially demonized "Saturday Night Special" type of weapons.

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  5. I wish we could buy full autos in America.Maybe I should immigrate to Switzerland.Unlikely though because most European countries strictly enforce their immigration policy's, and there very selective about who gets in.

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