Federal popular initiative "For protection against armed violence"

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The federal popular initiative “For protection against armed violence” was a Swiss popular initiative that was launched by various organizations in 2007 and voted on on February 13, 2011. The initiative was rejected with 56.3% no votes.

initiative

From September 4, 2007 to February 23, 2009 around 70 organizations collected 106,037 valid signatures, which resulted in the popular initiative. They wanted to delete Article 107 of the Federal Constitution on weapons and war material and create a new Article 118a Protection against armed violence , which would have restricted the possession of weapons. This would have subsequently required a revision of the Arms Act .

The initiative was presented to the people and the cantons on February 13, 2011 . It was rejected with 56.3 percent of the vote. Six of the 26 cantons (the French-speaking cantons of Geneva , Vaud , Jura and Neuchâtel and the two German-speaking cantons of Basel-Stadt and Zurich ) were in favor of the proposal. The turnout was a relatively high 48.8 percent.

text

The popular initiative had the following content:

The Federal Constitution of April 18, 1999 is amended as follows:

Art. 107 heading and paragraph 1

War material

1 repealed

Art. 118a (new) Protection against armed violence

1 The federal government issues regulations against the misuse of weapons, weapon accessories and ammunition. It also regulates the acquisition, possession, carrying, use and surrender of weapons, weapon accessories and ammunition.

2 Anyone who wants to acquire, own, carry, use or leave firearms and ammunition must demonstrate the need for them and have the necessary skills. The law regulates the requirements and the details, in particular for:

a. Occupations in which the need arises from the task;

b. the commercial trade in weapons;

c. sport shooting;

d. the hunt;

e. collecting weapons.

3 Particularly dangerous weapons, namely series firearms and forearm rifles (pump action), may not be acquired or owned for private purposes.

4 Military legislation regulates the use of weapons by members of the army. Outside of the military service, the firearms of the members of the army are kept in secure rooms of the army. Members of the army may not be given any firearms when they leave the army. The law regulates the exceptions, in particular for licensed sport shooters.

5 The Confederation keeps a register for firearms.

6 It supports the cantons in campaigns to collect firearms.

7 It works at the international level to ensure that the availability of small arms and light weapons is restricted.

Slogans

The referendum was supported by the SP , the Greens , the Green Liberals , the EPP and the CSP . The parties CVP , BDP , FDP and SVP were against the initiative.

The Federal Council and Parliament rejected the proposal.

argumentation

The government and parliament were against the initiative because they considered the existing weapons law to be sufficient and numerous measures to combat abuse had already been taken, especially in the area of orderly weapons . The opponents also argued that accepting the initiative would have meant a breach of trust between the state and the citizens. Proponents of the initiative, including the Swiss medical association Foederatio Medicorum Helveticorum (FMH) and numerous suicide prevention organizations, countered that the initiative could have saved numerous lives.

Controversy over gun suicides

In the run-up to the vote, there was a public controversy , in particular about the proportion of army weapons used in suicides . According to various studies, over 40 percent of gun suicides were committed with army weapons. The Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) came to a value of 49 percent based on the evaluation of four scientific studies.

The Federal Statistical Office stated that 9 percent of the gun suicides in 2009 were perpetrated with army weapons (assault rifles and army pistols). A controversy arose around this information because the assignment of the weapons to the various categories did not seem conclusive and the Federal Statistical Office itself also pointed out the limited completeness and quality of the information in a document.

Influence on legislation

In the run-up to the vote, the Federal Council and Parliament resolved various tightening of the handling of army weapons, which came into force at the beginning of 2010:

  • The soldiers are no longer given pocket ammunition to take home.
  • At their own request, members of the army can deposit their service weapons in the armory free of charge and without giving a reason. You no longer need an application for this.
  • Soldiers who want to keep their service weapon after completing their compulsory military service need a weapon acquisition license .
  • A reporting requirement is introduced for authorities, doctors and psychologists who notice signs that an army member could endanger himself or others with his weapon.

Results

The initiative was only accepted in the six cantons of Basel-Stadt , Zurich , Geneva , Neuchâtel , Vaud and Jura .
  • Yes (5 1 / 2 Scores)
  • No (15 5 / 2 Scores)
    • Preliminary official final results of the federal popular initiative "For protection against armed violence"
    Canton
    		 Yes
    (%)    		 No
    (%)    		 Participation
    (%)
    Canton ZurichCanton Zurich Zurich 50.4 49.6 49.6
    Canton BernCanton Bern Bern 40.6 59.4 52.6
    Canton lucerneCanton lucerne Lucerne 40.1 59.9 50.2
    Canton of UriCanton of Uri Uri 29.4 70.6 43.5
    Canton of SchwyzCanton of Schwyz Schwyz 29.1 70.9 51.3
    Canton of ObwaldenCanton of Obwalden Obwalden 28.1 71.9 53.9
    Canton of NidwaldenCanton of Nidwalden Nidwalden 31.2 68.8 52.6
    Canton of GlarusCanton of Glarus Glarus 30.2 69.8 41.7
    Canton of ZugCanton of Zug train 42.8 57.2 53.6
    Canton of FriborgCanton of Friborg Freiburg 41.1 58.9 46.6
    Canton of SolothurnCanton of Solothurn Solothurn 35.0 65.0 48.8
    Canton of Basel-StadtCanton of Basel-Stadt Basel city 58.9 41.1 49.0
    Canton of Basel-CountryCanton of Basel-Country Basel-Country 45.2 54.8 49.8
    Canton of SchaffhausenCanton of Schaffhausen Schaffhausen 39.0 61.0 64.6
    Canton of Appenzell AusserrhodenCanton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden Appenzell Ausserrhoden 37.8 62.2 51.7
    Canton of Appenzell InnerrhodenCanton of Appenzell Innerrhoden Appenzell Innerrhoden 27.7 72.3 44.4
    Canton of St. GallenCanton of St. Gallen St. Gallen 39.2 60.8 47.8
    canton of Grisonscanton of Grisons Grisons 35.0 65.0 44.1
    Kanton AargauKanton Aargau Aargau 38.6 61.4 46.4
    Canton of ThurgauCanton of Thurgau Thurgau 34.5 65.5 49.7
    Canton of TicinoCanton of Ticino Ticino 36.5 63.5 44.3
    Canton of VaudCanton of Vaud Vaud 53.7 46.3 49.3
    Canton of ValaisCanton of Valais Valais 38.1 61.9 50.8
    Canton of NeuchâtelCanton of Neuchâtel Neuchâtel 53.2 46.8 46.8
    Canton of GenevaCanton of Geneva Geneva 61.0 39.0 47.8
    Canton of JuraCanton of Jura law 52.0 48.0 39.2
    Federal coat of arms ÜÜÜSwiss Confederation 43.7 56.3 48.8

    Web links

    Individual evidence

    1. ↑ admin.ch: Chronology of the popular initiative
    2. ↑ Schutz-vor-waffengewalt.ch: Bearing and supporting organizations
    3. ↑ admin.ch: AS 2009 2125: How the initiative came about (PDF; 483 kB)
    4. ↑ Weapons initiative failed at the stand more
    5. ↑ Federal popular initiative 'For protection against armed violence'. Federal Chancellery , accessed on August 11, 2016 .
    6. ^ Federal referendums 2011 - overview. Federal Statistical Office, archived from the original on August 11, 2016 ; accessed on August 11, 2016 .
    7. ↑ admin.ch: Federal Council rejects popular initiative "For protection against armed violence" ( Memento from August 5, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
    8. ↑ a b admin.ch: Popular initiative "For protection against armed violence", FDJP, December 6, 2010 ( Memento from February 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
    9. ^ Arguments of the opponents ( Memento of February 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
    10. ↑ nzz.ch: FMH played a very active role in the voting campaign for the weapons initiative
    11. ^ Website of the initiative committee
    12. ↑ Thomas Reisch: Switzerland in the happy blind flight. In: Swiss Medical Journal. 2011; 92: 1/2 ( saez.ch PDF).
    13. ↑ a b Missed statistician article on 20minutes online from February 1st, 2011
    14. ↑ Firearms - Suicides by procedure and weapon type, 2009 (Excel file) ( Memento from November 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Document of the Federal Statistical Office, as of February 9, 2010, (see also copy in the article by 20M Minuten online from February 1, 2011).
    15. ↑ Federal offices create confusion about army weapon suicides Article in the daily newspaper of February 1, 2011.
    16. ↑ Firearms as a means of crime (PDF) ( Memento from November 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Publication by the Federal Statistical Office from December 2010
    17. ↑ Deposit weapons in the armory free of charge from 2010 Article on NZZ Online dated November 27, 2009.
    18. ↑ Template No. 554 - Preliminary official final results - People's initiative of February 23, 2009 'For protection against armed violence' , Federal Chancellery (BK), as of February 13, 2011 5:02 p.m., accessed on February 14, 2011.