THE GUARDIAN: Majority of 26 cantons reject move to ban army rifles from homes, which reformers hoped would lower firearms suicide rate
Swiss voters have rejected a proposal to tighten the country's relaxed gun laws.
With final official results yet to be released, a majority in at least 18 of Switzerland's 26 cantons voted against the proposal to ban army rifles from homes and impose new requirements for buying other guns.
The proposal would have ended the Swiss tradition of men keeping their army rifles at home – even after completing their military service. Supporters of the reform argued this would have reduced incidents of domestic violence and Switzerland's high rate of firearms suicide.
"This is an important sign of confidence in our soldiers," said Pius Segmueller, a lawmaker with the Christian People's party and former commander of the Vatican's Swiss Guard.
The government had argued that existing laws were sufficient to ensure some 2.3m weapons in a country of fewer than 8 million people are not misused.
Opposition against the proposal was strongest in rural and German-speaking parts of the country, which tend to be more conservative and where shooting clubs are popular. >>> Associated Press | Sunday, February 13, 2011
