The European changes regarding the regulation of possession of weapons have meant that Switzerland has also decided to align itself in order to make trade with EU countries less problematic.
In Switzerland, too, regulations on firearms trade and possession are aligned with European directives. The people decided, voting in a referendum calling for tougher gun laws. Citizens therefore accepted the revised law with a 63,7% yes vote; only in Ticino did the reform fail with 54,4% of the vote.
This means that restrictions on semi-automatic weapons will come into force. Purchasing them will be made more difficult, but the traceability of information and its exchange with other states will be improved. As in Europe, semi-automatic weapons equipped with a high-capacity magazine will move from the category of weapons requiring authorization to that of prohibited weapons.
Possession will not be prohibited, but will require an "exceptional authorization" issued by the competent cantonal weapons service.
An exemption has been granted, for example, for Swiss Army assault rifles. The service weapon, along with its magazine, can be transferred to citizens released from military service, and they can be authorized to use it for target shooting. The traditional shooting system will continue to be maintained.
The Swiss government has moved in this direction to avoid the risk of being excluded from cooperation with member states of the Schengen Agreement on security and the Dublin Agreement on asylum.
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