Swiss Review 2/2019

Swiss Review / March 2019 / No.2 16 Politics sports shooters would also have to be members of such clubs? Schneider is adamant: “No chance. In our club we only take on new members who have been introduced by members who are already registered with us. This means that we only accept members of good repute. We don’t just take on every person who wants to join us. I’m pretty sure that obligations and responsibilities would be passed on to clubs. And I can imagine that clubs would suddenly be re- sponsible for providing the relevant certification for their members.” No Schengen will cost billions Switzerland’s gun clubs therefore have considerable mis- givings – despite Parliament’s best efforts to keep red tape to a minimum. Josef Dittli, FDP member of the Coun- cil of States for the canton of Uri, nailed it when he said, “We want to take into account the particular nature and tradition of shooting in this country, while taking care not to jeopardise the Schengen Agreements.” All left- wing motions in favour of a further tightening of Swit- zerland’s gun laws have been rejected, as have those of the SVP designed to scupper implementation of EU re- quirements. CVP National Councillor Nicolo Pa- ganini warns against sacrificing Schen- gen “on the altar of sovereignty but for all the wrong reasons”. The Federal Of- fice of Police (fedpol) also provided a re- ality check on the problems that could arise, noting that Switzerland’s police would be “deaf and blind” without Schengen, and that it was important for the country to remain part of the Euro- pean security system. Developing a po- lice strategy on a purely national secu- rity level, based on current Schengen rules, would cost between 400 and 500million Swiss francs. Losing visa-free access to Schen- gen would also have serious consequences for the Swiss tourism industry and for cross-border regions. The fed- eral government calculates that the Swiss economy would lose up to 11 billion Swiss francs each year without Schen- gen. Is this not too high a price to pay for sparing Switzer- land’s gun lobby a few bureaucratic hoops? Schneider dodges the question slightly. In his view, the Federal Coun- cil should simply go back to Brussels and renegotiate the EUFirearms Directive. “I believe it is possible to find a solu- tion that is acceptable to both sides and does not jeopard- ise Schengen.” Switzerland’s arsenal of weapons Switzerland has a great shooting tradition and nu- merous gun enthusiasts. There were around two million firearms kept in Swiss households accord- ing to themost recent federal government estimate in 2013. “NZZ amSonntag” research shows that the cantons have issued between 150,000 and 250,000 firearm acquisition permits since then. Given that each acquisition permit enables the pur- chase of up to three firearms, the estimated total number of firearms in Swiss households is now be- tween 2.5 and 3 million. Authority on Swiss guns, René Schneider. Photo provided Urban sprawl initiative fails The Young Greens’ Urban Sprawl Initiative aimed to put a freeze on the total area of building-zone land in Switzerland, while only allowing the creation of new building zones if building land elsewhere of at least equivalent size was downgraded to offset these new zones. Initially, the initiative was popular in the opinion polls, but it was a very different story on voting day. The proposal was decisively rejected by 63.7 per cent of the electorate on 10 February 2019. This was mainly because voters believed the initiative was too radical and rigid. Its opponents pointed out that the Spatial Planning Act (SPA), revised in 2013, was adequate, effective and beginning to come into its own, with the can- tons working to implement its stricter regime. Any constitutional amendment would therefore have been counterproductive. Furthermore, the revised SPA not only prevents building zones from expanding, it also allows these zones to be withdrawn. (JM) 36.3 % Yes 63.7 % No On 19 May 2019, there will also be a referendum on the Federal Act on Tax Reform and AHV Financing (TRAF). The November 2018 issue of “Swiss Review” covered the proposal in detail.