Majority of Swiss voters support tightening gun controls in line with EU rules

Two of out three Swiss voters support tightening gun controls in line with changes to European Union rules, a poll released on Friday showed, potentially heading off a clash with Brussels. The restrictions, which apply to non-EU member Switzerland because it is part of Europe's Schengen open-border system, have raised hackles among Swiss shooting enthusiasts ahead of a binding referendum on May 19.

Failure to adopt the rules could force Switzerland to leave the passport-free Schengen zone and the Dublin joint system for handling asylum requests. After militants killed scores in Paris and elsewhere in 2015, the EU in 2017 toughened laws against purchasing semi-automatic rifles like the ones used in those attacks, and made it easier to track weapons in national databases.

Friday's gfs.bern poll for broadcaster SRF showed 66 per cent of eligible voters questioned support tougher gun controls while 33 per cent opposed the change. The margin of error was 2.9 percentage points. The initial EU proposal provoked an outcry because it meant a ban on the long Swiss tradition of ex-soldiers keeping their assault rifles.

Swiss officials have negotiated concessions for gun enthusiasts who take part in the country's numerous shooting clubs, but any restrictions imported from the EU go too far for right-wing activists concerned about Swiss sovereignty. Gun rights proponents complain the rules could disarm law-abiding citizens and encroach on Switzerland's heritage and national identity that includes a well-armed citizenry.

Switzerland has one of the highest rates of private gun ownership in Europe, with nearly 48 per cent of households owning a gun. But that harks back to a long tradition of self-defence and to the Swiss policy of near-universal conscription, and gun-related crime is low.

In a separate referendum also on May 19, voters will decide on a corporate tax overhaul whose passage the finance minister has described as "existential" for Switzerland as a business hub. The gfs.bern poll showed 54 per cent of voters support the revamp, a much tighter outcome than the comfortable majority predicted in a separate Tamedia survey this month.

(With inputs from agencies.)