Reformers hope referendum vote will toughen gun ownership laws and cut Europe's highest firearm suicide rate
Switzerland votes on Sunday in a referendum on whether to tighten its gun laws in an attempt to reduce its high firearms suicide rate.
Switzerland has some of the most liberal weapons ownership rules in the western world, with an estimated 2.3m guns between its 8 million people.
The proposal faces stiff resistance from gun enthusiasts in a nation where the right to bear arms is firmly linked to the national myth of William Tell, the Swiss marksman who – as well as the incident with the apple – killed an enemy with his crossbow.
The result, say anti-gun campaigners, is that it has the highest rate of firearms suicides in Europe – about a quarter of Switzerland's 1,300 suicides each year involve a gun, according to federal statistics.
Most firearms are owned by ex-soldiers who, by a quirk of tradition, are allowed to keep their weapons after military service ends. Campaigners want all military-issued guns to be stored in secure army depots rather than in people's homes.
Reformers also want a national gun registry and a ban on the sale of fully automatic weapons and pump-action rifles. Such policies, they claim, would help prevent rampages such as that in the town of Zug in 2001, when 14 people were shot dead at a local government meeting. The perpetrator, Friedrich Leibacher, who also killed himself, used a commercial version of the Swiss army's SG 550 assault rifle, a gun commonly found throughout the country, hidden in cupboards or stored under beds.
"If you make firearms less accessible there will be fewer suicides. It's that simple," said Elsa Kurz of the Geneva-based organisation Stop Suicide.
But the head of Switzerland's sport shooting association, which represents 3,000 gun clubs, said a change in the law would damage the social fabric.
"In our democracy, the clubs are a very important pillar of the community," said Dora Andres, who keeps an assault rifle at home. "If you don't have clubs, where are you going to meet and talk to people? On Facebook?"
Another vocal minority claims the vote endangers the weak federal government and Switzerland's unique system of popular rule expressed in endless referendums.
"The real purpose of this initiative is to weaken the militia army and withdraw the state's confidence in its citizens," said Markus Müller, spokesman for a group of senior Swiss military officers.
He called the proposal a leftwing conspiracy to weaken Swiss democracy. "Only a disarmed people can be oppressed. That's why we're against this," he said.
The exact number of military-issued weapons involved in Swiss suicides remains disputed, but those calling for tighter rules claim they account for between 100 and 200 a year, mostly among men. Reformers also note that since Switzerland cut the size of its army in 2004, the number of firearms suicides among men aged 30-40 has halved.
A recent poll found 47% for the proposal, with 45% opposed.