SWISS GUN CONTROL REFERENDUM, 2011

          On this date, February 13, 2011, the Swiss Gun Control Referendum was held. I will post information about this referendum from Wikipedia.

  

Switzerland supports the 2^nd amendment and has a low crime rate.

[PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.salon.com/2015/09/14/the_rights_deeply_misleading_new_gun_control_meme_america_should_be_more_like_switzerland/]

A referendum was held in Switzerland on 13 February 2011 on the federal popular initiative "For the protection against gun violence" ("Für den Schutz vor Waffengewalt"/"Pour la protection face à la violence des armes"/"Per la protezione dalla violenza perpetrata con le armi"). It was rejected by 56% of voters and a majority of cantons.

  

Michael Buholzer / Reuters

Swiss marksmen shoot at targets over 300 m away during an annual shooting-skills exercise near Bern

[PHOTO SOURCE: http://world.time.com/2012/12/20/the-swiss-difference-a-gun-culture-that-works/]

Initiative

The initiative foresees that guns can no longer be kept at home, but must be stored at the arsenal (Zeughaus) instead, that possession of a gun should be linked to a screening of the ability and necessity of the gunholder, and that all guns should be registered. Left-wing parties (SP, Greens, CSP) and the GLP are mostly in favour of the proposal, with right-wing parties (SVP, FDP, CVP, BDP) opposed.

 

A citizen practicing the yearly mandatory training.

Opinion polls

According to polls from January 2011, the initiative was favoured by 45% of respondents, with 34% opposed and a relatively high amount of undecideds at 21%. A second poll from two weeks before the referendum saw a closening of the polls, with 47% to 45% in favour.

  

A "shooting society" somewhere in Switzerland; people come to such ranges to complete mandatory training with service arms, or to shoot for sport and competition.

Results

More than half, 56.3%, of all voters were against the initiative, with only the cantons of Basel-Stadt, Zurich, Geneva, Jura, Vaud and Neuchâtel in support; this meant the initiative would have narrowly passed in western Switzerland, but clearly failed in the German-speaking parts. In Switzerland, the passing of a constitutional amendment by initiative requires a double majority; not only must a majority of people vote for the amendment but also a majority of cantons give their consent.

Choice	Popular vote		Cantons
	Votes	%	Full	Half	Total
For	1,083,312	43.70	5	1	5.5
Against	1,395,812	56.30	15	5	17.5
Invalid/blank votes	22,136	–	–	–	–
Total	2,501,260	100	20	6	23
Registered voters/turnout	5,091,652	49.12	–	–	–
Source: Direct Democracy