Switzerland rejects gun registration
The ineffectiveness of universal registration as a crime control measure is being increasingly acknowledged. Switzerland now follows New Zealand in rejecting it. The reasons, which appear to revolve around an awareness that it is not cost-effective, could well echo the discoveries made in Canada about the ill-fated gun registry there.
The concept of three million guns being kept in private homes in a nation with extremely low crime rates does not fit the prevalent belief that guns cause crime.
The Director of the Swiss Small Arms Survey, Keith Krause, is featured in a swissinfo article.
Krause is quoted as saying "In Switzerland, the percentage of people killed by firearms is slightly higher than in the rest of Western Europe". The "firearm death" figures are usually given as a means of incorporating suicide into the numbers. The article then says Krause deems a registry would be "useful", but admits that no direct connection can be established between firearm numbers in the community and criminal usage.
There has been a perception that the Swiss government wanted to bring in more restrictive legislation because it is expected to conform to the norm in the European Union's Schengen area, which Switzerland will be joining soon.
Amnesty International is quoted as being "sceptical" about the new laws because they do not involve registration.
During the consultation procedure as the legislative changes were being examined, fully 93 per cent of people questioned the benefit of further curtailing the rights of citizens.
Willy Pfund of the Swiss shooting organization Pro Tell rejects further restrictions in favour of the importance of being prepared to "educate young people to have a safe and responsible relationship with firearms"
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