Swiss fear EU effort to tighten gun control could disarm law abiding citizens
If any population needs guns to defend themselves it is the EU. They are like animals being led to the Slaughter by ISIS as ISIS kills 100 to 200 almost every time now because no one is armed at concerts and public venues so literally everyone who isn't fast enough to run away before they are opened up on with AK 47s or grenades is dead. Unless someone can shoot back everyone dies almost every time.
If you can't return fire wherever ISIS attacks you basically you and everyone around you is dead and that's all. This also will collapse governments like France and Belgium and possibly even Germany eventually if the people aren't allowed to defend themselves from ISIS or criminals. This is a no brainer for a Western Raised American like me.
IF you watch "Hell or High Water" with Jeff Bridges and Chris Pine just remember this actually is a true story that happened in Texas.
Participants fire their infantry and assault
rifles during the traditional 'Ruetlischiessen' (Ruetli shooting)
competition in central Switzerland. (REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann)
Swiss gun rights proponents fear a new European Union
measure to tighten gun control could disarm thousands of law-abiding
citizens, Reuters reports.
The proposed gun restrictions which Switzerland, a
non-EU member, would be obliged to implement under cross border
agreements, has raised hackles among the Swiss, who resent intervention
from Brussels, the news wire reported.
It also comes at a time of increased tensions between Switzerland and the EU over Swiss efforts to curb immigration.
Christopher Blocher, a leading voice of the Swiss
right, told Reuters Switzerland should end its participation in the
system of passport-free travel if the tighter gun restrictions are
defeated in a referendum.
The proposed measure would curb online weapons sales
and impose more restrictions on assault weapons, the according to
Reuters. It was drafted after the ISIS terrorist attacks in Paris last
November that killed scores of people.
The initial proposal provoked an outcry in
Switzerland because it meant a ban on the long Swiss tradition of
ex-soldiers keeping their assault rifles, the new wire reported.
Then two months ago, Justice Minister Simonetta
Sommagrua returned from meetings in Brussels saying she he successfully
negotiated against such a ban, according to Reuters. But in the fine
print, the EU demanded concessions including psychological tests and
club membership.
Swiss gun rights proponents also fear the
restrictions could encroach on the country’s proud heritage and national
identity that includes a well-armed citizenry.
“When conflicts arise, Switzerland must put its
sovereignty first,” said Blocher, a businessman and vice president of
the SVP, the country's biggest party, told Reuters. “In an emergency,
Switzerland should be ready to exit (the cross border agreements).”
Switzerland has one of the highest rates of private
gun ownership in Europe, with nearly 48 percent of households owning a
gun. In France, there are about 30 weapons per 100 people, while the
figure in the Great Britain is far lower, at 6.7 guns per 100 civilians,
Reuters reported citing the Australian-based think tank GunPolicy.org.
However, gun-related crime in Switzerland is low and
the high number of privately owned guns harks back to a long tradition
of self-defense and to the Swiss policy of near-universal conscription,
Reuters reported.
In 2015, 11 percent of the 20,600 soldiers who left
the Swiss Army opted to keep their assault rifles which upon departure
are modified to fire single shots, according to Reuters. The number of
soldiers choosing to keep their weapons has been declining for several
years.
Switzerland's grassroots gun lobby ProTELL, named
after the 14th-century folk hero William Tell, is prepared to call for a
referendum on the EU bloc’s proposal, if necessary.
“With our direct democracy, Swiss people are
accustomed to having the last word,” ProTell's Dominik Riner told
Reuters. “We're opposed to any and all efforts to make current weapons
laws more restrictive.”
Europe plans to finalize its gun directive later this year, Reuters reported. Click here to read more from Reuters.
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