Firearms regulation in Switzerland allows the acquisition of semi-automatic, and – with a may-issue permit – fully automatic firearms, by Swiss citizens and foreigners with or without permanent residence.[note 1][2] The laws pertaining to the acquisition of firearms in Switzerland are amongst the most liberal in the world.[3] Swiss gun laws are primarily about the acquisition of arms, and not ownership. As such a license is not required to own a gun by itself, but a shall-issue permit is required to purchase most types of firearms.[4] Bolt-action rifles, break-actions and hunting rifles do not require an acquisition permit, and can be acquired with just a background check.[4] An explicit reason must be submitted to be issued an acquisition permit for handguns or semi-automatics unless the reason is sport-shooting, hunting or collecting.[5] Permits for concealed carrying in public are issued sparingly.[note 2][6] The acquisition of fully automatic weapons, suppressors and target lasers requires special permits issued by the cantonal firearms office.[7] Police use of hollow point ammunition is limited to special situations.[8]
The applicable federal legislations are SR 514.54 Federal Law on Weapons, Weapon Equipment and Ammunition (German: Waffengesetz, WG, French: Loi sur les armes, LArm, Italian: Legge sulle armi, LArm) of 20 June 1997 (current edition of 15 August 2019),[6] and SR 514.541 Ordinance on Weapons, Armament Accessories and Ammunition (German: Waffenverordnung, WV, French: Ordonnance sur les armes, OArm, Italian: Ordinanza sulle armi, OArm) of 2 July 2008 (current edition of 15 August 2019).[2] The Weapons Law recognises a qualified "right to acquire, possess and carry arms".[note 3][6]
Swiss gun culture has emerged from a long tradition of shooting (tirs), which served as a formative element of national identity in the post-Napoleonic Restoration of the Confederacy,[9] and the long-standing practice of a militia organization of the Swiss Army in which soldiers' service rifles are usually stored privately at their homes (it became the choice of the soldier in 2010[10]). What started as a gun culture centered around defense of the country through military duty also became a target shooting and collecting one.[11] In addition to this, many cantons (notably the alpine cantons of Grisons and Valais) have strong traditions of hunting (see #Gun_culture_in_Switzerland), accounting for a large but unknown number of privately held hunting rifles, as only weapons acquired since 2008 are registered.[12] However, in a 2019 referendum voters opted to conform with European Union regulations which restrict the acquisition of semi-automatic firearms with high-capacity magazines.[13] A permit for semi-automatic firearms equipped with high-capacity magazines is issued to anyone fulfilling article 8 of the Weapons Act under the promise they will show after five and ten years that they are a member of a shooting club, or that they used a firearm at least once a year within that five and ten years period for their first permit of the kind [14] or to weapons collectors. The law on the acquisition of a high-capacity magazine by itself did not change.[15]
Cite error: There are <ref group=note>
tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}}
template (see the help page).