Switzerland votes on Sunday on whether or not to implement tougher new rules on guns, in line with the European Union.

Despite a long-standing reputation as a peaceful country, Switzerland has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world. Yet, except for a massacre in 2001 in Zug that left 14 dead, it has not experienced the kind of mass shootings that seem to be weekly headlines in the U.S.

So what is so different about this small alpine country, and how does it deal with its many firearms?

A Swiss tradition

Switzerland, with its militia tradition, has long had a love of guns. Shooting clubs are popular and even in the smallest village, one can often see a hand-painted sign pointing to the local shooting range.

All Swiss men must also do a few weeks of military service every year and until 2010, they kept their service weapon at home.

The 2018 Small Arms Survey estimated Switzerland had about 27.6 guns per 100 inhabitants, making it the country with the 16th highest rate of gun ownership in the world, after places like the U.S., Yemen, Serbia and Lebanon.

According to the Swiss daily NZZ, however, the total number of firearms – guns, rifles and semi-automatics – could be as high as 2.5 to three million, meaning about 35 per 100 inhabitants. Arms are registered in each canton so there are no national statistics.

ID checks, permits and training

And yet, since 2010, the yearly number of deaths from guns has not surpassed 250 in a country of 8.4 million people, according to the Federal Statistics Office. Ninety percent of those were suicides.

The U.S., in comparison, experienced 4.5 times more gun-related deaths per population in 2017, with over 120 firearms per 100 inhabitants. This year, it has already seen over 120 mass shootings with four or more dead or injured.

While guns are numerous in Switzerland, strict laws, permits and training requirements have made them generally safer.

A valid ID and a signed contract are required when buying even basic hunting or single-shot rifles. Anyone wanting to purchase a more powerful firearm, including from a private seller, must obtain a permit and be over 18 without a criminal record. Purchases are recorded in the canton registry.

To carry a firearm in public a person must prove they need the weapon for safety and pass a test showing they know how to shoot. Possession and use of automatic weapons are illegal, and even inheriting a weapon requires a permit.

Declaring weapons

Despite these many hurdles, the Swiss have happily complied.

In 2009, after new legislation came into force requiring people to declare any weapons they might have or give them up, some 15,000 firearms were returned to the authorities – including ancient muskets and old forgotten army rifles found in the attic or under the bed. 

Between 45,000 and 55,000 permits to purchase a weapon were also approved in 2017, showing that interest in owning a firearm remains high.  

A militia army

A Swiss quirk that has long fascinated the rest of the world is the tradition of keeping service weapons at home. For decades, it was not unusual to see a young man in uniform, his rifle slung over his shoulder, walking to the train station on his way to army training.

But even that is no more.

Partly in response to an unusually high number of suicides using service weapons – at the time, Switzerland had the highest rate of gun suicides in Europe – the country introduced a new law in 2010, allowing soldiers to leave their gun or rifle at the armory. Now, 90 percent of them do so, reports show.

What's the referendum about?

Voters on Sunday will decide whether Switzerland should implement new EU rules drafted in 2017 in response to a series of terror attacks in Europe.  

As a member of the border-free Schengen Area even though it is not part of the EU, Bern is required to keep in line with European legislation. Swiss law, however, allows citizens to force a popular vote if they gather 50,000 signatures.

The modified EU legislation is meant to make it easier to determine where weapons come from and whether a person has been banned from possessing firearms abroad while tightening the procedure to obtain semi-automatic weapons.

Critics in Switzerland say it will mean the end of shooting clubs and prohibit the possession of guns, and that it violates the Swiss constitution without doing anything to properly combat terrorism.

The government insists however that Swiss traditions are not at risk, and that changes will be mainly administrative. Meanwhile, refusing to implement EU rules could see Switzerland kicked out of the Schengen Area, it has warned.

This is unlikely. According to various recent polls, between 50 and 60 percent of Swiss voters back the implementation of the new EU law. 

(Cover picture: A woman walks past a campaign poster against a tough new gun law in Geneva, Switzerland, May 13, 2019. /Getty Images)