In a referendum held on Sunday, Swiss voters agreed to new gun regulations. Gun rights activists lobbied against tighter rules and pushed the vote in an attempt to oppose new agreements between Switzerland and the European Union. The reform of the European Union's firearms directive would place more restrictions on gun owners and centralize surveillance.

The New Firearms Directive

After the 2015 terrorist attacks in France, the European Commission drafted a reform of a law enacted in 1991. A final, watered-down version now includes bans on automatic firearms that have been converted into semi-automatics, magazines with a capacity of more than 21 rounds in the case of short firearms and more than 11 rounds for rifles, personal defense weapons (PDWs), and even stage and re-enactment guns in some cases. The EU now also coordinates an exchange of information between member states regarding the transfer of firearms from one country to another and requires national governments to monitor gun owners, including through medical and psychological assessments.