Alcohol limit for hobby hunters: Petition
Weapons and alcohol don't mix.
Anyone carrying a rifle in the forest is allowed to drink without being checked.
Swiss federal hunting law and cantonal implementing regulations contain no binding blood alcohol limit for armed hobby hunters. Alcohol during hobby hunting — at morning drinks, in the high seat, or at the end-of-drive evening — is culturally entrenched and barely regulated by law.
Since 2000, dozens of people have been killed in hunting accidents in Switzerland, with around 300 hunting accidents recorded annually. Whether and how often alcohol was a factor is statistically invisible, because no alcohol tests are required following hunting accidents.
Drivers are tested. Motorboat operators are tested. Someone who takes a semi-automatic hunting rifle into a forest with public hiking trails is not. This regulatory gap cannot be justified by tradition.
Our Demands
- A binding zero-tolerance policy of 0.0 per mille for armed hobby hunters in the field.
- Mandatory alcohol testing after every hunting accident involving personal injury or property damage.
- A reporting obligation for hunting accidents in which alcohol consumption may be a contributing factor, including statistical recording at the federal level.
- Independent investigation of hunting accidents by cantonal authorities outside the hunting administration — not by game wardens or hunting associations themselves.
- A ban on carrying weapons under the influence of alcohol in the hunting territory, enforceable through random checks by game wardens.
Why This Petition?
Hobby hunting in Switzerland is a leisure activity practiced by around 30’000 hobby hunters. These individuals carry firearms through publicly accessible forests, alpine areas, and field margins. The fact that they are not subject to any alcohol controls is a historically grown exception — not a rational argument.
The influence of hunting associations in consultation procedures and parliamentary committees has so far blocked every regulatory initiative in this area. A society that exempts weapon-carrying individuals in public forests from alcohol controls exposes its citizens to an avoidable risk.
Who Is This Petition Addressed To?
The Swiss Federal Council, DETEC (FOEN, Species, Ecosystems and Landscapes Division), the Conference of Cantonal Governments, the Hunting and Fisheries Administrators' Conference (JFK), and the 26 cantonal hunting administrations.
Sign Now
With your signature, you support the demand for a binding alcohol regulation for armed hobby hunting in Switzerland. Every voice counts.
Dear Sir or Madam,
with this petition, we are calling for a binding blood alcohol limit for armed hobby hunters in Switzerland.
No federal regulation exists for armed hobby hunters. This is a regulatory gap that cannot be justified by tradition.
Our demands:
1. A binding blood alcohol limit of 0.0‰ for armed hobby hunters in the field.
2. Mandatory alcohol testing after every hunting accident involving personal injury or property damage.
3. A mandatory reporting requirement for hunting accidents where alcohol use is suspected.
4. Independent investigation of hunting accidents outside the jurisdiction of hunting authorities.
5. A prohibition on carrying weapons under the influence of alcohol in the hunting area.
I support these demands as a signatory.
Yours sincerely,
Cast Your Vote Now
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