Template text: Protection from gun violence with hunting weapons

The goal is to reduce the risk of femicides and other serious violent crimes with hunting weapons and to address the existing large data gap. Today, neither is systematically recorded whether perpetrators are hunters, nor whether weapons used are hunting weapons. Without this transparency, victims, police and legislators remain flying blind.

1. Motion

The Government Council is instructed to submit to the Grand Council a proposal for amending the cantonal hunting law ( ………… ) as well as other relevant ordinances such as police law, weapons law and victim assistance law where applicable. The goal is the prevention of femicides and other serious violent crimes with hunting weapons as well as creating transparency about the risk posed by hunting weapons in domestic settings. The law revision must in particular ensure that:

• in police crime statistics and other recording systems of the canton, it is systematically documented
  • whether a firearm was used in homicides, attempted homicides, serious bodily harm, domestic violence, threats and coercion,
  • whether it was a hunting weapon, insofar as this can be determined in the proceedings,
  • whether the accused person possessed a hunting license, hunting lease, hunting examination or other hunting permit at the time of the offense;
• the Government Council provides Parliament with a comprehensive report within two years after the legal foundations come into force, which in particular shows
  • how many serious violent crimes in the canton were committed with firearms over a multi-year period,
  • in how many cases hunting weapons in the narrower or broader sense were involved,
  • in how many cases perpetrators were hunters or persons authorized to hunt,
  • which constellations of domestic violence, partner violence and femicides are particularly frequently associated with legal firearms and hunting weapons;
• the Government Council examines legislative or organizational measures for risk reduction based on this data foundation and submits proposals to Parliament, namely:
  • Tightening of reliability requirements and aptitude tests for hunting licenses and weapon acquisition by hunting-active persons, particularly with regard to known cases of domestic violence, threats and stalking;
  • Introduction or expansion of an obligation or explicit right for prosecution authorities, police, victim support services and civil courts to initiate a review of hunting weapon possession and hunting permits in cases of restraining orders, contact prohibitions and related convictions;
  • consistent possibilities for provisional withdrawal and definitive confiscation of hunting weapons in domestic endangerment situations;
  • binding minimum standards for secure storage of hunting weapons and ammunition in private households;
• cantonal hunting authorities shall be obligated to maintain close communication with police and victim support services when there are suspicions of domestic violence, threat situations or other serious security concerns, and to examine corresponding reports as well as weapons law measures;
• the government council shall explain in its message,
  • how the new data collection will be concretely implemented,
  • how data protection and the personal rights of affected persons will be safeguarded,
  • what financial and organizational consequences are to be expected for police, judiciary, hunting administration and municipalities,
  • to what extent the proposed measures are compatible with federal law, particularly the Federal Act on Weapons, Weapon Accessories and Ammunition as well as the Federal Hunting Act, and where the canton utilizes its scope for action.

The government council shall consider the necessary transitional provisions in its proposal, particularly with regard to existing hunting permits, ongoing criminal proceedings and the conversion of cantonal statistics systems.

2. Brief justification

Femicides and severe domestic violence are a grave societal problem. In some of these cases, firearms are used, often legally possessed. This includes hunting weapons, which are present in many households. For those affected by domestic violence, every firearm in the household represents a potentially lethal risk.

Nevertheless, current cantonal and national statistics generally do not systematically record whether the firearm used was a hunting weapon and whether the perpetrator was a hunter or had hunting rights. Equally invisible is how many cases of domestic violence, threats or femicides originate from hunting households. This lacks an elementary foundation for recognizing risks and implementing effective prevention measures.

The Police Criminal Statistics 2024 (PKS) only distinguishes by means of crime such as 'firearm', 'knife' etc., not by weapon type or professional group. The criminal conviction statistics for the weapons law also does not do this, merely counting convictions for violations against the weapons law overall. In 2024, a total of 563,633 crimes under the Criminal Code were registered in Switzerland. Of these, 48,943 were violent crimes, 2,456 of them as 'serious violent crimes'. These figures concern all firearms together, i.e. service weapons, illegal weapons, sports weapons, hunting rifles etc. For the year 2024, there is no official figure in Switzerland for how many crimes were explicitly committed by hunters or with hunting weapons. Only the general figures on violence with firearms are known, in which hunting weapons are not separately listed

Internationally, numerous studies indicate that the availability of firearms in private households significantly increases the risk of lethal violence, particularly against women in the domestic context. Without a differentiated data basis on hunting weapons, this risk remains in the dark. Politicians and authorities are unable to seriously assess to what extent hunting weapons contribute to femicides and other serious violent crimes and where targeted measures would be necessary.

The proposed motion therefore starts with transparency. Only when the criminal statistics clearly show what role hunting weapons and hunters play in serious violent crimes can the canton develop effective, proportionate and legally secure measures to protect potential victims. This corresponds to evidence-based policy that relies on facts and not on lobby rhetoric.

At the same time, the canton's scope for action is preserved. Based on the new data foundations, the government council shall examine what concrete steps are required in the areas of reliability testing, weapon withdrawal, reporting systems and secure storage. Federal law, data protection and the constitutionally protected physical and psychological integrity of the population must be brought into harmony.

The motion thus creates no prejudgment of hunters, but demands clarity about a systematically ignored risk. Those who want to use hunting weapons for leisure and hobby bear special responsibility toward partners, children and society. The canton ( ………… ) should take this responsibility seriously and contribute with appropriate data-based measures to preventing femicides and other serious violent crimes with hunting weapons.