EU won’t ban Swiss army rifles at home

Swiss Interior Minister Simonetta Sommaruga says the European Union’s plans for tighter gun control – which the Swiss would be obliged to follow because of cross-border agreements – likely will not affect the Swiss tradition of keeping militia army rifles at home. Sommaruga spoke after Thursday’s meeting of EU interior ministers in Brussels who agreed to review the draft plans after taking into account a wide variety of objections. She said those plans – which could have barred minors from owning firearms, restricted online weapons sales and, notably for the Swiss, banned private use of most semi-automatic rifles – will now go back to the drawing board. The plans had been drawn up following last year's terror attacks on Paris. There had been great controversy in Switzerland surrounding the proposal concerning semi-automatic rifles, as it would have affected all those in the Swiss militia army who opt to take their army issue guns home after official duty – just ...