Swiss voters have decided, in a referendum, to back European Union inspired limitations upon gun ownership in that country. This is the correct way to handle such issues too. No, not necessarily to handle the issue of guns and who can own them – my argument is entirely agnostic on that point. Rather, this is how to handle possible mismatches between the desires of the federasts in Brussels and the people. Vote on it.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] Voters in Switzerland have backed a tightening of gun laws to conform with European Union regulations. Almost 64% of voters in Sunday’s referendum supported tougher restrictions on semi-automatic and automatic weapons, final results show. [/perfectpullquote]As to the why the vote had to be held:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] The restrictions, which apply to non-EU member Switzerland because it is part of Europe’s Schengen open-border system, had raised hackles among shooting enthusiasts ahead of the vote. Failure to adopt the rules could have forced Switzerland to leave the passport-free Schengen zone and the Dublin joint system for handling asylum requests. [/perfectpullquote]Allow the people to decide whether they think that this part of what Brussels wishes to impose is worth the other things which Brussels does. And just think what would happen if we actually turned the EU into what Switzerland itself is? A proper participatory democracy where the power to call a referendum lies with the people themselves.
Wouldn’t that be wonderful?
“A proper participatory democracy where the power to call a referendum lies with the people themselves.
Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
In this country the left would hijack the process meaning we’d have endless referenda on whether to string up Conservatives. Or anybody owning a blue tie just to be on the safe side.
Matt, the card-carrying Conservatives are an endangered species but the PC brigade would shoot themselves in both feet before they strung us up on the lamp-posts. They are in a small-ish minority on most issues but the London-based media tell us that they are a majority, disregarding the facts. A few referenda would expose their lies.
Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Er…no. The point tht you do not seem to have noticed is that “…Failure to adopt the rules could have forced Switzerland to leave the passport-free Schengen zone and the Dublin joint system for handling asylum requests…..” So the Swiss were bullied into acceptance by the threat of having some completely unconnected service withdrawn if they did not comply with this regulation. They obviously decided to submit to the threat. The problem with the EU bureaucracy is that it comprises a set of tightly-interlocking regulations, policed by the Commission, and you are not allowed to select… Read more »
Well, yes, that’s rather my point. If everywhere voted on every regulation then we’d have a patchwork and there wouldn’t be the ability to have the impisition of all or nothing.
That would be true if we had started like that. However, a country’s only options at the moment are: a – join the EU and comply with every EU requirement under pain of punishment through the ECJ b – stay outside and get shafted…. It is the German Hegemony writ large. If you are in the shadow of a larger powerful country those are your only two options. Which is why British Foreign Policy between around 1400-1973 was to ensure that Europe remained a balanced patchwork of countries. After 1973 our foreign policy changed to submission to a Franco-German Axis.… Read more »
While I agree with your point about the moral virtues of voting, what we see in this vote is the tyranny of the majority (both the EU majority and the Swiss majority). I suspect that we differ on guns, but take any basic right (such as free speech which is being eroded in Europe); the passions of the moment often trump (no pun) basic rights. A constitution – with deliberately very onerous requirements to effect change – and a republican (again, no pun) system of representation are about the only safeguards of basic rights. Referendums are a reflection of the… Read more »