#larm

Seein' Red - We Need To Do More Than Just Music LP - 2005

There are four categories of weapons in Switzerland. The process is the same for Swiss citizens and foreign long-term residents (outside the forbidden nationalities) :

0. not-weapons (most knives, pepper sprays), sale and carry is free.

1. almost-weapons (air soft guns, blue guns) that are sold to people over 18 with a signed contract between the seller and the buyer. Transport is similar to real guns. There are no specific rules about storage, as far as I’m aware.

2. free firearms (more or less : hunting rifles, excluding semi-automatic systems and some calibers, and some exceptions). You need to sign a contract with the seller, and he will announce the sale to the Cantonal police for registration. 

Seller have an obligation to check about the buyer apparent good standing. Some will ask for a recent criminal record, or a recent license to buy a firearm, but it’s kind of a grey area (same with ammunition, by the way).

Transport and storage rules are similar to other firearms.

Grey area : collective heavy machine guns and very old handguns. Depending on the Canton, the seller mood, the phase of the Moon, they can be in one category or the other.

3. standard firearms. Here you’ve got all the handguns (with the exception of some very old pieces), semi-automatic rifles, pump-action shotguns, lever-action carbines, a few bolt-action rifles (because of the ammo they shoot, apparently)…

There, you need a formal license issued by your Cantonal Police Firearms Bureau. The terme license or authorization is a misnomer, since it’s really just a background check.

 The process depends on your Canton, but the standard is :

a. ask for your police record either at a Post office (come with an ID) or online : https://www.e-service.admin.ch/crex/cms/content/strafregister/privatauszug_fr

It costs CHF 20.-

b. once you’ve got your police record, you can ask for your buying license.

https://www.fedpol.admin.ch/dam/data/fedpol/sicherheit/waffen/gesuche_formulare/erwerb/gesuch_wes-f.pdf

http://www.18bis.ch/index.php?l=fr&p=bureaudesarmes

Some Cantons will ask you to come to the WaffenAmt or Bureau des Armes to ask for the form, some will let you fill it in online.

On most online forms I’ve seen, there is an illegal « why do you need this gun for ? » question. Since you can’t just not ignore it, select always for « sport purpose ».

Since outside Geneva, the rule is that a license is available for up to three guns bought (or got) the same day at the same dealer, and unless you know exactly what you want to buy, stay as vague as possible about your buying project.

Once completed, send the form to your Firearms Bureau. Sometimes, you will have to send it electronically, by mail or both.

Once your background checked (they can ask in your neighborhood about your behaviour, your employers…, but most of the time they will just check against psychiatric and criminal listings). In some cases, the Chief of the Bureau can ask to meet you. Nothing to fear, they’re probably bored and find absolutely nothing about you to make themselves an opinion. If everything is OK, you’ll receive a CHF 50.- bill.

Once you’ve paid it, you’ll get your license a few days after. You’ve got six months to use it.

If your request is denied and you’re neither a felon nor a danger for yourself or others because of mental history, recourse can be made (and won). This is were the Protell legal insurance is really practical.

c. buy or get your gun/guns with your authorization. The seller/giver will have to announce the alienation to the Cantonal Firearms Bureau that issued the paper.

d. keep the authorization for 10 years, it’s the justification you own your gun legally. Outside the obvious following of safety and security gun rules, your only obligation is to make your guns unavailable to an unauthorized third party. A safe is a good way (and reasonably common sense) to do it, but a simple locked box is enough to be in conformity.

Notice that the fact you own a gun legally doesn’t mean you can carry it in public space willy-nilly (sadly). Aside from a few exceptions (coming from or going to the stand, a potential buyer, the gunsmith, etc., where the gun will have to be empty and in some cases, disabled), you would need a licence to carry a concealed handgun outside a private place.

4. Forbidden weapons. You’ll find there all your full-auto guns, but also suppressed guns (independently of how they function), forbidden knives (butterfly, assisted opening, automatic opening, dagger knives…), collapsible batons and truncheons, ninja stars, etc. Formerly full-auto firearms transformed in semi-automatic firearms are in that category, too, with the exception of privatized F ass/Stgw 57 and 90.

There, you’ll need to get a special licence, similar to the American NFA process. The background check will be very invasive, Federal police will be implicated. Contrary to the standard firearms procedure, the process is arbitrary, and your request could be denied in thirty seconds without any recourse possible (some Cantons ask for a minimum of guns owned already, a collection theme, a minimal age, etc.).

If you manage to get that licence, you’ll have to follow the instruction of the police about the way you’ll display/manage your collection, involving generally safe rooms or hardened safes, alarms, etc. Your home can be visited once a year for a control of your installation.

You’ll have to ask for another special authorization, allowing you to shoot your full-auto guns (even if it’s only in semi-auto mode). It costs CHF 100.- for a day and imply you have the authorization of the shooting range.

Assault rifles leased by the Army to people doing their military service or competitive shooters are in the standard firearms category, but subjected to various Army regulations about storage and transportation.

There is also the category of the dangerous items (like screwdrivers, baseball bats or pairs of scissors) which could lead to prosecution for weapon use or unlawful carrying depending on context, but that is outside the subject of that answer.

If I was unclear or you need more informations, just ask.