瑞士将公投枪支控制问题

Voters in Switzerland are due to go to the polls in a referendum aimed at restricting gun ownership.

瑞士选民将要就限制枪支所有权问题进行全民公投。

Sport shooting is very popular in Switzerland
If approved, it would end the long practice of Swiss men keeping their weapons at home both during and after compulsory（义务的） military service.

Weapons would have to be registered and owners prove they know how to use them.

Supporters of the controls say suicides and gun crime would be reduced. Those against say locking weapons in arsenals would undermine trust in the army.

There are an estimated two to three million guns circulating in Switzerland, but no-one knows the exact number because there is no national firearms register, says the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva.

In addition to the semi-automatic assault rifle that all those serving in the army store at home, there are thousands of hunting rifles and pistols.

Serving and former soldiers have been allowed to keep their weapons at home since World War II.

National institution

The proposal to end that custom（习惯，风俗） is backed by a coalition of doctors, women's groups and police associations.

Although Switzerland's overall crime rate is low by European standards, the country has the highest rate of gun suicide in Europe.

The proposal's backers say keeping soldiers' firearms locked up in armouries would reduce the suicide rate.

A number of recent high-profile killings have also lent support for greater gun control.

But the Swiss army is a national institution, and changing anything about it is controversial, says our correspondent.

Opponents of the proposals say taking soldiers' guns away would undermine（破坏） the military and could open the door to abolishing Switzerland's citizen army all together.

Opinion polls suggest the nation is fairly evenly divided over the issue.