Aarau shooting: tens of thousands of banned weapons purchased legally through exemptions
Following the Aarau shooting, an investigation reveals that tens of thousands of banned semi-automatic rifles were legally acquired in Switzerland via exceptional cantonal authorisations.
After Aarau, Swiss firearms law called into question
During the night of 29 to 30 August, the perpetrator of the Aarau shooting opened fire on rave participants with an AKS-74, a variant of the Kalashnikov, firing more than 40 shots. The toll is one dead and six injured. The weapon used belongs, however, to a category officially banned in Switzerland since the revision of the firearms law came into force in 2019 — a revision that specifically targets semi-automatic rifles equipped with high-capacity magazines.
Le Temps reports the findings of an investigation published by NZZ am Sonntag, which examined the real scope of this ban. The result is unequivocal: the acquisition of these weapons remains accessible on a large scale, provided an "exceptional authorisation" issued by the cantons is obtained.
Yet these exemptions are granted in considerable numbers. Since 2019, several tens of thousands of weapons in this banned category are said to have been legally purchased on Swiss territory. The cantons, which are competent to process these requests, have apparently not significantly restricted authorisations since the revised law came into force.
The Aarau shooting thus reignites a recurring debate over the effective limits of Swiss firearms legislation. The formal prohibition of certain types of rifles is insufficient to prevent their circulation, given that the exemption mechanism remains largely open. The NZZ am Sonntag investigation points to a contradiction at the heart of the legal framework: a prohibition norm whose practical scope is largely neutralised by the volume of exemptions granted.
Source: Le Temps