MNGunTalk.com

Swiss voters agreed on Sunday to tighten the country’s gun laws to reach parity with European Union antiterrorism legislation that came into force following attacks in Paris and elsewhere.

The referendum proposition was hotly debated in Switzerland, which has maintained compulsory military service and has a long tradition of marksmanship, including what is billed as the world’s largest annual shooting competition.

The government had warned voters that Switzerland, which is not a member of the European Union but follows many of its rules, could lose its membership in the Schengen area — which allows free movement among 26 European countries — if it rejected stricter gun rules.

Polls closed at midday local time, and the final results showed that almost 64 percent voted in favor of tighter gun controls, in line with what opinion polls had predicted. Only the citizens of the Italian-speaking region of Switzerland rejected the gun initiative.