Defense Council of States does not want to give ammunition to members of the army
Members of the armed forces should not be able to keep ammunition for their personal weapons at home in future either. On Wednesday, the Council of States rejected a motion to this effect by a clear majority.
03.12.2025, 11:20
03.12.2025, 11:30
SDA
The small chamber said no to the motion by Werner Salzmann (SVP/BE) on Wednesday by 31 votes to 9 with 3 abstentions. There were mainly yes votes from the SVP and a few from the center and FDP. The no vote means the motion is off the table.
A narrow majority of the Security Policy Committee of the Council of States (SIK-S) would have wanted to return the distribution of so-called pocket ammunition to the way it was before 2007: until then, this ammunition was part of the personal equipment of armed members of the armed forces. Since then, it has been withdrawn.
However, opponents clearly prevailed in the Council. They argued with the risks posed by operational firearms. It had been proven that the suicide rate and also the number of homicides with firearms had decreased since the ammunition was no longer given to the army to take home.
