Sweden will tighten its already strict gun legal guidelines, the federal government stated on Friday, days after a lone gunman killed at the very least 10 individuals in an assault the prime minister has referred to as the worst mass capturing within the nation’s historical past.
New laws was already being deliberate, primarily based on the findings of a 2022 inquiry. After the mass capturing on Tuesday, at an grownup schooling heart within the central metropolis of Orebro, it has been fast-tracked.
The proposal has not been formalized, however it’s going to probably strengthen the essential necessities for buying a gun license, instructing the police to bear in mind age, weapons data and expertise in addition to the particular person’s prison historical past. It’ll additionally probably name for broader checks on the applicant’s medical historical past.
The brand new guidelines would make it tougher to entry semiautomatic assault weapons resembling AR-15-style rifles. The firearm, light-weight and suitable with massive magazines, has been permitted as a searching rifle in Sweden since 2023. Beneath the brand new act, entry to the weapon and comparable kinds of firearms might be tremendously restricted.
“The foundations on gun possession are about balancing society’s curiosity in stopping crime and accidents involving firearms and the curiosity in people and organizations having the chance to own firearms in justified circumstances,” the federal government stated in a press release.
“We need to make sure that solely the suitable individuals have weapons in Sweden,” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson advised the Swedish information company TT whereas on a working go to to Latvia.
The minister of justice, Gunnar Strommer, advised a information convention on Friday that the following step can be “spelling out in plain language what might be taken into consideration within the laws.”
The federal government then plans to move a invoice via Parliament earlier than the nation’s subsequent normal election in 2026, in line with Caroline Opsahl, a spokeswoman for the justice ministry.
The assault in Orebro has shocked Sweden, elevating questions on how a Scandinavian nation lengthy related to excessive residing requirements and low crime charges has developed what statistics point out is without doubt one of the highest per capita charges of gun violence within the European Union.
“The horrific act of violence in Orebro raises a number of key questions on gun laws,” the federal government stated within the assertion saying the brand new legal guidelines.
Though the police haven’t publicly confirmed the id of the gunman, investigators had traced 4 firearm licenses to the suspect. On the scene, the police stated, they discovered the gunman, who was among the many useless, with three weapons, together with what gave the impression to be a rifle, and a big cache of ammunition.
The brand new legal guidelines will give the police and medical professionals better powers to evaluate an individual making use of for a gun license, by giving them extra entry to extra details about the applicant.
They are going to be empowered to acquire info from native authorities data, public teams and different sources, the assertion stated. The police may also have better powers to revoke licenses.
Sweden already grants gun licenses largely solely to hunters or members of sports activities capturing golf equipment, in line with Sven Granath, a criminologist at Stockholm College, however gangs and the drug commerce have been capable of stockpile firearms smuggled from postwar Balkan nations, Jap Europe and Turkey, he stated.
Gun violence has been on the rise, with 281 situations in 2017 when Sweden first began recording shootings throughout a criminal offense wave, and peaking at 391 situations in 2022, in line with police figures.