Swedish Government Backs Gun Ban After School Shooting

Sweden already has pretty restrictive gun laws in place, but it looks like they’re going to get even worse. The conservative government announced plans on Friday to ban AR-15s and other semi-automatic long guns in response to a shooting at a school earlier this week that left ten people dead. 

In order to legally possess a firearm in Sweden, residents must obtain either a hunting license or target shooting license. Self-defense isn’t seen as a legitimate reason to own a gun, and if citizens want to have more than four firearms they must first receive special dispensation from the government. 

Though semi-automatic firearms have been allowed for hunting, Sweden restricts their magazine capacity to just five rounds. Now, however, the government is targeting at least some semi-automatics.

The government has agreed with its far-right backers in parliament to tighten up the vetting process for people applying for gun licences and to clamp down on some semi-automatic weapons.

It said the AR-15, an assault rifle based on a military design that has been used in many mass shootings in the United States, was the kind of gun it wanted banned.

“In light of the horrible shooting in Orebro earlier this week we believe that the right balance is to roll back the regulation and prohibit that kind of weapon,” Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told Reuters.

He said it was not clear yet what kind of guns had been used in the attack in Orebro and banning AR-15 weapons would be a “preventative measure”.

“We know that kind of weapon, with some changes, can become very dangerous and also that it has been used in that kind of shooting in other countries,” he said.

AR-15 rifles have been permitted for hunting since 2023 and Strommer said around 3,500 have been licensed since then.

The government said it also wanted to strengthen information sharing between the police and the National Board of Health and Welfare regarding individuals who should not be allowed to own guns for medical reasons.

The issue isn’t what kind of gun was used in attack on the Campus Risbergska school in Orebro, Sweden. The attacker didn’t even have to use a gun to carry out his plan. He could have run students over with his car as they left campus or attacked them with a knife to equally deadly effect. It’s the killer himself who was the problem, but the Swedish government would rather pursue a hardware ban than address the real issue. 

As Reuters reports, Sweden has the highest rate of gun-related violence in the EU. It’s restrictive laws haven’t stopped gang violence from exploding in recent years. Just as we see in gun-controlled U.S. cities like Chicago and New York, criminals are still able to get their hands on firearms, so long as they’re willing to break the law.

In an increasing number of cases, courts have found the epidemic of violence emerging from Sweden’s archipelago of youth homes, built to serve the dual purpose of looking after children in state care and punishing youth offenders.

According to accounts for this story from eight sources including a former gang member, several youth home workers, prosecutors and criminologists, the homes have turned into recruiting grounds for gangs, who use them to enlist killers too young to be jailed. 

The wave of violence has come to overshadow all else in Swedish politics, driving the rise of a rightwing coalition with support of the far right, which came to power in 2022, ending the latest eight-year period of rule by the Social Democrats, Sweden’s dominant political party since the 1930s.

The new government has promised to tackle crime. So far it has further restricted Sweden’s previously generous immigration policies, introduced harsher sentences for gun crimes and given police increased surveillance powers. Even the military has been called on to help out.

“It is obvious that our system wasn’t built for this type of criminality,” Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told Reuters.

It’s troubling that it’s the right-wing government that’s pushing for a gun ban, even if what passes for conservative in Sweden would likely be seen as center-left here in the United States. If nothing else it’s a reminder that politicians, no matter their political ideology, can still embrace an anti-gun ideology in their haste to “do something” after a tragedy. Instead of trying to ban their way to safety, the right-wing government should be discussing ways to make it easier (or even possible) for Swedes to defend themselves and their loved ones from future attacks, whether it’s gang violence or  a disturbed individual intent on mass murder.   

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