Sweden - Gun Laws to be strengthened

[Jagare]

Facts. Sweden added AR style weapon into legal 2023. Now government is reversing that desicion i.e. back to as before 2023. In 2023 there was a heated debate about AR style weapons and many, if not most, hunters were against AR on the hunting grounds.
The madman i Örebro actually used a Browning Bar 30:06 and not AR type but also (probably) an altered semi shotgun Mossberg with slugs and 5 shots.

Big problem in this matter is that people may change their personal life situation and mental disorder may appear some 40 years after gun licencens were issued. Perhaps renewable licences will be needed every 5-10 years.

I think I've seen one AR style rifle up the range and non in the hunting field since the rule change in 2023.
In the resent review of firearms laws that is up before the government at the moment I wonder if the getting rid of the 5 year licence for pistols will go through? I suppose the whole review will be put on hold till the full facts about the terrible shooting are known.

 

[JTO]

Absolutely amazed at the anti shooting rhetoric shown in this thread.
Are we infiltrated by antis ?

This happened on Begbie's wildfowling forum. As I was using my real name, I deleted a few of my posts and got banned for it.

 

[JTO]

So the current firearms legislation works ok for me.

F**k you. I'm alright Jack, in other words.
Is your vehicle permanantly limited to 70 mph?

 

[WW.]

I see a few comments here and elsewhere along the lines that pistols and certain other firearms aren't really needed by most people so it's appropriate for them to be banned (although obviously certain jobs which require them are exempt- humane dispatch, armed police, military for example). There are also comments that knives are used to take more lives than firearms in the UK but they'll never be banned because they're needed.

We're in a society where many are unable to cook from scratch. I teach part time at a university and it's more common than you think that students buy pre-prepared food and takeaways instead of cooking (thus spending an awful lot more on poorer quality food). If this continues, in such a society it is conceivable that there will come a day when it can be argued that most people do not need knives thus they should be banned except for those who need them for work and then only in certain roles.

Further, whilst those who stalk and shoot animals need firearms, how necessary really is target shooting? There are many other hobbies people could do. After all, very many people used to be part of target pistol clubs and they found something else to do when pistols were banned (please note the sarcasm in this paragraph- I think it's a shame many such clubs have been lost).

I'm not convinced by the 'not needed so ok to ban' argument. By all means don't be interested in having a pistol yourself but don't extrapolate that to saying that makes it ok for them to be banned for others.


Will

 

[markj1]

Absolutely amazed at the anti shooting rhetoric shown in this thread.
Are we infiltrated by antis ?

Illegally held pistols are less of a problem than legally held ones were ?
Astonishing, astonishingly stupid that is .

I've been shooting since I was 14... and that was a long time ago. I currently own a number of rifles. In fact, I have never not owned a firearm of some description since I turned 20.

And yet.... at the same time, I do understand the non-shooting public's concern over private gun ownership.

I think that the best path for ensuring the long term survival of the shooting community is to try to address and alleviate the concerns of the non-shooting community - they outnumber us..

Sticking to our guns (pun intended) and insisting on our rights even when other feel (rightly oe wrongly) intimated, will serve no useful purpose in the long run.

 

[Klenchblaize]

Have you been sniffing the leather glue? Sweden still is a very attractive and in the main peaceful country. Driving round and about litter is noticeable by its absence.
Why would what goes on in Sweden hit you hard? It would perhaps be better to turn your thoughts and worries towards the state of the UK at the moment.
I understand that you have a few stabbings and shootings in the UK to ponder over.
Soon the shooting ranges will be open again after the winter. I'll be up the town range or perhaps go to the range in a neighbouring town and shoot there. How's access to a shooting range in the UK?
Perhaps I'll take up pistol shooting again. How's pistol shooting sport going in the UK?
Or maybe I'll buy myself a self loading rifle to hunt with.
For the vast majority of the Swedish population life is just fine.

Firstly, I wasn't for one moment seeking to imply the UK is without problems in this regard. I assumed this was a given.

While the following is a BBC peice of journalism; and in consequence will have zero validity for a large percentage of SD members, it nonetheless is the basis for my post:

Spread of gang violence wrecks Sweden's peaceful image

Several passers-by are among those killed in gangland shootings and bombings beyond the big cities.

www.bbc.com

What I was attempting to convey is more about my obvious naivety in how all Countries have been impacted - to a greater or lesser extent - by gangland activity etc. including the Nordic region that I've always imagined was above such influence.

K

 

[Foxyboy43]

Have you been sniffing the leather glue? Sweden still is a very attractive and in the main peaceful country. Driving round and about litter is noticeable by its absence.
Why would what goes on in Sweden hit you hard? It would perhaps be better to turn your thoughts and worries towards the state of the UK at the moment.
I understand that you have a few stabbings and shootings in the UK to ponder over.
Soon the shooting ranges will be open again after the winter. I'll be up the town range or perhaps go to the range in a neighbouring town and shoot there. How's access to a shooting range in the UK?
Perhaps I'll take up pistol shooting again. How's pistol shooting sport going in the UK?
Or maybe I'll buy myself a self loading rifle to hunt with.
For the vast majority of the Swedish population life is just fine.

Hmmm.
I think we all fall in to believing the crap set out for us by the news media, after all “Bad news sells”….
By way of illustration and based on my own experience - I have lived in NI all my life including the 30 years of “The Troubles”. Before, during and since that period I shot rifle, pistol and shotgun at competitions and where legal, in the field, regularly crossing Belfast to do so - all pretty much without incident other than one Security Checkpoint where foolish young squaddies insisted on removing my firearms from the car boot and “trying” them in the middle of a busy street. My point here is that “normal” life was not only possible but routine despite what was reported by journalists who incidentally routinely paid kids to throw stones at troops.
During that time I married a London girl whose family were very much concerned about her coming to NI where according to the news media there were gunmen on every corner and rioting in every street. Many of her family and friends were very reluctant to come visit because they fully believed the utter tosh that the TV and papers regularly reported but, and it is a very big but, when they did eventually come and saw what was here they couldn’t wait to come back. In fact as we said our goodbyes to each at the airport they all said, without exception, what a wonderful place it actually was. I always agreed but asked them to keep it to themselves.
Neither of the two preceding paragraphs are in any way intended to diminish or dilute the awful things that did take place but my point is that it was very “local” and as was the case then and sadly is still so in any city, one knew where not to go - period, I imagine Sweden and it’s cities are no different - despite the efforts of the rightly named “gutter press”.
Interestingly and in relation to gun crime, after Dunblane NI did not ban handguns; their ownership continues and membership and competition shooting at clubs is thriving, after a one year probationary membership you may apply for anything from a .22lr up to a .50 cal pistol ( though the latter might necessitate a bit of an argument). Notably, I have no recollection of an NI incident involving a shooting with a legally held pistol (other than “normal” stolen/self-inflicted) in all my 50 years plus shooting career. Hopefully that will continue….

 

[enfieldspares]

We banned legally held handguns.
It’s never happened again.
Handguns were not used for hunting (excluding human dispatch) or defence purposes in this country, they were for target hobby use only.

That is more or less 100% correct. I don't agree with the Tory ban in any way but CARLISLEREDNECK is pretty much on the point with his summation.

 

[carlisleredneck]

F**k you. I'm alright Jack, in other words.
Is your vehicle permanantly limited to 70 mph?

The ban was 30 years ago, I was in secondary school at the time. I haven’t really got much of an option apart from to be ok with the legislation as it stands. I take it you have been lobbying the government for the past 3 decades to get pistols back into public ownership? Champion of the shooting man.
And also, of course my car goes over 70, but as a law abiding citizen I stick to the speed limits at all times

 

[Stalker62]

Driving round and about litter is noticeable by its absence.

@Jagare

Don't get me started on the state of litter/fly-tipping in this (UK) country.

Driving up and down the motorways or the local country lanes and it is everywhere. I do not understand why folk do it.
Nor do not know, how we change the culture of an entire country to stop doing it. It makes me ashamed and angry in equal measure.

The older I get, the more annoyed I find myself becoming about it.


Apropos the handgun ban.

I understand why it was done. Something had to be 'seen to be done'.

I carried a handgun for work, and in my own small way, tried to be reasonably proficient with it.



I would (if I could) love to own and shoot "handguns". I would love a Luger 08 - but it is not going to happen.





So what to do?

I now regularly shoot with a LBR (looks silly but then so do I)...


I also use a .44 BP Revolver. More fun than it should be.


And finally, a .58 Calibre flintlock pistol - which for those that have never experienced firing a flintlock pistol, is perfect for allowing you to develop the most dreadful flinch...

 

[Greenmist]

It did happen, that’s why they were banned. Now imagine Derek Bird with pistols, loads of ammo and extended magazines, rather than a double barrel shotgun and a bolt action .22. I am not debating guns don’t kill people, people kill people. But if somebody goes off the rails, easily concealed high capacity semi automatic pistols are more of a problem than the old side by side in the cabinet.

Easily rectified with a hacksaw, you focus on people who commit the atrocities, why not the thousands of shooters that don't?

 

[Greenmist]

The argument against handguns was that they are easily concealable. That's why 12" barrel LBPs are still permitted.

Black powder revolvers??

 

[Rthur]

Tools used improperly have been used to maim or kill for millennia.
Placations are the bread and butter of the ignorant/politicians.
Feel good excuses used to lighten the punishments for heinous crimes is this inevitable outcome.
Maybe they should make doing criminal acts illegal.

R

 

[carlisleredneck]

Easily rectified with a hacksaw, you focus on people who commit the atrocities, why not the thousands of shooters that don't?

Because no body cares about them. The fact is, that if hand guns and semi automatic rifles hadn’t been used by license holders to kill multiple innocent people then we would probably still be able to have them.
Would you, or anybody else on this thread put your name on not passing laws to protect the public from nutters with guns? One school shooting, oh it’s only one, we can’t take legally held hand guns off people just yet. Then it happens again, public uproar, why didn’t you do anything the first time? I wouldn’t want that on my conscience anyway.

 

[Jagare]

@Jagare

Don't get me started on the state of litter/fly-tipping in this (UK) country.

Driving up and down the motorways or the local country lanes and it is everywhere. I do not understand why folk do it.
Nor do not know, how we change the culture of an entire country to stop doing it. It makes me ashamed and angry in equal measure.

The older I get, the more annoyed I find myself becoming about it.


Apropos the handgun ban.

I understand why it was done. Something had to be 'seen to be done'.

I carried a handgun for work, and in my own small way, tried to be reasonably proficient with it.
View attachment 405388


I would (if I could) love to own and shoot "handguns". I would love a Luger 08 - but it is not going to happen.

So what to do?

I now regularly shoot with a LPR (looks silly but then so do I)...
View attachment 405389

I also use a .44 BP Revolver. More fun than it should be.
View attachment 405390

And finally, a .58 Calibre flintlock pistol - which for those that have never experienced firing a flintlock pistol, is perfect for allowing you to develop the most dreadful flinch...

View attachment 405391

I drove through the town over to the hunting ground to give the dogs a run this afternoon not a single bit of litter did I see.
From 1977 till the pistol ban I had a Ruger single action in .357. Great fun even though I've never been a great pistol shot.
I've a couple of antique muzzle loading rifles and a massive muzzle loading fowling piece.
For my jacobs rifle I've bought a correct period powder flask and a correct bullet mould for it. I just need to find somebody who can cast me a few bullet, supply a litte of the correct BP and a few percussion caps. The Jacobs rifle is sighted to 2000yards.
I have a mate who is 85 who is into practical pistol and has all the toys for that, plus a 9mm carbine. He tells me that practical shotgun is next on the list. He keeps saying I should give it a go but I've resisted the urge so far. Black powder pistol looks fun though.

 

[AlexD]

What additionally shocked me is how singularly out of touch I am with the reality of living 'conditions' within Sweden in 2025!
To be confronted with a reality that this once most attractive Country may no longer be considered a model of clean living in terms of both person and place has hit me very hard.
Where the hell has it all gone so very, very wrong within Swdesish Society?

You have been out of touch mate. Ingrid Calqvist has been pointing out the tragedy of Absurdistan (formerly known as Sweden), for years.
A good example is:


She is reading a speech she made some years earlier to a shocked parliament. I was looking for the original but it seems lost in the Youtube haystack.

As to your question on "Where the hell has it all gone so very, very wrong within Swedish Society?", she answers that too, and you can see it all around us in the UK. Same thing happening here led to the riots and people being put in prison for thinking out loud. Hopefully, one day we have a government in power who values the same things we valued 60 years ago, but won't hold my breath. Trump has a lot of support because he seems to be that man for the USA. European politicians though are of a more watery disposition, at least at the moment.

 

[Greenmist]

Because no body cares about them. The fact is, that if hand guns and semi automatic rifles hadn’t been used by license holders to kill multiple innocent people then we would probably still be able to have them.
Would you, or anybody else on this thread put your name on not passing laws to protect the public from nutters with guns? One school shooting, oh it’s only one, we can’t take legally held hand guns off people just yet. Then it happens again, public uproar, why didn’t you do anything the first time? I wouldn’t want that on my conscience anyway.

Perhaps we should start treating men with MPA just in case. And if it happens again with firearms that you use, what then

 

[Bavarianbrit]

The ban was 30 years ago, I was in secondary school at the time. I haven’t really got much of an option apart from to be ok with the legislation as it stands. I take it you have been lobbying the government for the past 3 decades to get pistols back into public ownership? Champion of the shooting man.
And also, of course my car goes over 70, but as a law abiding citizen I stick to the speed limits at all times

So you had never been involved in pistol shooting or the club atmosphere it came with it was the same as smallbore shooting it was a really pleasant way to spend two nights per week effectively doing darts with a bang, we never thought about atrocities, the fact it was dangerous was very clear to all members and transgressions were jumped on. Those 57,000 normal quiet folk (some still on here) were disarmed as had Hitler done sixty years before, you will never know the bitterness that was left in many mouths, me? I left the UK to live in Germany but with a German partner it was easier for me than many others. The emasculated British Pistol Team had to go to Switzerland to practise FFS, if they still exist? It had far reaching consequences and safety on the streets did not happen afterwards.
BTW perhaps you would explain to me why many young men/women are often deep into drug use? I never was. That seems to me a bigger problem with overdoses and turf wars than pistols ever were and the government seems to ignore the effects on society as a whole. Bit too hard eh?

 

[carlisleredneck]

Perhaps we should start treating men with Medroxyprogesterone acetate just in case. And if it happens again with firearms that you use, what then

I think you’ve made a typo there, I don’t think birth control medication has much to do with a 30 year old hand gun ban. Maybe you should have a bit of a rest from the computer.
And there was a shooting with legally held sporting firearms not so long ago, but no ban or tighter restrictions put in place. Maybe the government didn’t think they posed as much of a threat to public safety as easily concealable high rate of fire pistols. Who knows, but there was no knee jerk reaction. Thank goodness

 

[Triggermortis]

A semi-auto rifle has to be the easiest firearm to get your hands on in the uk, join the army, they not only train you to use and maintain one, they pay for the bloody ammo….