Just days after the mass shooting at Campus Risbergska in Örebro, the Swedish government and the Sweden Democrats announced that they will tighten Swedish gun legislation.
Among other things, they want to ban so-called semi-automatic AR weapons and tighten the rules on who can be granted a gun license.
“The Government and the Sweden Democrats can already announce that the cooperation parties will proceed with proposals to clarify the rules for suitability testing and restrict access to certain semi-automatic weapons such as the AR-15″, the Government writes in a press release.
“In addition, the cooperation parties agree to give an assignment to the Police Authority and the National Board of Health and Welfare to strengthen and develop the work of reporting people who are unfit to possess firearms for medical reasons”, it continues.
It is proposed that age, knowledge and skills, law-abidingness and certain medical circumstances should be taken into account in the suitability assessment when a person applies for a permit to possess firearms.
“Can cause great harm”
There is no information that the shooter in Örebro used AR weapons – but the government coalition parties nevertheless believe that it must be made much more difficult than today to possess this type of weapon.
“There are certain types of weapons that are so dangerous that they should only be allowed to be possessed for civilian purposes in exceptional cases. The AR-15 is an example of a weapon that is compatible with large military weapons magazines and can cause a lot of damage in a short time”, it says.
– The cooperation parties agree to move forward with proposals to restrict access to that particular type of weapon, clarifies Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (M) in an interview with GP.
He confirms that the government has no information that AR-15 or similar weapons have been used in Örebro – but that the weapon has been used “in similar acts in other countries”.
“Rushing through regulations”
However, not everyone is impressed that the government is taking advantage of the tragic incident in Örebro to tighten legislation – long before all the details and facts are on the table.
“The government is now rushing through regulations on AR weapons, even though the psycho in Örebro (according to Expressen) used other weapons. I do not support this, which I have expressed internally, so direct your questions or criticism to others”, writes Sweden Democrats MP Tobias Andersson.
“No, and why make a decision before all the facts are on the table?”, asks SD member Jessica Stegrud.
Nej och varför fatta beslut innan alla fakta finns på bordet?
— Jessica Stegrud (@JessicaStegrud) February 7, 2025