The Government and The Moderate Party are in agreement on a new firearms regulation.
This means that in the first step, the police will no longer grant new permits for hunting with the AR-15 rifle from August 1.
In a second step, existing permits for hunting with these firearms will cease to apply. The Government aims to present a legislative proposal in the autumn.
Police critical
Hunters who want to keep their AR-15 will have two years to meet the requirements for target shooting instead. Otherwise, the firearm must be sold or redeemed. The state will then pay 100 percent of the firearm's market value at the time of purchase. This is estimated to cost the state 175 million kronor. If the firearm is not redeemed voluntarily, it will be compulsorily redeemed.
The AR-15s that are handed in, the Government plans to donate to Ukraine to use in the war against Russia.
The Government is also moving forward with a number of easing of firearms legislation for shooters.
The so-called gun cabinet will be expanded from four hunting firearms to eight, with the possibility of a ninth and tenth if the hunter can motivate a need.
It will also become easier to store the firearm in a place other than at home, for example in a summer cottage.
Furthermore, the license for target shooters will no longer need to be renewed every five years as it is today, however, supervision will be carried out.
In several areas, they are going further than what the investigator proposed.
Firearms legislation should not burden law-abiding firearm owners with unnecessary or burdensome requirements, says Minister for Rural Affairs Peter Kullgren (KD).
However, heavy remiss bodies have been critical. The police believe that the five-year permits should be retained and Brå has warned that an expanded gun cabinet means an increased risk that hunting firearms will end up in the wrong hands.
Kullgren emphasizes that the majority of firearms found in criminal circles are smuggled.
Today, there is no established leakage in Sweden, he says.
Updated after Örebro
AR-15 has been allowed for hunters to use since August 2023. Since then, around 7,000 hunters have managed to acquire it.
The firearm is a semi-automatic rifle of military type and came into focus after the mass shooting in Örebro in February. Although the shooter did not use this firearm, the Government decided to restrict access to it.
Several heavy The Moderate Party politicians openly criticized the decision to restrict the AR-15 when it was first presented, shortly after the Örebro incident.
My impression is that there are still many who think that you should be allowed to hunt with this firearm, says Henrik Vinge (The Moderate Party).
At the same time, he believes that many realize that the changes are reasonable.
It will be far-reaching improvements for the vast majority of hunters.
Anja Haglund/TT
Peter Wallberg/TT
Facts: New firearms regulations
TT
No new permits for AR-15 for hunting from August 1.
Then the law will be changed so that existing permits for hunting with AR-15 will cease to apply. The Government is aiming for a legislative council referral in the autumn.
The Government has, among other things, pointed out that AR-15 is compatible with large military magazines, can cause great damage in a short time, and that it has been used in violent crimes before.
Then several easing for shooters are also proposed:
• expanded gun cabinet
• easier to store the firearm in, for example, a summer cottage
• five-year license for target shooting abolished
• simplified rules for foreign hunters and target shooters to bring firearms into Sweden
• requirements for being allowed to possess handguns
The parties also want to tighten the suitability test for people who want to have a firearms license. The police and the Social Welfare Board will submit a first report on this in September.
