The Government and the Sweden Democrats (SD) announced on Friday that they agree on changes to the firearms legislation following the mass shooting in Örebro.
However, there are critical voices within SD against banning semi-automatic firearms of military type for hunting.
Tobias Andersson (SD), chairman of the Riksdag's Industry Committee, writes on X that the Government is now forcing through changes to AR firearms "despite the fact that the psycho in Örebro (according to Expressen) used other firearms".
There are also several other critics in SD's Riksdag group. Adam Marttinen believes that "dangerous murderers" will still be able to kill as many people with hunting firearms as all parties want to allow.
"I want to claim that the Government's decision lacks internal anchoring in our respective parties," he writes on X.
Review all
The Social Democrats (S) propose that all firearms licenses should be urgently reviewed.
There is a before and after February 4. Sweden needs a national gathering, says Teresa Carvalho, law policy spokesperson for S.
Perhaps the most pressing issue is to reduce the number of firearms and strengthen control.
As of January 1, 2024, there were over 660,000 registered firearms holders. Over 80 percent of all registered firearms were for hunting and 10 percent for target shooting.
S also wants to tighten the system for new firearms licenses with additional psychological testing and certificates from, among others, healthcare.
Regular control
V wants to see stricter suitability checks when deciding on firearms licenses and regular checks on those who already have a license.
There, one should establish that the person holding a firearms license is still deemed suitable to possess it. This is already done today when it comes to pistol shooting, says Samuel Gonzalez Westling, V's group leader in the Riksdag.
The Green Party (MP) wants to see some kind of suitability test and cross-checking between registers to obtain a firearms license.
S, V, and MP also want, like the Government and the Sweden Democrats (SD), to ban semi-automatic firearms of military type for hunting, such as AR-10 and AR-15.
Emma Nohrén (MP), chairman of the Riksdag's Environment and Agriculture Committee, points out that the Tidö parties previously opposed such a ban.
She urges them to vote on an MP motion on Thursday in the Riksdag to quickly get a ban through.
"The Tidö parties are welcome to show that they mean business by changing their minds on the issue," Nohrén says in a written comment.
