STOCKHOLM, Feb 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Sweden is planning to tighten its strict gun laws, including new restrictions on AR-15-style semiautomatic weapons, just days after a lone gunman killed 10 people in what officials said was the country’s worst-ever mass shooting.
The shooter — named in Swedish media outlets as 35-year-old Rickard Andersson — was also found dead at the scene of Tuesday’s attack, at an adult education center on the outskirts of Orebro, a city about 125 miles west of Stockholm. Six additional people were injured.
As in some other countries after mass shootings, Sweden moved swiftly to make changes following the attack. The “horrific act of violence in Örebro raises several key questions about gun legislation,” the government said in a statement, announcing that it would pursue changes to clarify rules for ownership eligibility testing and limit access to “certain semiautomatic weapons such as the AR-15.”
Swedish officials have not said what weapons the perpetrator used on Tuesday. Public broadcaster SVT reported Friday that a semiautomatic rifle was the primary weapon and that it had been purchased legally with a license. The perpetrator also had access to three other weapons, according to SVT.
Speaking during an official trip to Latvia, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told reporters that the intention of new gun control measures would be to “ensure that only the right people have guns in Sweden.”
Mass shootings are rare in Sweden. The country enforces restrictions on gun ownership, with licenses required for purchasing guns for hunting or becoming a member of a shooting club. Sweden has a comparatively high rate of gun ownership for a European country.
It also has among the highest rates of homicide by firearm in Europe — although the number is far lower than that of the United States — and police have reported an increasing number of crimes involving firearms in recent years.
The AR-15 is a model of lightweight semiautomatic rifle that is modeled on the Colt AT-15 rifle, the civilian version of the military M16 rifle that was first used by the U.S. military in the 1960s. It is one of the most popular rifles in the United States, earning an iconic status despite its prominent role in many of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.
“There are certain types of weapons that are so dangerous that they should only be possessed for civilian purposes as an exception,” the Swedish government statement said.
Semiautomatic guns can be fired at a rapid rate, although the shooter must pull the trigger each time they are fired.
The purchase of AR-15s had been permitted in Sweden since 2023, when the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency changed its regulations on semiautomatic rifles to allow them for hunting. Roughly 3,500 have been purchased since then, Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer said.
Any move to tighten Sweden’s gun laws will require new laws to be proposed by Sweden’s center-right government and passed by parliament. Sweden’s largest opposition party, the center-left Social Democrats, has said it supported the measures but wanted further restrictions that would result in fewer guns in circulation, and the government said it has the political support of its populist, anti-immigrant allies, the Sweden Democrats.
In the statement, the government said that some reforms to gun laws had already been planned due to recommendations from a 2022 inquiry. The proposal will strengthen the licensing process for guns, with police required to get more information about an applicant and probably having some access to their medical history.
Police are still assessing the motive for the attack at Campus Risbergska, a center for adult education in the city. Numerous migrants were found among the dead. — NNN-AGENCIES
