Sweden’s federal government is moving to enact stricter gun laws after a mass shooting earlier in the week that left 10 people dead. Photo by Kicki Nilsson/EPA-EFE
Feb. 7 (UPI) — Sweden’s federal government is moving to enact stricter gun laws after a mass shooting that left 10 people dead.
The country’s ruling coalition government hinted at restricting access to semi-automatic weapons and increase the vetting process for people to obtain gun licenses, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson confirmed on Friday.
“We have to ensure that only the right people have guns in Sweden,” Kristersson told reporters at a news conference in Latvia.
Current laws dictate people in Sweden over the age of 20 can apply to own an fully-automatic weapon but must justify the need to police.
Anyone over 18 who does not have a criminal record can apply to get a permit to own a semi-automatic weapon. The same rules apply to shotguns and handguns.
In addition to the 10 deaths, several more people were injured during Tuesday’s mass shooting at an adult education center in southern Sweden, around 125 miles west of Stockholm. The gunman was also killed by what police said they by a self-inflicted gunshot.
Police have not yet specified what type of firearm the shooter used to carry out the attack, but police did seize several long gun rifles from the site of the mass shooting in Orebro, Sweden’s seventh-largest city.
Sweden’s government has signaled the AR-15-style semi-automatic rifles could be among the weapons restricted by new legislation.
“The horrific act of violence in Örebro raises several key questions about gun legislation.” Sweden’s government said in a statement Friday.
“The AR-15 is an example of a weapon that is compatible with large magazines and can cause a lot of damage in a short time.”
One of the country’s governing parties released a separate statement related to the potential new laws.
“The horrific act of violence in Orebro raises several key questions about gun legislation,” the Sweden Democrats, which are a member of the country’s governing center-right coalition, said in a statement.
Around 580,000 people in Sweden have firearms licenses out of a population of 10.5 million, according to Swedish broadcaster SVT.
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