This have probably slipped under the radar for most Swedish posters here, on the 31st of January Doris Högne Rydheim presented her report on what to do to prevent the increased amount of firearms that get smuggled into the country from mostly Eastern European countries(this is not meant to bash Eastern Europe, it's just facts). The suggestions in question will do nothing of that sort, they are all around retarded if that was what she set out to do. Rather then increase border control for example, she is suggesting increased regulations on legally owned and bought firearms, how this will prevent smuggled firearms to reach our country is beyond me.
You can read about the proposed changes here:
http://www.regeringen.se/content/1/c...8/67d00a82.pdf
Now some people are against firearms on principal, be it legally owned ones or illegal ones.
But consider the facts.
Sweden average 90-100 murders & manslaughters per year, this is really low, it doesn't matter how one twists and turns the facts, violance leading to someones death in our sociaty is a rare occurrance, esp if you put our country into a global perspective. It's even more uncommon that someone gets killed by a gun.
Roughly 10-15 of our murders and manslaughters are commited with firearms, pretty much all of them are between rivaling criminal organizations, you could call that self sanitation, they kill eachother, innocent citizens barely ever are the victim of firearms related crime.
This despite the fact that we are one the European nations with the most guns as far as guns per capita goes, with roughly 30 legally owned firearms per 100 citizens. Legally owned firearms is not an issue.
With that short introduction I'll just qoute someone I thought put it well.
There is an old saying that says that a frog will let themselves be boiled alive if you put it in cold water that is slowly heated, while it will jump out right away if you try to put it in boiling water. Whether that is true or not I do not know, but there is no doubt that it is easier to make changes that are expected to meet resistance if you do it gradually.
The parable of the frog is sometimes used to describe how Swedish weapons laws gradually are being made more restrictive. For those who have followed the debate in recent years it is becoming apparent that there is a strong will from the Police, to reduce the number of legal weapons in our society. This despite the fact that the elected government repeatedly have stated that a limitation of the number of legal weapons should not be a goal for Swedish weapons laws. Sweden is a country with a lot of legally owned weapons. But we already have well-functioning gun laws and legally owned guns are not a problem in Sweden.
On 31 January this year Doris Högne Rydheim report "Tightening the firearms legislation." got featured. The inquiry was set up to find solutions to the increased gun smuggling that has occurred in Sweden in recent years. But instead of coming up with proposals on how to combat the widespread smuggling of firearms the RPS takes the opportunity, once again to require further tightening of the laws for legal gun owners - a group that is more law-abiding than the average citizen.
RPS has long used the argument that all illegal arms have once been legal. They have been forced to stop using that argument since it has been demonstrated that it is not true. Instead, they now use the argument that all legal guns are "potentially dangerous", which in itself is true. But if everything is potentially dangerous and needs to be banned there will not be much left.
This time, it's the machine gun shooters who are the target. Although there is not a single confirmed case in the last 15 years where a civilian owned machine gun appeared in a crime, despite this the possession of fully automatic weapons will be completely banned for private individuals if these suggestions goes through. Permanent licenses are to be converted into 5-year licenses that then can not be extended. Doris says:
"We see it as the owners of these kinds of firearms gets 5 years to find another hobby."
Shooting fully automatic weapons is a small hobby, there are only about 1,500 practitioners in Sweden. - Yeah, but then it will not affect that many, and certainly not me - you may be thinking. But keep in mind the parable of the frog - in pushing through changes gradually and start where there is the least resistance.
IPSC rifle is also targeted by the investigators.
"In order to prevent and stop crimes we estimate that an authorization to possess semi-automatic rifles that have detachable magazines and therefore can be loaded with a large number of cartridges - should not be granted for target practice."
IPSC rifle is a pretty small branch as well. But if shooting fully automatic and submachine guns feels foreign to many hunters, this is a proposal that should worry all the more. Many semi-automatic hunting rifles have detachable magazines, and if they manage to stop semi automatic for target shooting, it feels only natural that semi automatic hunting rifles would the next step.
What comes next is things we can only speculate about, but that RPS is not fond of "sniper-like" rifles on a hunting license is no secret. A further limitation of the size of weapon safe is not unthinkable.
But perhaps the greatest danger of the investigation is that they "try" to gain back a favorable administrative decision - submachine gun shooters lifetime licenses. This has never previously been discussed. One could view this as a test on a small group, where it is also easy to get the general publics opinion on their side "Why should people be allowed to have automatic weapons at home."
Sometimes it almost seems to be a willingness among gun owners who are not in the firing line of the moment, to "sacrifice" a smaller branch in the periphery, to move the focus from themselves - "We can agree to ban fully automatic weapons if they allow us to keep our semi automatic. " But this is completely wrong. The undramatic views on firearms that exist in Sweden thanks to conscription and a vast and broad hunting interest is being replaced by a more negative view eagerly cheered on by the media. The fewer gun owners we become, the more obscure and weird we will become in the view of the general public and the harder it will be to make our voices heard.
What can you do if you are concerned about the development of Swedish weapons laws:
- The investigation is now out for consultation with a number of associations and organizations, including Hunters Association and Swedish Hunters Association whose opinions are expected to weigh heavily. Talk to affiliates so that they may know what you think.
- There are elections next year - check with the various parties where they stand on the issue and let them know your opinion.
- Go in and sign the petition that was started as a protest against the proposal.
- And above all - talk to other gun owners and make them understand where the development is going.
Erik Walltin
You can sign here
http://namninsamling.se/index.php?si...5#.UYNxEpWoboe
ps. I added a poll
You can read about the proposed changes here:
http://www.regeringen.se/content/1/c...8/67d00a82.pdf
Now some people are against firearms on principal, be it legally owned ones or illegal ones.
But consider the facts.
Sweden average 90-100 murders & manslaughters per year, this is really low, it doesn't matter how one twists and turns the facts, violance leading to someones death in our sociaty is a rare occurrance, esp if you put our country into a global perspective. It's even more uncommon that someone gets killed by a gun.
Roughly 10-15 of our murders and manslaughters are commited with firearms, pretty much all of them are between rivaling criminal organizations, you could call that self sanitation, they kill eachother, innocent citizens barely ever are the victim of firearms related crime.
This despite the fact that we are one the European nations with the most guns as far as guns per capita goes, with roughly 30 legally owned firearms per 100 citizens. Legally owned firearms is not an issue.
With that short introduction I'll just qoute someone I thought put it well.
Quote:
There is an old saying that says that a frog will let themselves be boiled alive if you put it in cold water that is slowly heated, while it will jump out right away if you try to put it in boiling water. Whether that is true or not I do not know, but there is no doubt that it is easier to make changes that are expected to meet resistance if you do it gradually.
The parable of the frog is sometimes used to describe how Swedish weapons laws gradually are being made more restrictive. For those who have followed the debate in recent years it is becoming apparent that there is a strong will from the Police, to reduce the number of legal weapons in our society. This despite the fact that the elected government repeatedly have stated that a limitation of the number of legal weapons should not be a goal for Swedish weapons laws. Sweden is a country with a lot of legally owned weapons. But we already have well-functioning gun laws and legally owned guns are not a problem in Sweden.
On 31 January this year Doris Högne Rydheim report "Tightening the firearms legislation." got featured. The inquiry was set up to find solutions to the increased gun smuggling that has occurred in Sweden in recent years. But instead of coming up with proposals on how to combat the widespread smuggling of firearms the RPS takes the opportunity, once again to require further tightening of the laws for legal gun owners - a group that is more law-abiding than the average citizen.
RPS has long used the argument that all illegal arms have once been legal. They have been forced to stop using that argument since it has been demonstrated that it is not true. Instead, they now use the argument that all legal guns are "potentially dangerous", which in itself is true. But if everything is potentially dangerous and needs to be banned there will not be much left.
This time, it's the machine gun shooters who are the target. Although there is not a single confirmed case in the last 15 years where a civilian owned machine gun appeared in a crime, despite this the possession of fully automatic weapons will be completely banned for private individuals if these suggestions goes through. Permanent licenses are to be converted into 5-year licenses that then can not be extended. Doris says:
"We see it as the owners of these kinds of firearms gets 5 years to find another hobby."
Shooting fully automatic weapons is a small hobby, there are only about 1,500 practitioners in Sweden. - Yeah, but then it will not affect that many, and certainly not me - you may be thinking. But keep in mind the parable of the frog - in pushing through changes gradually and start where there is the least resistance.
IPSC rifle is also targeted by the investigators.
"In order to prevent and stop crimes we estimate that an authorization to possess semi-automatic rifles that have detachable magazines and therefore can be loaded with a large number of cartridges - should not be granted for target practice."
IPSC rifle is a pretty small branch as well. But if shooting fully automatic and submachine guns feels foreign to many hunters, this is a proposal that should worry all the more. Many semi-automatic hunting rifles have detachable magazines, and if they manage to stop semi automatic for target shooting, it feels only natural that semi automatic hunting rifles would the next step.
What comes next is things we can only speculate about, but that RPS is not fond of "sniper-like" rifles on a hunting license is no secret. A further limitation of the size of weapon safe is not unthinkable.
But perhaps the greatest danger of the investigation is that they "try" to gain back a favorable administrative decision - submachine gun shooters lifetime licenses. This has never previously been discussed. One could view this as a test on a small group, where it is also easy to get the general publics opinion on their side "Why should people be allowed to have automatic weapons at home."
Sometimes it almost seems to be a willingness among gun owners who are not in the firing line of the moment, to "sacrifice" a smaller branch in the periphery, to move the focus from themselves - "We can agree to ban fully automatic weapons if they allow us to keep our semi automatic. " But this is completely wrong. The undramatic views on firearms that exist in Sweden thanks to conscription and a vast and broad hunting interest is being replaced by a more negative view eagerly cheered on by the media. The fewer gun owners we become, the more obscure and weird we will become in the view of the general public and the harder it will be to make our voices heard.
What can you do if you are concerned about the development of Swedish weapons laws:
- The investigation is now out for consultation with a number of associations and organizations, including Hunters Association and Swedish Hunters Association whose opinions are expected to weigh heavily. Talk to affiliates so that they may know what you think.
- There are elections next year - check with the various parties where they stand on the issue and let them know your opinion.
- Go in and sign the petition that was started as a protest against the proposal.
- And above all - talk to other gun owners and make them understand where the development is going.
Erik Walltin
http://namninsamling.se/index.php?si...5#.UYNxEpWoboe
ps. I added a poll