Sweden has strictly planned gun laws after shooting at Orebro schools

Prime Minister Wolf Christerson, who visited Latvia, told reporters: “We need to ensure that only the right people have guns in Sweden.”

Swedish Democrats said they agreed to a proposal to amend the law, including greater restrictions on access to semi-automatic arms.

“The horrifying violence in Orebro raises some important questions about gun laws,” the party said in a statement.

The AR-15 is a specific style of semi-automatic rifles that are both powerful and large magazines, and was chosen by the government as an example of a weapon that could be restricted.

Police have not stated exactly which weapon was used in the attack, but the AR-15 is used in many mass shootings in the United States.

They confirmed that at the site of attacks at Orebro, several long rifles were found along with 10 empty magazines.

Under current Swedish gun laws, anyone who does not have a criminal history over the age of 18 can apply for a shotgun, handgun, or semi-automatic rifle permit.

They have to justify the police why they need a gun. People over the age of 20 can apply for special distributions to own fully automatic weapons.

According to figures from Swedish broadcaster Svt, around 580,000 Swedes have arms licenses from a population of around 10.5 million.

A 2017 Switzerland survey found that there were approximately 2.3 million guns held by Swedish civilians. That’s about 23 guns per 100 people compared to 29 in Norway and 120 in the US.

Obtaining a hunting license in Sweden requires theory and practical testing. It has one in about 280,000 Swedes.

Police have not yet publicly identified the victims of the attack in Orebro or declared a motive for the attack, but said they hope to end the identification process and announce it on Friday.

Among the deaths were Syrians and one Bosnian who fled from the war as refugees, according to family and community members.

Swedish police usually note that they name suspects during investigations, but the lack of official information has contributed to the horror and uncertainty of the Orebro immigrant community over the past few days. .

“We need more information,” said Noor Afram, 36, who was inside Lisburgska School when the attack began.

“I don’t know why he did that. Why did he target this school? Was he sick or something else?” she said.

Aphram waited to go to class when he heard people screaming there was a archer.

“We started running, and then I heard the gunshot,” she said. “In the beginning, Tuck Tak – maybe 10 shots. I was so scared that it felt like my heart was halting in my chest.”

Sweden has relatively high levels of gun ownership and gun crime by European standards, but most weapons are legally owned and used for hunting.

Gun crime is primarily related to gangs, and gangs also use bombs to target each other.

Non-gang-related gun crimes are less common, with Tuesday’s attacks in the country’s first school shooting and worst mass shooting. A total of four people died from stab wounds at two independent schools in 2015 and 2022.