Sweden Introduces Measures to Decrease Gun Violence and Organized Crime

The Swedish federal government announced a series of measures aimed at decreasing gun violence and organized crime during a press conference on Dec. 1. These measures were introduced following reports by Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet that last year, Sweden experienced its highest levels of gun violence in the past 15 years. Over 100 people were shot, and 25 were killed, in 2014.

The new proposals include working with Balkan countries to establish weapons amnesties, initiatives that encourage people to turn over illicit weapons to the government with the guarantee that they will not be prosecuted for possession. Officials believe that amnesty will help curb the flow of foreign-made guns into Sweden. Another measure would criminalize proposition and conspiracy to commit grand larceny.

In response to criticism by some Swedes that the new legislation would not make a significant difference, Interior Minister Anders Ygeman defended the measures on in an interview with Svenska Dagbladet by stating, “The shootings cannot be regulated only by law. But we should make it harder for criminals to obtain weapons, and we will make it easier to arrest those guilty of larceny.”

Swedes have also tried to identify areas in which gun violence occurs at a disproportionate level in order to concentrate efforts on those regions. At a press conference on Nov. 25, national police chief Dan Eliasson stated that the police had identified fourteen “areas of priority” on which the police would focus more intently.

When asked where the police would find the resources to pursue this effort, Eliasson responded that redistributing pre-existing resources would be key. Although the effectiveness of these new measures remains to be seen, Swedes seem to appear cautiously optimistic that new regulations will mitigate the recent spike in gun violence.