Gun Laws in Scandinavia
- Thread starter Sniper66
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She may be "winning" on paper, but the only real opposition to her are the Social Democrats. This is like a choice between arsenic and cyanide in your coffee. Many Germans that are casting their votes for her are not doing so because they like her or her platform.
The problem in Germany, like many other countries is that any real opposition to the present state of things gets sidelined, slandered, etc by the embedded long-standing political machine and it's media gatekeepers. Witness the recent contest in Austria.
Without real alternatives people have a choice of voting what they see as the lesser of two evils. Or not voting at all. I suspect the latter is occurring in Germany to a significant extent.
The problem in Germany, like many other countries is that any real opposition to the present state of things gets sidelined, slandered, etc by the embedded long-standing political machine and it's media gatekeepers. Witness the recent contest in Austria.
Without real alternatives people have a choice of voting what they see as the lesser of two evils. Or not voting at all. I suspect the latter is occurring in Germany to a significant extent.
everydefense
Member
Sounds eerily similar to the past (2016) election for POTUS- very few truly LIKED Hillary Clinton OR Trump, however, a large portion of voters seemingly voted for one or the other as an "anti-vote" against the other candidate, and many abstained from voting altogether...
I knew we wouldn't win, but I voted Libertarian (part of "other" in that graph) anyway, both because that's my party, and on principle as a refusal to vote for the "lesser of two evils", as that would still be voting for evil. Anyway, this thread is not about the US, just wanted to draw a parallel to something I'm familiar with
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So, if anyone is mildly interested in the gun laws of Scandinavia I'll give a quick run down. Gun laws in Sweden, Norway and Denmark are more or less the same. Scandinavian countries are hunting countries so i'll start with hunting weapons. To get a hunting weapon you need to take the hunting Exam. this is normally done by evening classes finishing with a multi choice test, rifle,shotgun safety, distance judging and a shotgun,rifle shooting test plus passing the running moose test. When you have passed the hunting exam you can have up to 6 hunting weapons.
You can Have Competition shotguns and rifles if you belong to a clay, target shooting club. Pistols and revolvers, no problem, just join a club.
I read somewhere that there are a thousand legally owned machine guns in Sweden. There must be a club for those somewhere.
I read a load of waffle on here about having a gun for HD. All my neighbors have guns and i bet it never crosses their minds they need them for HD. We don't live in fear.
Now i know we live in dreaded socialist country, but its strange when i see a country doing so well. I only manged four hunting holidays aboard last years.
I've just bought myself a new double rifle that cost more than a small family car. Not too bad for an old geezer who works in a factory in a socialist country.
Roe buck hunting starts in a little over 2 weeks. That heralds the start of a winter out in the forest hunting. Life can be a real bugger sometimes.
You can Have Competition shotguns and rifles if you belong to a clay, target shooting club. Pistols and revolvers, no problem, just join a club.
I read somewhere that there are a thousand legally owned machine guns in Sweden. There must be a club for those somewhere.
I read a load of waffle on here about having a gun for HD. All my neighbors have guns and i bet it never crosses their minds they need them for HD. We don't live in fear.
Now i know we live in dreaded socialist country, but its strange when i see a country doing so well. I only manged four hunting holidays aboard last years.
I've just bought myself a new double rifle that cost more than a small family car. Not too bad for an old geezer who works in a factory in a socialist country.
Roe buck hunting starts in a little over 2 weeks. That heralds the start of a winter out in the forest hunting. Life can be a real bugger sometimes.
AlexanderA
Member
If you own a long gun or handgun based on club membership, do you have to keep the gun at the club?
Would it be possible to have a gun collection at home?
mljdeckard
Member
A couple of points re the OP,
Not everyone in Scandinavia has to keep all their guns at a club. I knew a guy south of Roskilde, Denmark, who had jumped through many hoops and was able to keep a variety of guns at his house, including a suppressed 10/22, a Walther autoloader 30-06, and his "home guard" issued rifle, a G-1. (I knew another guy who had a Madsen SMG in his house.) He said that if you bow hunt, your arrows must be labled, and if you wound an animal, and it is discovered with your arrows in it, you may be prosecuted. He knew a couple of people who were into handloading, and there was another series of hoops to jump through to possess powder and primers. I knew several old-timers on farm land who had break-action shotguns. They hunted pheasants, (they had some FAT ones there,) but the hunt and the shells were both tightly regulated.
I also feel the need to point out, the nation where you are the most likely to be a victim of a mass shooting is.....Norway.
Not everyone in Scandinavia has to keep all their guns at a club. I knew a guy south of Roskilde, Denmark, who had jumped through many hoops and was able to keep a variety of guns at his house, including a suppressed 10/22, a Walther autoloader 30-06, and his "home guard" issued rifle, a G-1. (I knew another guy who had a Madsen SMG in his house.) He said that if you bow hunt, your arrows must be labled, and if you wound an animal, and it is discovered with your arrows in it, you may be prosecuted. He knew a couple of people who were into handloading, and there was another series of hoops to jump through to possess powder and primers. I knew several old-timers on farm land who had break-action shotguns. They hunted pheasants, (they had some FAT ones there,) but the hunt and the shells were both tightly regulated.
I also feel the need to point out, the nation where you are the most likely to be a victim of a mass shooting is.....Norway.
You keep your hand guns or long guns at home. Yes you can collect guns and keep them at home. To collect guns you get a collectors licence from the police.
First, its easy to get a suppressor for rifles. Bow hunting is not legal in Sweden, but it looks like it will be in the near future. The law says that if you hunt you must have a trained dog to track the type of animal you are hunting. It a crime to wound an animal and not make every effort to recover it. Tracking wounded or RTA injured animals is taken very seriously. I'm a tracking dog instructor for one of Sweden's hunting orgs. Shotgun cartridges are not tightly controlled in any Scandi country. I bought 250, 20 bore the other day, didn't even show any ID. If i walked in my local gun shop and asked for twenty thousand cartridges they would not bat an eye lid. I've many thousand 12 bore in stock. Hand loading is not a problem. Powder, primers, bullets and cases, plenty on the shelves at my LGS. Never had any problem buying what i wanted. I've hunted pheasants in Denmark and Sweden and great fun it is too.
Speedo66
Member
Many years ago I was admiring a Volvo C-202 soft top, basically Sweden's version of a military Jeep at the time, parked next to my mother-in-law's house in Lund Sweden when the young owner walked out. He lived next door, we talked about it, I really wanted one. lol
He asked me if I was interested in military items, I said yes. He invited me into his home and pulled an MP-40 from under his bed. I don't know if it was legally owned or not, didn't think it would be polite to ask, but it was very cool to see and hold an original, surprisingly heavy. Lund is not far from the coast, across the Öresund strait from Denmark which is the narrow entrance to the Baltic. I wonder how many WWII arms found their way over to Sweden during the war, and later?
Sweden, being neutral, was a safe haven during the war, so there was lots of clandestine smuggling of material and refugees between Malmö Sweden and Copenhagen Denmark.
He asked me if I was interested in military items, I said yes. He invited me into his home and pulled an MP-40 from under his bed. I don't know if it was legally owned or not, didn't think it would be polite to ask, but it was very cool to see and hold an original, surprisingly heavy. Lund is not far from the coast, across the Öresund strait from Denmark which is the narrow entrance to the Baltic. I wonder how many WWII arms found their way over to Sweden during the war, and later?
Sweden, being neutral, was a safe haven during the war, so there was lots of clandestine smuggling of material and refugees between Malmö Sweden and Copenhagen Denmark.
Flechette
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Sounds a lot like "Net Neutrality".
Flechette
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What did the people in the Scandinavian people think about our gun laws?
I doubt that many Scandinavians give Us gun laws much thought at all. I don't. They are your gun laws not ours.
There's a lot of misinformation in this thread. So I'll try and correct it a little. I'm talking about Sweden here. The police must give you two weeks written notice before they can come and inspect your weapons. If you're convicted of drunken driving, taken very seriously here, as is the use of drugs, or crimes of violence you can kiss you weapons goodbye. The shooting ranges are not government sanctioned or controlled. The law, local and nationally governs shooting ranges. Just like in the US i guess. I have 3 shooting ranges within a half hours drive from my house. I also have a 120 mtr range in my back garden.
We have the right to self defense using reasonable force. There have been 2 note worthy cases in the last couple of years. The latest was and elderly gent who shot 2 young men dead. These 2 men had been terrorizing the elderly gent for a long while. He shot them with his hunting rifle. He received a very short prison sentence because the judge thought as a hunter he should have shot them in the legs
. When it comes to threads about gun issues in Europe there seems to be a lot of information, that came from a man down the pub.
As a English man who is not a citizen of Sweden but a permanent resident i have found no problems getting what ever gun I've wanted.
Scandinavia is a great place to live. We don't live under some dark socialist cloud or the boot heal of the King.
Snejdarek
Member
Could you elaborate on Denmark? I have been under impression that gun laws in Denmark are way, way stricter than in Sweden.
I have recently seen Czech TV interview with a Swedish citizen on the rise of gun club membership in Sweden. The person claimed that many are joining due to worsening security situation. The person was lamenting that she needs to be member of the club for a given period of time (12 months? - not sure) and needs to practice regularly before she becomes eligible to get a license to be able to purchase and keep a pistol in a safe in her home. Is that correct or is it really "no problem, just join a club".
Snejdarek
Member
Could you please provide exact translation of the given part of Swedish law? "Reasonable force" is a very high standard to be met.
For example, Czech law states that the self defense may not be "manifestly disproportionate to the manner of attack" (or, according to different translation: "obviously grossly disproportionate to the manner of the attack" - I think that mine is better, but the other one is closer to verbatim translation).
rbernie
Contributing Member
My bride is originally from Lidköping / Gotene / Skara, and her family mostly lives these days in either Västerås or Lund. It's entirely likely that I'll wind up spending my retirement summers in Lund, so I've been watching this thread with some interest.
I have to admit that it's been confusing to follow, with lots of conflicting back-and-forth.
Zoer
Member
After reading this thread I am very thankful; I live in the United States, we wont have to deal with this stuff for at least 3 1/2 more years
Snejdarek
Member
I personally think that it is not so much about the next 3 1/2 years but much more about what happens to SCOTUS in that time.
Your law on guns is clear, it is judiciary that has been letting you down for the past several decades. AKA "least favorite freedom"
Zoer
Member
Yes it might look that way while watching CNN (Clinton news network) , but across vast chunks of rural America there isn't any gun debate besides 270 versus 30-06
Snejdarek
Member
So you're telling me that for example FOPA doesn't extend to the place where you live?
Snejdarek
Member
I was referring to this:
Except as provided in paragraph (2), it shall be unlawful for any person to transfer or possess a machinegun.
AlexanderA
Member
Even with the Hughes Amendment, U.S. (federal) law is more permissive regarding machine guns than practically all of the rest of the world. To find a better law on civilian ownership of machine guns, you'd have to go to places like Somalia or Yemen.
Ignition Override
Member
RPZ: A friend in this area grew up in Essen Germany (NRW).
I never knew that a German citizen (when inside Germany's borders) is 'verboten' to discuss something in an e-mail and describe it as a problem.
Will ask him about that.
By the way, there is a topic over at AKfiles, General Rifles, about which Euro countries allow semi-auto rifles. The question, based on this topic, now seems to be which countries will be pressured to take this right away from its "citizens"/subjects, or will the overlords in Brussels simply create too many extra restrictions as harassment.
I never knew that a German citizen (when inside Germany's borders) is 'verboten' to discuss something in an e-mail and describe it as a problem.
Will ask him about that.
By the way, there is a topic over at AKfiles, General Rifles, about which Euro countries allow semi-auto rifles. The question, based on this topic, now seems to be which countries will be pressured to take this right away from its "citizens"/subjects, or will the overlords in Brussels simply create too many extra restrictions as harassment.
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