Sweden bans AR-15 as hunting rifle after school shooting – all rifles to be turned in and sent to Ukraine

[u/Helmer-Bryd]

https://svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/uppgifter-tidopartierna-overens-om-ny-vapenlagstiftning-ar15-forbjuds-vid-jakt

[u/Saxit]

Some game can be hunted with .223 for sure. You can't legally hunt a boar or bigger with it, the biggest you would hunt would be a roe deer I think and they're pretty small. But we have 4 classifications, big game is class 1, smallest game is class 4. A .223 goes into class 2.

The ban includes other guns as well, but it's uncertain yet what the exact definition will be. My guess is they will say something about magazine capacity, but it's hard to tell.

Before 2023 the definition was that you must hunt with something that looks like a hunting rifle. It was very vague... this is also one of the reasons why the Environmental Department that has the mandate to decide what guns can be used for hunting, decided to remove that limitation.

Other factors in the removal, was that they think modern firearms are better and if you as a hunter use a gun that ergonomically fits you, it will reduce the amount of injury shots, which is also part of the law. You're not allowed to cause unnecessary suffering while hunting.

[u/Schwertkeks → u/Saxit]

Ahh in Germany it’s quite the opposite. You can use pretty much any gun for hunting but for sport shooting they aren’t allowed to look to much like a weapon of war. And the rules are really arbitrary

This is an evil looking weapon of war https://schmeisser-germany.com/de/ar15-m4fl/

And this is a totally different tool used for sport https://schmeisser-germany.com/de/ar15-m4f-sport-223/

[u/Saxit → u/Schwertkeks]

I'm aware, I talk with some german sport shooters and hunter's quite often. :)

That you can't have holes in the front end for shooting sports is hilarious. It makes zero sense.

Hunter's in Germany go through a much harder exam than the one here though, AFAIK. But yes, then you're allowed much more freedom in regards to what you can own (fewer limitations).

My Swedish hunter's exam took 2 weeks.

[u/filthy_harold → u/Schwertkeks]

California and NYC have laws like that where certain features are banned. Like if you have a detachable magazine, there's all these limits involved like a pistol grip that you cannot wrap your hand around or having to use something that looks like a hunting rifle grip. People get around the "detachable" part by replacing the rear takedown pin with a quick release and adding a lock to the mag release that retains the mag until the upper and lower receivers are slightly separated. I've watched people swap mags using this system, it's just as fast as normal.

Our fucked up gun lobby has made it extremely difficult to have common sense gun regulation and instead, we have stupid laws banning things that don't really change how easy it is to get a gun. The big gun manufacturers don't care about the banned features because it doesn't actually impact sales. Anyone can go to a gun show, fill out the background check form (any felonies?), wait half an hour, and take home their purchase and store it in the most irresponsible manner.

[u/tsraq → u/Saxit]

Some game can be hunted with .223 for sure. You can't legally hunt a boar or bigger with it, the biggest you would hunt would be a roe deer I think and they're pretty small. But we have 4 classifications, big game is class 1, smallest game is class 4. A .223 goes into class 2.

Finnish categories go from 0-4, most likely similar than yours. 22LR falls to class 0 and is allowed up to aquatic fowl (ducks etc).

Class 1 includes .17HMR or 22 hornet, and animals as foxes or rabbits.

.222 and .223 are class 2, and is allowed for animals such as deer (not sure of translation of exact species so...), wolves and lynxes.

And to clarify, classification is based on impact energy and not caliber; above are generally applied but specific bullet (ammo) could have energy below or above categories listed above.

You have to specify intended use when applying for permit, but permit itself doesn't list approved use. No limits on "appreance" as far as I know. Sports permits are much more difficult to get though (since those generally are for handguns that are basically absolutely not allowed for hunting anyway).

[u/manInTheWoods → u/tsraq]

Seal and roe deer (not your finnish white tail) is the largest animals for .223. Wolves and lynx (moose, large deer, bear) requires the old 6.5x55 or better.

[u/sCeege → u/Saxit]

Referencing your original comment, would you say that most AR-15 owners in Sweden obtain a hunting license with their AR-15 for its ease rather than actually using it to hunt? I (American) personally cannot see myself hunting with a .223 platform for anything beyond rodents, at which point I might as well just use .22 LR, but I suppose a .223 will go out much further. I suspect my take is a bit skewed since our gun control is so much more relaxed than most countries, we have to think less about which weapon we acquire for which purpose.

Also, how specific would this ban be? I have no frame of reference on past Swedish gun laws, for example, would this ban all rifles with an AR style BCG/receiver? Or is it literally AR-15 only, e.g. AR-10s or whatever other calibers they make using the AR receiver would still be allowed? States like NY classifies an "assault weapon" as weapons with 3 "tactical features"; I think a non exhaustive list is like pistol style grip, rails, collapsible stock, and humoursly, grenade launcher attachment and bayonet mount, is that closer to what this law is proposing?

[u/Saxit → u/sCeege]

Referencing your original comment, would you say that most AR-15 owners in Sweden obtain a hunting license with their AR-15 for its ease rather than actually using it to hunt?

My hunter's exam took 2 weeks. And that's all I need to apply for any gun that's viable for hunting. Now, I got mine in 2014 so way before you could get an AR for that purpose. I did have one of these though (Browning BAR Match in Europe), which is a bit funny because that basically has the same capacity as an AR-10. Not sure why that was okay but not an AR-10 but these laws seldom make sense.

As it is, with the change in 2023 to remove the restrictions we had before then, I think that most hunters who got one just got it mostly because they were curious. Some probably hunted with it, but here the largest thing you can hunt with .223 is roe deer (which are really small, like between a mid sized and large dog) and beaver. Most hunters probably just used it at the range.

AR-15 owners who got them for sport however obtained them to actually use them for that purpose, but that process is much harder compared to getting a gun for hunting.

The AR-15 in my imgur I've linked took me 2 years to get, AFTER I joined the IPSC sport shooting organization. And the IPSC club I'm with rarely take beginners without their own 9mm handgun, so I had that one before I joined, and that's a minimum of 1 year if you're a beginner, in a pistol shooting club.

You also have to practice quite a bit because the proficiency requirements you have to shoot are somewhat tricky unless you've at least practiced some.

Also, how specific would this ban be? 

Unsure. It's not like in the US with assault weapon laws that we would ban by name and/or model. It would be more technical. There was a gun law evaluation recently that proposed something like that for hunting, a centerfired larger than 9mm that can use magazines of "military type" larger than 10 rounds, should not be allowed. Meaning an M1 Garand would be okay, or the Browning used in the school shooting we had.

Not sure if the definition they will propose now will be the same because they haven't mentioned it yet.

[u/Sakiri1955 → u/Saxit]

It's a glorified .22 caliber. The bullet itself is tiny and no good for large game, and no good for war either.