Leif GW Persson on semi-automatic weapons and shootings

Two Swedes were shot dead in Brussels and 18 people were killed by gunshots in the American Lewiston.
In both crimes, a type of weapon was used that is a legal hunting weapon in Sweden.
– Everyone thinks it’s madness, says Leif GW Persson in Nyhetsmorgon.

This summer it became permissible for hunters in Sweden to use military semi-automatic weapons. This after the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency decided to lift the ban on the type of weapon in order to spare the animals’ suffering.

The police already sounded the alarm at the time that the decision could mean a risk of more weapons ending up in society. In Nyhetsmorgon, Leif GW Persson also states that he is critical of the decision.

– When the proposal came a few years ago, many, including me, said it was madness. It has nothing to do in this context, he says.

“Everyone thinks it’s madness”

In 2023, Sweden has been shaken by a strong wave of violence linked to the gang environment where a large number of shootings and murders have killed people. Recently, two serious crimes abroad have been carried out with semi-automatic weapons – the terrorist attack in Brussels and the mass shooting in Lewiston, USA.

– Everyone thinks it is madness, not least in the situation in which we now find ourselves, to create access to this type of weapon, says Leif GW Persson.

With some semi-automatic weapons, you can fire a few hundred shots per minute, according to Leif GW Persson.

– If you have the right magazine size, which is easy to find online or manufacture yourself, you can fire up to 300 rounds a minute, he says.

Leif GW Persson: Don’t understand the government

During the year, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and the Tidöparties have presented a series of new measures to put an end to gang crime and serious violence.

– Considering what the government is doing in the overall context, I don’t understand that you don’t just go in and remove that decision, says Leif GW Persson.

– It is not a necessary condition for hunting. On the contrary.