More and more insecure – want firearms for defense

Fear of crime and violent crime increases insecurity in society, shows a Novus survey conducted on behalf of TV4 Nyheterna.
65 percent of Swedes do not believe that the police will arrive in time if they are the victim of a crime – and a fifth want firearms to defend themselves.

In the survey, almost every other Swede, 45 percent, answered that they had become “more” or “much more” insecure in recent years. The biggest cause of concern is crime, war and violent crime.

A total of 21 percent state that they now want firearms to defend themselves. Torbjörn Sjöström, CEO of research company Novus, sees several reasons for the development.

– Authority communication has been around for quite some time that it is up to you and the individual and citizen to take care of yourself. That, plus the daily shootings, translates into you feeling like if something happens, I have to take care of myself.

SD’s voters stand out

In the survey, it is above all the group of people who vote for the Sweden Democrats that stands out. Of them, 25 percent state that they have become “much more” insecure in recent years, compared to seven percent for government party voters and six percent for opposition voters.

26 percent of the Sweden Democrats’ voters answer that they want weapons at home for their safety, while the same figure for Tidöpartierna’s voters is 21 percent and for the opposition five percent.

Increased fragmentation

According to Torbjörn Sjöström, Swedish voters are increasingly divided into two teams, where one wants to take a tougher line against crime and the other wants to prioritize issues such as climate, healthcare and international issues.

– The governing parties plus the Sweden Democrats want to see tougher measures. The other group feels that it is the climate issue that is a bigger problem, says Torbjörn Sjöström.