Starter and tear gas weapons are basically manufactured like conventional weapons. Starter weapons, on the other hand, have a stop in the barrel and are often used in athletics competitions, and tear gas weapons have a constriction in the barrel to be able to fire only tear gas cartridges.
An increasingly common problem is that its weapons are bought from EU countries where they are freely sold to people over 18, and control is limited to say the least.
– Most of the time, you only need to tick a small box that you have the right to buy the weapon, says Jesper Liedholm, expert at the Swedish Customs Administration.
30 percent of seized weapons
After the purchase, the weapons are converted by so-called gunsmiths into regular firearms which are later sold to criminals. Conversion takes place in Sweden as well as other countries in Europe.
In 2023, 267 converted weapons were seized in Sweden. According to the Swedish Customs Administration’s figures, this corresponds to approximately 30 percent of all seized weapons in Sweden that year.
– It’s a fairly large part of the cake, says Jesper Liedholm.
The converted weapons have gradually become more numerous over the years, and according to Jesper Liedholm, they have occurred a lot in the conflict around the criminal network Foxtrot.
“Must be in the right place at the right time”
Most converted weapons are confiscated by the police in Sweden. Customs seizes some packages, and then has the advantage that they can try to trace sellers and senders. But it is not an easy job.
– As they are legal without restrictions in the countries they are sent from, there are no mechanisms to report it to a customs authority. This means that the Swedish Customs Service must be in the right place at the right time in a flow where millions of packages are sent every year, says Jesper Liedholm.
The basic problem is the free sale and mobility, says Jesper Liedholm.
There are EU common rules for weapons at a minimum level, but problems arise when convertible weapons are sold from a country that allows them to a country that requires a license for them.
– The best thing would be some kind of permit procedure when you buy the weapons, just like in Sweden. But I think it’s next to impossible. What is needed here is for the EU to jointly determine which models can and cannot be sold freely, says Jesper Liedholm.
Facts: Starter and tear gas weapons
Facts: Shooting and tear gas weapons
(TT)
Tear gas weapons refer to pistols, revolvers and other devices such as:
– Can be loaded with cartridges without a projectile but containing a tear-inducing substance intended to be expelled with a powder charge,
– has gas outflow completely or mainly forward in the direction of the barrel,
– as well as having some type of locking in the barrel to prevent firing with live ammunition/ejecting projectiles.
Starting weapons refer to pistols, revolvers and other devices such as:
– can be loaded with starter/bang cartridges without a projectile or action part containing a powder charge whose sole purpose is to emit a muzzle blast
-and has gas outflow in a direction other than forward/in the direction of the barrel.
Source: National Forensic Centre, NFC