Facts: Protected object
A protected object is an object, socially important buildings or areas that need enhanced protection against terrorist crimes, sabotage, espionage, as well as disclosure of secret information relating to total defence.
Even areas where exercises are conducted can be objects of protection and become so in order to protect the public against harm as a result of military activities.
Unauthorized persons do not have access to a protected object. Signs and restrictions must be followed according to the Protection Act (2010:305). Violation of the access ban can lead to fines or imprisonment for a maximum of two years.
Check and read on the Swedish Armed Forces’ website what applies in your region.
Different practice and shooting ranges have different instructions and rules that apply on different occasions. Never pass a sign indicating a protected object if the field in question is cancelled. Shooting warning signs and road barriers always apply first.
Source: The Swedish Armed Forces
“If you make a mistake, you expose yourself to enormous risk,” says Dag Enander at the Swedish Armed Forces.
There are upwards of 100 practice and shooting ranges in Sweden that are used by the Swedish Armed Forces. Entering the fields when exercises are in progress is prohibited under the Protection Act and access without permission can result in up to two years in prison or a fine.
“We try to point out that we have to stop exercises almost on a weekly basis because people go into places they shouldn’t be,” explains Dag Enander.
Practice in progress
When practice is not in progress, it is free to move around in the areas. But walking in the woods and fields during the times the fields are blocked off, i.e. closed to the public, means life-threatening.
— We will practice more and more and then in the end there will be an unpleasant linear collision of increased practice opportunities and these opportunities when people make mistakes.
Per Åkerblom, who is the head of the Göta engineer regiment, explains that the cancellation of the firing ranges means a cordon off of an area, which is done to “protect people from being injured, or in the worst case, even dying”.
Increased risk
He has been able to see a pandemic effect where more people have started staying in nature and that, in connection with the growth of the defense, contributes to an increased risk of incidents.
— We put down barriers on entrance roads so that it becomes clear that “you must not pass here either on foot or by vehicle” and around each shooting range there are information boards showing exactly which dates and days it is cancelled.
The problem with people entering the shooting ranges varies from region to region. So far, there have been no deaths during the military’s firing exercises.
— The important message is; it is not difficult to do the right thing – if you do it wrong, you expose yourself to enormous risk, says Dag Enander.