The Tidö parties abandon the forced redemption of AR-15 rifles - want voluntary redemption instead

In the summer of 2025, 7,000 hunters had a license for the semi-automatic weapon of the AR-15 model in Sweden. The government and the Sweden Democrats wanted the figure to decrease.

First, it was announced that the weapons would be compulsorily redeemed, as those who had a hunting license for the weapon would see their permit revoked. But then the Tidö parties turned. In order to reduce the presence of this weapon in the Swedish hunt, voluntary redemption was enough, they wrote in a debate article in Svensk Jakt.

According to the Police Authority, 43 weapons had been handed in in July this year. The police issued a warning that the statistics are not completely up to date and that there may be sources of error. In August, the Department of Justice announced that the police had received roughly 70 of the weapons.

The Tidö parties have previously said that the weapons should be donated to Ukraine, but so far no rifles have been passed on to the war-torn country and there are no plans to do so at the moment, according to the Department of Justice.

Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (M) writes to DN that it was judged that the most reasonable way to limit access to the AR-15 was to stop new permits for hunting and at the same time strengthen supervision and control.

"On top of that, we came up with an option to redeem guns voluntarily. We haven't set any specific goals for that, but it's up to the individual gun owner how they want to do it."

The political discussions and turns about the semi-automatic weapon's place in Sweden's hunting life have been many and long. When semi-automatic rifles with a military look were approved for hunting in 2023, DN reported a rush for AR weapons.

After the mass shooting in Örebro, the weapon sailed up the political agenda. Tidö parties quickly proposed a tightening of gun laws, which included the AR-15's place in the hunting context. The political cooperation resulted in no new hunting licenses for the weapon being approved - and those who already had a license being able to hand in the weapon.

The reason was, among other things, that the weapon "is compatible with large military weapon magazines and can cause a lot of damage in a short time". Reference has also been made to the fact that the weapon, which has a military appearance, has gained high status in mass shooting subcultures in other countries. In the fatal shooting in Örebro, semi-automatic pellet guns were used, but not of the AR-15 model.

That SD agreed to the decision created turbulence in the party. SD leader Richard Jomshof resigned as chairman of the justice committee in protest against the decision.

Read more: The Tidö parties back down on the forced redemption of weapons Hunter on the government's weapons deployment: Uncensored The government wants to ban the AR-15 - redeemed weapons should go to Ukraine