A loophole in Austria's legislation is said to give Swedish gangs easy access to Glock pistols. Now the government wants to put a stop to it.
We have a very strong interest in turning off the tap, says Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer (The Moderate Party) after a meeting with Austria's interior minister.
Pistols from Austrian Glock are used by Swedish police and military, but are also a coveted status symbol in gang environments.
Seizures have doubled over the past five years. Investigations into murders, attempted murders, and murder plots involving "traces" of Glock pistols have risen from 20 cases in 2019 to around 55 over the past two years.
Many weapons lack matching barrels and slides, indicating that they are not pistols leaking from a legal market. Up to 70 per cent can be traced back to Austria, where, as the only EU country, it allows the sale of pistol frames without a licence.
This means that anyone who can complete them with barrels and slides gets fully functional pistols. The manufacturing is believed to take place within the union, making smuggling to Sweden relatively easy.
The Government Acts
Austrian customs and police are, of course, aware of this, but they have had difficulty showing politicians the effects it has in a country that does not have many shootings, said Jesper Liedholm, an expert at the Customs Agency, to TT in early June.
Now the government is taking action. At a ministerial meeting in Luxembourg on Thursday, a separate meeting was held between Gunnar Strömmer and Austria's interior minister.
I take this very seriously. That's why it was important for me to meet the minister to raise these issues and initiate a dialogue to see what can be done about this problem.
What did he say?
He is, of course, listening to what we have to say. They have no interest in weapons or weapon parts originating from Austria being used by criminals in other countries.
Contrary to EU Law?
Both countries will now gather more information about the problem.
When we have the data, we will continue the discussions – about how the problem looks, what causes it, and what we can do about it.
According to Jesper Liedholm, Austria may be violating the EU's firearms directive. However, raising the issue at the EU level is not currently on the agenda, according to Strömmer.
Here, there is a regulation in a member state that leads to weapon parts turning up in Sweden and being used by criminals. It's a practical issue that needs to be solved, exactly how we'll get back to.
My starting point is that we now raise this directly with Austria, and I am convinced that it will be discussed in a constructive spirit.
