Wave of shootings baffle Swedish police

[hack89]

STOCKHOLM (AP) — A new wave of execution-style shootings in Sweden's third largest city has left police puzzled, raising concerns that Malmo has become a magnet for gang-related killings.

On Thursday dozens of police took to the streets in the southern Swedish city of 250,000 to try calm the public and to collect tips about the attacks, which come only a year after a suspected serial shooter was arrested there.

"We've never experienced anything like this before. It's exceptional that there have been so many murders in such a short period of time," police spokesman Lars-Hakan Lindholm said. "People are worried of course and want to talk about it."

In less than six weeks, five people have been shot dead in execution-style killings, prompting local police to ask for back-up from national investigators and for Malmo Mayor Ilmar Reepalu to call on the country's justice minister to implement tougher gun laws.

http://news.yahoo.com/wave-shootings-baffle-swedish-police-144253329.html

Looks like criminals don't respect gun laws in Sweden either.

[burf]

1. The article stated the gun laws

were "fairly strict" whatever that means.

[hack89]

2. The knee jerk reaction will be to make them stricter. nt

[DonP]

3. Mayor Daley is available and has some time on his hands?

He sure helped Chicago solve all the shootings we had. <sarcasm>

I'm sure he could step in and help Sweden too. All they need to do is allow him to handle all the government contracts with no bidding process.

[burf]

4. It looks as though Chicago is gonna be busy

trying to find the killers of an off duty cop who moonlighted as a security guard. Police Supt Gary McCarthy said:

Chicago is awash in guns, demonstrated by the 131 guns officers seized on New Year’s Eve, compared to 83 last New Year’s Eve, McCarthy said. Through the middle of 2012, Chicago’s gun seizures outpaced New York’s by 7 to 1 per capita, he said.

“The proliferation of guns here is unacceptable,” McCarthy said. “It puts our officers in danger every day. It puts us in armed confrontations every single day.”

http://www.suntimes.com/9815289-417/police-mayor-go-door-to-door-to-solve-cop-killing.html


How much longer until Chicago politicians pass another law when challenged and found to be unconstitutional by the courts that will cost the citizens of Chicago millions more of their tax dollars? A law that would do nothing to deter criminals from engaging in their selected occupations.

[DonP]

7. "How much longer until Chicago politicians pass another law..."

We're already on our third version of it now and they are still fighting it in court.

Daley rammed through a new set of laws a day or two after the McDonald decision. They were equally unconstitutional. Things were included like you must qualify at an approved Chicago gun range, then they outlawed any gun range in the city limits. That was the Ezell case IIRC?

That got thrown out at the appellate level and now there are another set that still requires training at an approved range and no range permits have been issued.

The price tag to taxpayers is going to run at least the same as DC. if not higher. because they won't simply obey the court rulings and keep thinking they can come up with some cute game that will let them keep their defacto gun ban. But as usual, it's not like it's their money and every alderman, state representative, state senator as well as US representatives from Cook County is considered a "peace officer" and is allowed to carry concealed. So they covered their own ass.

But Daley would do fine in Sweden, even though he doesn't speak Swedish.

Hell, he doesn't speak English either, if you've every heard his speeches.

[burf]

8. Good Lord,

just how much have these "laws" cost the citizens of Chicago? How many teachers has Rahm laid off? The political elite being "peace officers" is certainly a racket.

I remember reading an article on how all some of the candidates for different elected offices were meeting with leaders of gangs in an attempt to get the gangbangers support. It looks as though the entire system is haywire there.

[SteveW]

5. 'That junk I bought didn't do a thing; guess I'll take another hit.' nt

[iverglas]

6. "Looks like criminals don't respect gun laws in Sweden either."

If you were expecting an award for trenchant witticism of the week ... well, you should probably exhale now.

Criminals don't respect murder laws, either. Obviously, laws against murder are ineffective and worthless.

http://www.thelocal.se/38318/20120103/

The police believe that one of the reasons behind the rise in violent crime in Malmö is the widespread use of and trade in illegal firearms

http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/sweden

Sweden has mandatory licensing and registration, and so the likelihood is that the firearms in question have been trafficked from outside the country. (It is highly unlikely that the licensed owner of a registered firearm will either use it in crime or transfer it illegally, although theft of registered firearms from licensed owners remains a significant problem in jurisdictions that have those schemes.)

Sweden's laws have no effect on firearms, firearms owners and firearms transactions outside Sweden. If you look at a map of Sweden (if you need to do that to know what it looks like), you'll see how smuggling into the country might be a somewhat hard nut to crack.



Count the countries within spitting distance, and the myriad opportunities offered by the long coastline and borders, eh?

Ah yes:

http://www.thelocal.se/38352/20120105/

"We have been mainly focusing on drugs," said Anders Trägårdh, head of operations at customs in Malmö, to daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN).

The debate about the illegal smuggling of weapons has been given a new lease of life after a recent rise in violent crimes in the Malmö region.

But in the government directive given to the Swedish customs agency they are told to focus on drugs, alcohol and cigarettes in order to combat organized crime in the country, according to news agency TT. Illegal weapons smuggling isn't mentioned in the directive, reported daily Svenska Dagbladet (SvD)

... According to the Swedish National Police Board (Rikspolisstyrelsen) weapons are primarily being brought into the country from the Balkans in small consignments by land in buses or cars.

... "Swedish authorities won't be able to combat the weapons smuggling on their own, but an extensive international cooperation must be in place," said Gunnar Wärnberg, illegal weapons expert at the National Police Board to DN.

Sweden has a population of around 9.4 million.

Can you imagine 5 homicides in 5 weeks creating such a furor in, oh, NYC? Haha.

[burf]

9. Is it those darned

Norwegians or the Finlanders? My guess is the Finlanders smuggling those Sako Finnbears into Sweden.

[Simo 1939_1940]

11. Hey now......easy on the Finns!

[ileus]

10. guns kill people....time to ban them