So, I want to share from my perspective as a Swede, but first some info: We have a fairly live hunting culture here, both out of necessity and for hobby, and plenty of "hunting tourism" from Germany and other countries, so Swedes own a lot of guns. Third or fourth highest percentage, if I recall correctly. You are required to be licensed to use weapons for any purpose (self defense us not considered a valid reason).
The last decade or so we've had a lot of focus put on violent crimes involving guns (and grenades) by gang members - I'm only going to say that it
feels like they've been increasing in regularity and victims as I lack info on whether it's truth it just a "spotlighting effect". Every time there's a particularly gruesome shooting our politicians start aping American liberals about more gun regulation and prohibition, particularly of what I guess would translate roughly into "assault guns" or "fully automatic rifles". But these kind of guns ate almost never the kind of guns the gang murders are commuted with, and even in the few cases they were, they weren't legally owned. Because that's the thing - because of the EU open internal borders Sweden has a basically unhindered route for old Russian-made weapons (and grenades) from the Balkan countries. Forbidding some old Swedish farts from owning automatic rifles certainly won't stop the gangs from getting to those illegal guns.
So regulation and prohibition is just empty politicians' talk to me, an attempt to seem like you're doing something while actually accomplishing nothing, by copying American solutions to American problems, espoused by supposedly left wing American politicians. The only way to do something about actual criminals using guns for crime is to clamp down on those smugglers.
So yeah, the EU regulation looks like complete bullshit to me. Empty words which does nothing about the problem and only infringes on the rights and privileges of ordinary citizens.
I don't know if any of this is applicable to the rest of yours' situations, but there it is.
I must admit mainiac, every time piratejoe post, I feel better about you.
No. Two dumb stones do not ein stein make.