On December 1, 2020, the law was changed and arms smuggling became a separate crime with varying degrees.

One of the goals was to access starter and gas pistols, which can be bought legally in several European countries.

Once in Sweden, they can be rebuilt into sharp weapons and are increasingly used in gang shootings.

According to the Swedish Customs, about a third of all seized weapons are starting or gas pistols.

In the present case, the man was sentenced in the district court for aggravated arms smuggling to two years' imprisonment, but the sentence was changed by the Court of Appeal, which instead assessed it as arms smuggling of the normal degree and sentenced him to one year in prison.

The Supreme Court increases the sentence

The verdict was appealed to the Supreme Court, which now considers that it is to be regarded as aggravated arms smuggling and sets the sentence at two years' imprisonment.

The case is the first about the new crime of arms smuggling to reach HD.

HD states that a tear gas weapon in its original condition is certainly less dangerous than firearms in general, but that they are not completely harmless.

It is all the more serious that the weapons can easily be rebuilt to be able to fire sharp cartridges and that "it is common for modified weapons to be used by criminal groups".

- About a third of the one-handed weapons that come to us are modified starting and tear gas weapons, said Anders Nilsson, weapons investigator at the police's national forensic center during the HD hearing.

The fact that the man had a relationship with organized crime was another troublesome circumstance.

He himself has stated that he has left the criminal environment and believes that the weapons were instead intended to be used in the production of music videos.

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"You change the barrel in them. When they are unchanged, they fire sharp cartridges with a bullet."

says forensic scientist Sonny Björk.

Photo: SVT