- Swedish government proposes amnesty for hand grenades for 2018
- The three month amnesty would take place from October to January 2019
- Detonation of hand grenades in Sweden up from ten in 2015 to 27 in 2016
Sweden is planning on holding an an amnesty for grenades and explosives in 2018, according to a new government proposal.
The three month amnesty would take place from October 2018 to January 2019 and cover the entire country.
Official statistics show that the number of incidents of hand grenades detonating have nearly tripled, up from ten in 2015 to 27 in 2016, Swedish media reports.
Increasing: Hand grenade detonations in Sweden were up from ten in 2015 to 27 in 2016. Pictured are grenades from Bosnia that were confiscated on their way to Stockholm
In addition, the number of crimes involving hand grenades in some form is up from eight in 2014 to 52 in 2016, writes Dagens Nyheter.
The Swedish government has proposed the amnesty and Parliament is set to vote on the matter in February.
‘This[increase in use of hand grenades] is connected to criminal gangs who – in general – have an increased access to weapons which they use on each other and against the judicial system,’ Justice Minister Morgan Johansson told Dagens Nyheter.
‘We must get this off our streets.’
Amnesty: The Swedish government has proposed a three-month amnesty to take place from October 2018 to January 2019
The Swedish police has carried out weapon amnesties previously, in 1993, 2007 and 2013.
During the most recent one, police received more than 15,000 weapons and 36tons of ammunition, however this time it is specifically targeting hand grenades, Mr Johansson said.
‘This [grenades] is something we have no previous experience of. It is the first time’.