Roger's Outdoor Notes

Information on Sweden Rules of gun ownership: Mr. Tom Heberlein, Professor Emeritus UW-Madison, Dept. of Community & Environmental Sociology spoke to our Outdoor Writers Assn. and spoke on “A Gun Owner’s Perspective: Hunters Should Show Bold Responsibility.”  It was a very interesting presentation about life in Sweden. The professor is retired from the UW-Madison staff, but still teaches in Sweden 6 months out of a year. When he moved to Sweden, he decided to take along all his guns from America because they have a great moose hunting season there.  Once he arrived in Sweden, he found out that he was not allowed to keep his guns in his house due to the laws of Sweden. Sweden’s laws state that firearms are not allowed in a person’s house. Unlike America, the citizens of Sweden have NO RIGHTS or PROTECTIONS like our 2nd Amendment in the Constitution. You do have a right to own a firearm, BUT, you first must have permission from the police, you can only own 6 firearms, they must be stored in a safe in a club or public storage area for firearms, meaning like a Police station or club.  Before you can get a firearm you must pass a test of how to use it and know all the laws that apply to owning a firearm, and pass a background check. In the case of the professor, he had to show he knew how to use the firearm safely, and had to be able to hit the bullseyes circle 3 out of 5 shots. Sweden claims you can own a firearm, but you do not have any firearm rights, unlike in America. If you so much as get stopped for a speeding ticket, the police have a right to pull your firearms right and they will come to take away your firearms. No giving the firearms to a family member or selling them. You also have to serve 2 years in the military and if for some reason you cannot serve, it puts you in a very serious position if you want to find a job with the government. As an example, say you want to work for the University of Sweden, the first thing you tell them is that you served in the military and the job is yours. Unlike America, if you were to tell the University of Wis. you served in the military, it’s likely that you will never be hired to work for them, and those are the words of the professor. So with all that said, I’m glad we live in a country where our gun rights are protected by the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution. We will lose those rights if the election this fall doesn’t change the parties in charge now. My opinion only. I think I still have a right to express my opinion, don’t I?