In 2022, the number of shootings in Sweden reached 391, the highest observed in the period between 2017 and 2023. In 2023, the number fell slightly. Moreover, 53 of the 363 shootings that year were fatal, nine fewer than the previous year.

Rising gang-related violence

Sweden has experienced a rising number of shooting episodes related to the country's criminal gangs in recent years. The violence has usually been concentrated to the larger cities Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö, but recently also smaller towns have experienced episodes of shooting and even bombings. Indeed, There has been a steady increase in homicides through shootings over the past decade.

Violent crime in Sweden

Overall, Sweden's total number of homicides increased from 2012 to 2014, but remained relatively stable since, reaching 116 in 2022. The country's crime rate reached 13,800 per 100,000 inhabitants that year.

Since 2012, the number of deaths caused through shootings in Sweden increased. In 2012, 17 fatal shootings were registered, whereas this number had increased to a record-high 63 in 2022. In a recent report, the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention found that Sweden was one of the European countries where the number of fatal shootings per 100,000 inhabitant had increased the most since 2000.

In 2020, Turkey imported the most firearms into the United States. In that year, they imported 1,490,251 firearms into the U.S. Austria, Brazil, Croatia, and Sweden rounded out the top five firearm importers.

Gun market in the U.S.

In 2020, over 6.83 million firearms were imported into the United States, the majority of which were handguns, followed closely by shotguns. While the number of imported firearms is significant, it pales in comparison to the number of firearms manufactured in the United States. This figure hovered about three million in 1986, and remained relatively steady until 2007, when it began increasing swiftly. The number of firearms manufactured in the U.S. hit a peak in 2016, with about 11.5 million, and in 2019 stood at around seven million.

Gun control laws in the U.S.

Due to the recent increase of mass shootings in the United States, there has been an increased push in Congress to pass stricter gun control laws. The United States faces a high amount of mass shootings each year and Democrats are calling for more background checks and mental health checks. However, the two party system in the U.S. has caused a huge divide on this issue, resulting in a lack of legislation being passed.