UPDATE: Five people are now reported dead.

Multiple news sources are reporting that someone drove a truck into a crowded shopping center in Drottinggatan, a downtown shopping district in Stockholm, Sweden this morning. The Guardian reports that police are treating the attack as an act of terrorism, and are warning people to avoid the area. Swedish news organizations are reporting that shots were fired at the scene, and that at least three people have been reported as dead.

Video (such as the above) have been posted on social media showing scenes of the attack.

Sweden has been in the news lately because of repeated incidents involving terrorism and violence in its communities of immigrants, many of whom are from majority-Muslim countries. In February, President Trump caused a flap when he referenced such ongoing problems in Sweden.

The use of automobiles and trucks has become a popular tactic for terrorists attempting to inflict large civilian casualties, with the attacker typically jumping out of the vehicle afterward and attacking bystanders with a knife, gun, or other weapon. This will have been the seventh such attack in a major western country in the past year, the others being:

Antwerp, Belgium on March 23, 2017;
London, England on March 22, 2017;
Jerusalem, Israel, on January 8, 2017;
Berlin, Germany, on December 19, 2016;
Columbus, Ohio, on November 28, 2016; and
Nice, France, on July 14, 2016.

Drawing on his experiences serving as a soldier in Afghanistan, Jon Wayne Taylor talked about how to stop these kinds of attacks back in December. His advice?

Shoot the driver. Keep shooting the driver. When the vehicle is at rest, keep on shooting the driver until the driver is also at rest.

The Scandinavian nation has severe legislative restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms some of which would likely be deemed unconstitutional under the American Bill of Rights. Civilians are generally barred from bearing arms without specific approval from the government, and citizens must obtain a license from the police just to own firearms in the first place.

According to the Wikipedia, there is apparently a provision for carrying a concealed handgun for personal protection, but this can only be obtained after a proven and “real” threat to one’s life. Does this qualify?

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56 COMMENTS

  2. “Civilians are generally barred from bearing arms without specific approval from the government, and citizens must obtain a license from the police just to own firearms in the first place.”

    What better place to commit mayhem?

  3. Barley a peep about Sweden from the lamestream. Why not a “guns of Syria” post? If someone wants to run you over with a truck and is WILLING to die there isn’t a helluva’ lot you can do…

  4. when will Swedish government finally have an open conversation and pass common sense truck control laws!!!!!!

    • The EU will come to their senses when they pass simple common-sense safety legislation denying truck driver licensees to the followers of the Prophet.

      The streets will run with blood before *that* happens….

  5. The white people of Sweden are suicidal. They are follow in the thinking of the three L’s. Libertarians, Liberals and the Left who say there should be no national borders. Murders have every right to travel where ever they wish to go. The swedes think they will be less racist if they allow dark skinned rapist and killers into their country.

    For those that don’t know Sweden has had a small but peaceful dark skinned immigrant population going back at least 40 years. Now for whatever reason they think like libertarians, and anyone can now come to their country without any screening.
    Don’t believe me? Just go ask Gary Johnson and William Weld. They don’t support the second amendment either. But they do support legal marijuana intoxication.

    • They now have a growing violent brown population that they keep segregated in ghettos. Not for racist reasons, but because that’s where the poor live. When you are on Swedish welfare, you are the poor.

      They are getting restless…

    • Chris, neither Johnson or Weld were “libertarians” of any kind. They are, along with far too many others, politicians and have no goal but to control the lives and property of others. It matters not how benevolently they might wish to do so, but the bottom line is control.

      I am not a “Libertarian” either. I am a self owner, self responsible. I will gladly live in peace with anyone who does not aggress – in any way – against me or others. I will never aggress against anyone. But I will gladly fight to the death to defend myself or others – and so will most libertarians.

      • Mama Liberty
        I believe are are some libertarians who really do support liberty and truly don’t want government interference in everyone’s life. But you have to believe only a population or individual who supports liberty should be allowed to come to the USA.
        I watched the Libertarian Party convention on Fox News last year. They took their “masks” off. They are as anti-liberty as the democrats and the republicans they complain about. They remind me of the Pot Heads in California I grew up around. And you do see what is going on in California run by democrats?

        The republicans aren’t perfect. No party is. But at least on a state level, most republicans support the second amendment. As long as I have my guns, I can deal with the rest of the crap created by all parties. If the libertarians would come out in support of ending the welfare state, I would consider them. But they like giving pot to welfare recipients. That does not help people on welfare.

        • Chris, EVERY politician – and all those who support them, and accept that they have any legitimate authority – are simply playing musical chairs for the power and perks of controlling the lives and property of everyone else. The republicans are absolutely no different than the “Libertarian party” or the democrats. They just express their lust for power in different words at times… and sometimes use the same words!

          I am NOT a libertarian of any sort, and I don’t want them in power any more than any of the rest of the beasts. I am a self owner, self responsible, and unwilling to aggress against anyone, or to live off the goods stolen from anyone else, for any reason.

          As for letting anyone into the country – or not… if you are non-aggressive, that’s not even a question. If we mind our own business, and defend ourselves against those who do not, we will manage far better than allowing the non-voluntary government to decide who comes or goes.

      • “But I will gladly fight to the death to defend myself or others – and so will most libertarians”

        Mama Liberty
        They are famous for saying “we want to put things into our bodies.” They will smoke pot or shoot up heroin or they will put a strap on dildo into their bodies like the women of UT Austin. That is all they care about. Libertarians will never fight for liberty. If libertarians had a soul they sold it. They sold it for the power of popularity. Intoxication and pleasuring themselves are more important than firearms.

        You did not address my main point. The Support of open borders even to the point of allowing mass numbers of rapists and killers into a country. A people who have no history or understanding of liberty. This is why I say libertarians are suicidal globalists, “citizens of the world.” Libertarians support nation building. They just want to bring these backward societies here.

    • …Wait minute, that’s not fair to the Libertarian party…When they put (D-
      or just plain crazy.) Johnson and (RINO) Weld on their presidential ticket…It wasn’t their fault! Everyone was up in NH having a “Free-stater” meet and greet….And everyone got really stoned smoking all that “Purple Nurple.” Once the election was done, and they realized they made a mistake…To much weed, and bitcoins!

    • According to the Texas Rangers (or rather, a study commissioned by the Texas DPS on behalf of the Rangers,) .357 Sig is the caliber of choice for hitting a target on the other side of auto glass (or a car door.) 10mm and any FMJ in a magnum revolver cartridge are also good choices. .40 and .45 are viable choices but not ideal (i.e. they’ll typically carry lethal energy through the glass, but may divert upon passing through it.)

      • Fiochhi .357 Mag 142 FMJ Truncated Nose bullets just keep on going; and from a rifle so much more.

        • One of my four personal ‘ perfect calibers ‘ . ……………… and oh so sweet from a carbine , Rossi or Henry Big Boy with the 16 inch barrel and I wouldn’t even want to be a charging Bull Moose .

      • Mercury,

        .40 and .45 are viable choices but not ideal (i.e. they’ll typically carry lethal energy through the glass, but may divert upon passing through it.)

        I have seen super slow-motion video of .40 S&W 180 grain and .45 ACP 230 grain bullets hitting windshields at oblique angles and they seem to carry on through in a straight line.

        As far as I can tell, it is all about bullet mass. A given windshield presents a fixed amount of force to deflect a bullet regardless of bullet caliber/weight. Remember that acceleration (to deflect the bullet’s path) == force / mass. Because the force of the windshield to deflect bullets is basically a constant (doesn’t really change very much regardless of a bullet’s diameter, mass, or velocity), the more mass a bullet has, the less it deflects.

        Comparing .40 S&W 180 grain bullets to typical 9mm 115 grain bullets, the .40 S&W bullets have 56% more mass — which means .40 S&W will deflect substantially less than 9mm. Of course typical .45 ACP 230 grain bullets have twice the mass of 9mm 115 grain bullets which means .45 ACP deflects even less.

        Now, all this could go right out the window if the amount of force that a windshield presents to deflect a bullet is a function of impact velocity. And someone could claim that a really fast moving bullet hits the target before the acceleration (from oblique impact) has enough time to deflect the bullet very much. In the end, the proof is in the pudding. And the super slow motion video of .40 S&W 180 grain and .45 ACP 230 grain bullets shows them going straight through a windshield without any noticeable deflection … whereas a 9mm 115 grain bullet deflection was obvious.

  8. Ban Assault Trucks. But wait, how can it be an assault truck if it’s one of those Trucks of Peace?

  9. When you willingly invite vast hordes of undesirables into your country, what do you expect to happen???????????????

  11. This is FALSE NEWS!

    In a loving, accepting, multicultural, socialist paradise like Sweden this could not possibly happen.

    It must have been an OFWG, bitterly clinging to his guns and god in Missouri or some such redneck backwoods.

    Notice: Coming to a shopping mall near you !!!

  12. Just another reason to be thankful for the 2nd amendment folks , I’d much rather have to deal with a black rifle or a nut with a gun spraying 60 to 150 grain projectiles at me than one who is attempting to run me over with a 3,500 pound projectile commonly referred to as a vehicle . Good to be an American .

  13. A bit more Thor and a lot less Moohamad would be good for Sweden. Or buy a pair Gustavus.

    • Listen, man…Muslims practice a religion of pieces…I mean peace, rainbows and butterflies, ok? That terrorist is just as likely to be Muslim as he is to be Christian or Jewish. Just because Muslims carry out the vast majority of these attacks, to the tacit consent of fellow Muslims, does NOT mean there’s anything wrong with their ideology. And anybody who disagrees will be no doubt lectured, sternly, by resident apologist JWT. Go ahead JWT, tell him how wrong he is!

      • When you’ve lost every argument you’ve ever had with me, I guess you just have to make things up I’ve never said and then argue with yourself. Keep swinging, keep missing. You make me look smart.

        • Talking about your fantasy land again, eh? I’m sure you win all arguments there, and silly things like facts and stats don’t get in your way. Too bad that’s not how it works in the real world, where so many Muslims pose a real threat and it’s only a matter of time before we have to deal with their terrorist acts here. Just like it’s currently happening in Sweden (and Germany, and France, and Belgium, and the UK), it will happen here. But please, keep pretending there’s nothing going on, nothing to see here, everything’s fine. Stay delusional, bud.

    • Someday, when you get a chance, you really should look up the definition of the word “fascist.”

      Maybe it’s just another pejorative word to you, like “racist” – a name you call people when you don’t have facts to counter their arguments. But to the rest of us it has a definition and you look like a moron when you use it.

    • I love it when you post links because it’s obvious that you don’t actually read them. Using the data you provided, we can see that Sweden’s rape rate is more than twice America’s. Proving once again that if you’re anti-gun you’re pro-rape. But maybe that’s the way you like it.

  15. Frankly, I couldn’t care less about Sweden. The blue-eyed fools invited the terrorists in and will pay a heavy price for it. That’s on them.

    Hey, Sweden — please die quietly so you don’t disturb your neighbors.

    • The EU seems to be doing fine without armed lunatics wondering the streets.

      Easier to run away from a psycho with a knife, baseball bat or a moving vehicle than a nut-bar with a firearm.

      This will not change the minds of swede’s concerning weapons laws like it does with the British.

      This is a rare attack that does not compare to what happens here everyday.

      • Really? Doesn’t happen here everyday, or even every year. You apparently have made your area into a violent shithole, perhaps you should examine a mirror when looking for the guilty party.

      • This blog seems to be doing fine without paid liberals trolling the comment section.

        Easier to run away from a psycho with a knife, baseball bat or a moving vehicle than an astroturfer with a keyboard.

        You will not change the minds of Americans concerning weapons laws like we do to soft-headed liberals.

        This is a rare trolling that does not compare to what you post here everyday

      • “Easier to run away from a psycho with a knife, baseball bat or a moving vehicle than a nut-bar with a firearm”

        Tyrants use guns against those that only have baseball bats, knives and vehicles.
        Go read the 2nd Amendment again but this time read it in the context that it was intended. Not just defense of life, defense of freedom.

      • You seem to like running away from evil. I guess the five dead just didn’t run fast enough. Not everyone is great runner such as you, and trying to run when surrounded by crowd is exercise in futility.

  16. All these truck attacks are just copying the Akihabara massacre. They could at least try to be a little more original.

  17. We’re constantly told that if we were just nicer to Muslims, they’d be nicer to us. Sweden has bent over backwards catering to Muslim’s every needed and this is their thanks.

    Rather than learning from Sweden, the rest of the western world charges on forward. “It’ll be different with us”, says a bunch of countries who already have had their own Muslim attacks.

  18. When will these Amish people stop with their mindless violence?

    Oh, it was Muslims? Nevermind. Move along. Nothing to see here.

  19. Let’s grant that there is no suite of really great solutions. Knives; guns; vehicles; bombs. Best we can do is armor-up against the vulnerabilities with the most potential for headlines.

    I wonder if we ought to start placing Jersey barriers on sidewalks where there are usually lots of pedestrians; or, at prominent places (e.g., Westminster) even though there might normally be few pedestrians. The cost would be defrayed – to some extent – by the benefit of protecting pedestrians from ordinary accidents. It should deflect terrorists to secondary and tertiary targets that remain unprotected. Fewer victims; less newsworthy.

    I am not particularly concerned with the benefit minus cost estimate based on current rates of incidence. I’m far more concerned with the potential vulnerability should the jihadis ramp-up. Should we be ahead-of-/behind- the “curve”?

    If it’s not happening to “me” I’m not going to worry about it; out-of-sight/out-of-mind. Maybe the cost of Jersey barriers would be justified by reminding the sheep that there really ARE wolves about. Maybe everyone should begin to think about their personal security.

  20. The cat’s out of the bag now, an 18 tonne truck can do a vast amount of damage and the scumbags have cottoned on.

  21. Isn’t it funny how the more armed Czech Republic doesn’t appear to have any terrorist attacks (explain that one TR, or doesn’t it fit your narrative?).

    And Australia has just had another IS inspired attack by radicalized teenagers. One dead and several injured in stabbing attacks. Ironically the one killed was a Pakistani national who worked at a service station (gas station to you yanks) and was probably a Muslim.

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