It´s very common for criminals in the Malmö/Helsinborg/Landskrona area to drive out to a deserted beach in the middle of the night, to testfire their illicitly owned weapons. That would account for the majority of the pistol caliber casings you find.

That being said, in the Malmö area, there are several legitimate shooting ranges bordering the beaches, both south and north of the city. Some of them are used by licensed target shooters, using the same calibers you´ve found. But I doubt that could explain the casings found on the beach itself, close to the water.

BTW, handgun ownership is NOT totally forbidden for civilians in Sweden, contrary to popular belief. But they are strictly regulated and licensed, even more so than the usual hunting rifles and shotguns. Actually, Sweden has a very high rate of gun ownership per capita, among the highest in the world. But this has more to do with the popularity of hunting and target shooting, more or less a national pasttime.

But as someone pointed out, criminals, by definition, doesn´t care about laws. And it´s a given that they have more or less free access to illegal firearms, no matter how strict gun laws are applied to the law abiding citizens of the country they operate in. Just as true, the Swedish Police, as a whole, are really not that good at their job, hunting down more or less organised or hardened criminals. Mostly due to the fact that their hands are tied by an unusually naive and ineffective legal/court system.

When i first landed at Arlanda i was as usual wary about passing through customs.Not because i had anything to hide,just you always get that “oh God they’re gonna pull me in i just know it” kinda mentality,lol.
Maybe i’m getting bad eyesight in my old age? But i was at the taxi rank outside lighting a smoke and STILL wondering where customs was! Girlfriend said we passed it but buggered if i saw anything.
Last year i drove back to the UK to collect all my wordly goods and bring them back to Sweden.Hired a large van,drove from my house to the ferry,got off the ferry in Denmark and drove across,crossed Oresund bridge and into Malmo…and home to Båstad.In all that time i saw 3 customs officers,none of which even looked in my direction with van piled high with boxes etc!
If i’d known i could have brought in weapons and bazooka’s and all kindsa shit and become quite rich!!
I jest..but these eastern europeans do anything but jest,and they HAVE the weapons,capabilities and mentality to do it.
Getting illegal weapons seems to be little harder than finding a drug dealer.If you know the right (or wrong) people..et voila!

It’s all a shocking state of affairs in a country where i feel safe walking around for the first time in 35 years!

I know i’m late with this,but hope you’re both managing to cope,and arn’t too bitter with things.Life’s too short and hope you’re both over it and well.
Oh..tell him not to mention the plate in his head at airport security checks…will drive them wild when he’s naked and the detector’s still beeping! lol. ;)