Norway to Ban ‘Most’ Semiauto Hunting Rifles, Including the Mini 14

Norway to Ban 'Most' Semiauto Hunting Rifles, Including the Mini 14

Norwegians will soon lose access to many commonly owned and popular rifles. (Photo: Youtube)

European sportsmen (and women!) enjoy a proud, centuries-old heritage of hunting and shooting, but their way of life has come under attack in recent decades by anti-gun lobbyists gradually restricting the types of guns available for use.

The latest example comes from Norway, where the parliament recently decided to ban most kinds of semi-automatic hunting rifles, according to online Swedish magazine Jakt & Jägare. While the list of banned firearms has yet to be released, Jakt & Jägare report that the new law goes farther than the European Union’s new arms directive, which still allows the possession of AR- and AK-patterned rifles as long as shooters use magazines of 10 rounds or less.

Ruger’s Mini 14 is almost certainly on the chopping block, and Norwegian hunters will have three years to either sell or dispose of their now-illegal firearms. Selling a firearm to a buyer in a foreign country can be expensive and time-consuming, so many gun owners will likely be forced to simply destroy their rifles.

Norway’s Hunters and Fisheries Federation (NJFF) criticized the legislation and promised to work to provide better options for gun owners.

SEE ALSO: Norway Makes Strong Case for Disarming Police

“NJFF believes it is unacceptable with a retroactive ban on hunting weapons that have been in legal use for many decades. The fact that the owners are not given opportunity to get any sort of compensation does not make the case better. We will work hard to get compensation,” said the federal hunting consultant Vidar Nilsen in a statement from NJFF.

The law also includes a breadcrumb for Norwegian hunters, allowing them to own eight hunting weapons in their “wardrobe” instead of the previous six.

“It is a clear light point that the parliament listened to the hunters as to how many hunting weapons may be needed by hunters,” Vidar Nilsen said.

Norway’s focus on the Mini 14 is likely part of a larger response to a 2011 mass murder that left 77 people dead. The attacker bombed a government building then showed up at a youth summer camp two hours later, where he killed 68 people with a Mini 14.

Norway already had strict gun laws even before parliament decided to ban most semi-automatic rifles. A license is required to own a gun and owners must explain why they want to purchase one. Carrying a firearm for self-defense is strictly forbidden, as owners must transport firearms unloaded, off the body, concealed from view, and under constant supervision.

***Shop for a new Ruger Mini 14 on GunsAmerica***

About the author: has been reviewing firearm-related products for over six years and enjoying them for much longer. With family in Canada, he’s seen first hand how quickly the right to self-defense can be stripped from law-abiding citizens. He escaped that statist paradise at a young age, married a sixth-generation Texan, and currently lives in Tyler. Got a hot tip? Send him an email at [email protected].

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  • bill mitchell February 28, 2019, 3:32 pm

    Mosques in Norway are to be exempt from most of these new rules.

  • Sergio Valença March 26, 2018, 9:17 am

    I believe that U.S. never will change the Constituion because it was made according to a heritarage of people who wants to bear and carry weapons forfan and self defense. N.R.A. is a solid institution and always will defende the second ament!I would appreciatte to have this mentality here in Brasil.

  • Mike S March 23, 2018, 6:00 pm

    I don’t give two flips for Norway. Ruger has all but banned the Mini-14 on it’s own. I bought a Target Mini-14, 2 years ago. It has been an ongoing mission to get it to fire 100 rounds without having to go into the range bag to find a tool to remedy the fault. It’s hard to find a dealer in my large, metro area, in a very gun friendly state that regularly has more than 1 in stock. Furthermore, new minis’ retail for about $1000. The same for a mid price AR. I know, I just bout one. I fired 60 rounds and shredded a 3″ center target, using iron sights at 50 yards. Nothing to brag about, except 4 range visits with the mini and 200 rounds, with nothing to show for it. Zero problems with the AR.

    Am I getting rid of the Mini 14? Nope. Ruger stopped making the Target model. So, I now have a 10 pound collectible.

  • Awesome Bill from Dawsonville March 23, 2018, 12:08 pm

    Confiscation without compensation? If liberal democrats have their way, it won’t be long before Americans are in the same situation.

    • MadDogMike March 23, 2018, 6:02 pm

      Then why aren’t we doing something about it in this country? Why aren’t the Norwegians doing anything? These politicians who know zip about guns simply just can’t do this and take our guns. Time for talk is over. They need to know there are consequences to their idiotic actions.

      • Hugo Oviedo March 27, 2018, 1:50 pm

        As a former U.S Navy I believe that every citizen whether here in the U.S or anywhere else you have the right as a human to first to protect yourself and family as a sport or mean to provide food for you and your family. No politician can’t take that away from YOU…….

  • Winston March 23, 2018, 10:02 am

    It was the Norwegian Right wing that brought about the semi-auto ban and 3-year grace period to turn them in or export them. In return, Norwegians may own 2 additional bolt action rifles or shotguns taking the total longuns allowed an individual to own by law from 6 to 8. Sort of like the Reagan machine gun bam of 1985 wherein the importation of foreign-made semi-autos was allowed for a decade and a half, but legal Class 2 conversions were banned for the US public.

  • lilbear68 March 23, 2018, 9:33 am

    once the jihadis arrive en mass like in Sweden they will have plenty of time to regret this

  • joefoam March 23, 2018, 8:58 am

    Obviously the Norwegians are not students of history. The generation that fought in WWII is now long gone and so are the lessons learned.

    • Winston March 23, 2018, 9:57 am

      They are infected by the post WWII US-UK-FRA Neo-liberalism they fought exactly for. How can you not see that?

  • mike chizmar March 23, 2018, 7:56 am

    The most surprising thing about this article is that anyone that uses a mini 14 is that they hit what they aim at.

  • Brown American March 23, 2018, 6:19 am

    Apparently, Norwegian men turned into Girly men…so goes too for the Swedes, Danes, Germans, French, Belgians, Dutch….Polish, Hungarian, Czech and Slovaks, and Slavs still wear pants….As for the rest, well, they are not putting up a fight like the Polish men are doing. They are armed to the teeth, civilians, and practicing for war….Regrettably, Sven is now wearing laced panties.

  • Richard Lutz March 22, 2018, 1:20 am

    Surely the are also going to ban vehicles with military type features that facilitate mass murder like high speed (over 10 MPH) and automatic transmissions. Better safe than sorry.

  • Bobs yer uncle March 20, 2018, 2:31 pm

    They didn’t learn. no guns= no resistance, really sad, you need to cheer up and watch the movie Team America.

    • Winstn March 23, 2018, 9:53 am

      Team America? LOL. Zio-Hollywood’s Diversity propaganda nonsense.

  • The Destroyer March 20, 2018, 5:27 am

    Don’t worry, the same thing is happening here in the US. F*ck the Constitution and the rights of millions of law abiding gun owners, let’s make some Lefties “feel a little safer” while, in actuality, making everyone less safe! Great job, Norway! But don’t worry, the US will join you soon!

    • Keith March 21, 2018, 12:13 pm

      I think the United States will be ripped apart before gun confiscations happen in many States. You will see guns taken from peaceful citizens in New York, California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland and other States that are destroying the Constitution. But to see firearms taken from peaceful citizens in Arizona, Texas, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Montana and many other States is doubtful. The United States will likely be broken a part into several nations in the future.

      • Winston March 23, 2018, 9:55 am

        The US government has been destroying the Constitution for over 150 years. Breaking up the ‘united States’ as it used to be known as priot to 1865 is long overdue.

        • ejharb March 25, 2018, 8:07 pm

          Don’t disagree but the prospect of a disunited states is scary to a historian.how do you think a usa and csa would’ve fared in a ww1 situation? A ww2 situation? Do you think we could’ve stopped the Soviet union? But I agree with you we will divide perhaps in the next 2-5 years. Or one of the 2 sides will kill the other side.

  • Jim Hovater March 19, 2018, 8:07 pm

    Norway’s citizens learned NOTHING from WWII. If they think freely giving up such arms will somehow make their country safer, then they deserve NEITHER freedom nor safety.

    • nathan monroe March 21, 2018, 2:51 pm

      AMEN!!!!!!!!

  • Blue Dog March 19, 2018, 6:39 pm

    Why would it matter if Norway’s new restrictions are stricter than those in the European Union? Norway is not a member of the EU even though it is a modern progressive nation in most other respects and frequently named among the happiest and best places to live by international organizations. Who are we to get in the way of that and make demands as to how they run their own country? Let Askeladden do his own thing east of the sun and west of the moon, we have enough problems over here that we need to worry about.

    • Mike V March 19, 2018, 8:42 pm

      We can’t know what goes on elsewhere?
      Besides, the article isn’t a call to action to prevent the Norwegians from emasculating themselves.

      You must be covered head to toe with bruises from falling all over yourself to congratulate the latest group to volunteer their freedoms to the government.

      Sad.

    • LarWest March 23, 2018, 6:55 am

      We care what’s happening in Norway because what happens there *does* affect us here. If nothing else, it emboldens anti-gun folks here to think it’s OK to limit or confiscate firearms, “because it’s happening everywhere else in the world“.

      Never mind that our mothers all taught us not to go jump off of a “just because everyone else is doing it”.

      Naturally, we are, and should be, MORE concerned about events here in the U.S.

    • Luke March 23, 2018, 7:50 am

      Jim – You quoted something that indicate, “. . .(Norway) is frequently named among the happiest and best places to live by international organizations.” Do you have any idea which ‘international organizations’ reported that and which criteria they used (if any)?

      There’s so much propaganda in this world right now about EVERYTHING, I’m trying to condition myself to not believe ANY news written by ANYONE. It is all suspect now.

  • greenthing March 19, 2018, 3:51 pm

    The Muslim onslaught will be very very very happy.This ensures the fall of Christian Norway and the enslavement of future Norwegians.The Globalist have suceeded now the people must rise up and hang their leaders or …they are doomed.

  • Zhang March 19, 2018, 3:33 pm

    So much for Bill Ruger’s “little rifle” being ban-proof!

  • Mike V March 19, 2018, 2:04 pm

    How many crimes committed in Norway using such weapons since they were introduced?
    I’m sure Norwegians wake up every day trembling with fear knowing behind every bush is a maniac with a Mini 14.
    This was the only solution to this apparently overwhelming problem?
    Typical.

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