Norway plans to ban assault weapons starting in 2021: report

Norway’s government is planning to ban semi-automatic weapons in the next few years, a conservative lawmaker told AFP this week. 

Peter Frolich, a conservative member of the Norwegian parliament, said Tuesday that a majority of lawmakers support the proposed ban, which the minority right-wing government pitched last year.

“It has become clear that there is a parliamentary majority in favor of the government’s proposal,” Frolich said. “Semi-automatic weapons will therefore be banned in Norway.”

The ban would come into effect in 2021, 10 years after a right-wing extremist killed nearly 69 people in a mass shooting at a youth camp. The shooter, Anders Breivik, also killed eight people that same day by bombing a government building.

{mosads}Norway’s move forward with the ban comes amid refreshed gun control discussions in the U.S. following the Florida high school shooting.

Several Democratic lawmakers have called for a ban on assault-style weapons, and many have demanded raising the minimum purchasing age from 18 to 21, a measure for which President Trump expressed support.