The Police Authority decided to revoke a person’s weapons license on the grounds that he was unsuitable to possess firearms. The Police Authority concluded that AA was an active member of the Nordic Resistance Movement, a far-right, extremist, militant, Nazi organisation which has a violent image. According to the Authority, several of its members have been found guilty and suspected of serious and ideologically motivated violent crimes. The organisation asserts the right to self-defence and, within the organisation, there is a fascination with firearms. In such an environment, in the Police Authority’s opinion, it cannot be ruled out that AA’s weapons could be used in criminal contexts.
A license to possess firearms must be revoked if, inter alia, the license holder is unsuitable to possess firearms.
The Supreme Administrative Court considered that the freedom of expression, the freedom to demonstrate and the freedom of association entail a right without intervention or reprisals to express opinions, participate in demonstrations and be a member of organisations. A weapons license may thus not be revoked solely based on a person’s opinions or membership in a political organisation or participation in meetings and manifestations arranged by the organisation.
In order for a person to have been shown to be unsuitable to possess weapons, it is required that they do not meet the requirements of compliance with the law, judgment and reliability that should be imposed on a person in possession of firearms. Since it has not been alleged that the person in question has committed a crime or that there is a risk that he will personally misuse his weapon and since no specific circumstances have been put forward to suggest that his engagement in the organisation entails a risk that he would lose control of his weapons, the conditions for revoking his license to possess firearms were not present.
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