FINLAND: Finland is to toughen its gun laws following the high-school shooting

Record ID: 376623

  • Title: FINLAND: Finland is to toughen its gun laws following the high-school shooting
  • Date: 10th November 2007
  • Summary: (BN16) HELSINKI, FINLAND (NOVEMBER 9, 2007) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) FINNISH INTERIOR MINISTER ANNE HOLMLUND SAYING: "Finland has changed its position to the EU firearms directive and is willing to accept a Portuguese compromise." HOLMLUND'S NECK SCARF (SOUNDBITE) (English) FINNISH INTERIOR MINISTER ANNE HOLMLUND SAYING: "The permit to buy a gun will be raised from 15 to 18 years and young person from 15 to 18 could carry a gun only under parental guidance"
  • Embargoed: 25th November 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Finland
  • Country: Finland
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA51XO5DLDQT06LKRDP0RC6GRY5
  • Story Text: Finland decided on Friday (November 9) to toughen its gun policies after an 18-year-old killed six fellow students and two staff members with a handgun on Wednesday.
    It was the country's deadliest school shooting.
    Finland had resisted European Union plans to limit gun ownership to those 18 years or older across the continent, since Finns as young as 15 have had the right to own and use a gun alone.
    "Finland has changed its position to the EU (European Union) firearms directive," Finland's Minister of the Interior, Anne Holmlund, told Reuters in an interview.
    She said the permit to buy a gun would be raised to 18 years from 15 years and youths between 15 and 18 could only carry a gun with parental supervision.
    Last month, 18-year-old Pekka-Eric Auvinen, 18, obtained a licence for the .22 calibre handgun he used in Wednesday's massacre through a gun club. In Internet postings, he referred to the gun as "Catherine".
    Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said Finland's views on gun policy might change after the shooting at Jokela High School, but Holmlund denied the incident was behind the policy shift.
    "There is no direct link (to the school shooting). ... It is important that our new position is clear," Holmlund said.
    "We were the only EU member country that was willing to keep its regulations untouched and it was obvious we would be left alone."
    Helsinki gun dealer Petri Oinonen told Reuters he was not surprised by Wednesday's shooting.
    "It was only a question of when this is going to happen, not if it is going to happen," said Oinonen, a gun salesman at Suomi Ase Osakeyhtio.
    Finland has the world's third-highest instance of gun ownership per capita. Hunting is a widespread hobby, but deadly shootings are rare.
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