Finland's prime minister has called for gun laws to be tightened after a school shooting left 11 people dead.
A 22 year old student killed nine other students (8 women, 1 man) and a male teacher at a catering college in the western town of Kauhajoki, on Tuesday 23 September. He then shot himself. He was armed with a Walther .22 calibre semi-automatic pistol for which he had acquired a licence in August. Police had interviewed the gunman on 22 September because he posted threatening videos on YouTube. However, they decided not to remove his gun because he did not threaten a specifically named person.
This is the second school shooting in Finland in 10 months. Six students, a school principal and school nurse were shot dead in Jokela last November. The killer was 18 years old and also committed suicide.
Finland has the highest rate of gun deaths in the EU. The Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said Finland should consider banning private handguns.
Laura Lodenius at Peace Union of Finland said: "This week Finland unites to mourn these students alongside their families and those who survived this terrible tragedy. We remember too, the students of Jokela, whose own loss is so recent. Both tragedies show where our health and social systems have failed, but it is the easy availability of guns that caused the bloodshed. It is time for our gun laws to put public safety first."
Peace Union of Finland is a member of IANSA and is urging the Finnish government to strengthen the gun law in the following ways:
- Applicants for gun licenses should be required to prove they are fit for the responsibility of owning a lethal weapon, rather than simply not showing signs of being unfit. Police officers should be required to remove firearms from individuals when there is any doubt whatsoever of risking public safety.
- All applicants should undergo a medical / mental health assessment.
- Target shooters should be required to have the positive endorsement of their clubs before the license will be considered.
- Target shooters should store their weapons in highly secure storage at shooting clubs, not in the home.
- A cooling off period should be before the license is granted.
- Character references required from spouse, ex-spouse, family doctor/clergy etc supporting license application.
- Minimum age for gun possession should be at least 21, and 25 for handguns.
Rebecca Peters, director of IANSA said: "The scourge of school shootings is no longer confined to the United States. European governments must act now to protect our schoolchildren and students from these lethal weapons. Australia tightened its gun laws after Port Arthur, the UK banned handguns after Dunblane. If public safety had been put at the heart of Finnish guns laws after Jokela, then today’s terrible events may have been prevented. Our hearts go out to all those affected by this tragedy." |
