Finland Unleashes Rabid Gun Control...

[KBintheSLC]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7643446.stm

Finland has introduced stricter rules on gun permits, following a school shooting in which 11 people died.

Handgun permits would no longer be granted to first-time applicants, the interior ministry said.

Instead, they must train for at least a year at a gun club before being allowed to apply for a permit.

All applicants must also provide a note from a doctor about their mental health and sit an interview with police. The new rules cover pistols and revolvers.

The new guidelines were issued to police on Monday.

The government also is planning to amend Finland's gun law - one of the most liberal in Europe - to enable police to perform more thorough background checks on applicants for gun permits.

Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen has said the country should consider banning private handguns.

The measures were prompted by last week's attack in a college in the western town of Kauhajoki.

Matti Juhani Saari, aged 22, shot nine fellow students and a teacher, before turning his gun on himself.

The murders took place less than a year after another school shooting in which nine people died, including the killer.

Finns have the third highest ratio of gun ownership in the world, after the US and Yemen, according to an international survey of small arms carried out in 2007.

Here we go again. One d-bag commits a crime, and all of the rest of us have to pay the consequences for it.

I think that next time a drunk driver kills a family, we should make it so that everyone has to get a doctors note saying that you are not an alcoholic to get a drivers license. Also, first time applicants can't get a real drivers license, they can only get a permit for a moped for the first year till they prove themselves to society.

Let me ask you this... besides being a pain in the arse for law abiding gun owners... Is it even remotely possible that any of these new rules would have stopped this guy?

 

[Hoplophile]

No, but the year of training may very well have helped him kill a few more people!

 

[poker88]

I think that next time a drunk driver kills a family, we should make it so that everyone has to get a doctors note saying that you are not an alcoholic to get a drivers license. Also, first time applicants can't get a real drivers license, they can only get a permit for a moped for the first year till they prove themselves to society.

I'm sure there are people that would consider this a genius plan. <g>

Is it even remotely possible that any of these new rules would have stopped this guy?

I don't remember all the details of this story. How long ago did he buy the gun? Was it more than a year ago? Was he a first time applicant?

 

[CountGlockula]

And I thought my state's laws were bad.

 

[KBintheSLC]

No, but the year of training may very well have helped him kill a few more people!

No kidding... I will laugh hard when that one comes back and bites them in the...

 

[Tyris]

Hopefully a nice black market starts to flourish.
Idiots dont understand that the more you restrict something the more desirable it becomes...

-T

 

[LAR-15]

At least they are not banning them completely like the rest of the EU wants them to.

Maybe some Finnish members can chime in on this

 

[Prince Yamato]

I'm shocked! A European country's response to this issue is... illogical gun control measures!

For once though, I'd like to see a bunch of gun-owning Europeans actually stand up to this garbage. Do it publicly, get it on the US news. I'd be shocked if you didn't get Americans backing you.

 

[DeathByCactus]

How sad. I think we should ban driver's licenses, too many people are killed by cars each year.

 

[snipe300]

These people aren't citizen's, they're subjects. THANK GOD I was born an American. And for all the foreign nationals who read this, we welcome you with open arms as long as you dont try to change us.

 

[Duke Junior]

The same unending kneejerk Socialist reaction.
Montreal,Canada 1989
Dunblane,Scotland 1996
Port Arthur,Tasmania 1996
Finland,2008
And so many more,France,Russia,Germany.
More gun control.Than even more deaths and mayhem.
Pete Seeger had that part right,"When will they ever learn?"
Never.

 

[Dain Bramage]

Oh, they learned alright. They learned to leverage tragedy into control.

 

[finlander]

I don't remember all the details of this story. How long ago did he buy the gun? Was it more than a year ago? Was he a first time applicant?

If memory serves me right Saari got the gun about one month before the incident. It was his first gun. He was questioned by the police about his shooting videos on youtube one day before, but apparently they found the videos not to contain material that could be used to cancel his gun license.

For once though, I'd like to see a bunch of gun-owning Europeans actually stand up to this garbage. Do it publicly, get it on the US news. I'd be shocked if you didn't get Americans backing you.

Well, the problem here is mostly that that the shooting community is quite divided. You see, most hunters are happy if they are told that they get to keep their side-by-side shotguns and bolt-action rifles and are willing to sacrifice pistols etc. for that. Many hunters are also eager to explain that the guns are nothing but tools for them, that they don't have any other interest in guns other than that the gun kills quickly and surely the game, if you get my drift.

Traditional target shooters also pretty much disdain any other pistols than those used in olympic shooting sports.

And it's not only gun laws here, as the there has been debate about strictening the monitoring of the internet. Also national police chief said in news today that limiting the privacy of individuals should be considered "for the safety of the people"

 

[Telesway]

Here's one Finn now 100% set on moving to the US IMMEDIATELY after my wife graduates from uni (a few years still). Pardon my French but to hell with this country and to hell with its sheeple! I have lost all trust and all respect for the government and law enforcement of Finland and will not ever step foot on its soil again once I leave.

Sorry for the rant, I'm just a bit annoyed right now.

 

[eflatminor]

What are you guys so worried about?! I mean, it's not like European leaders in the past have done bad things to their own people after disarming them. Oh, wait...nevermind.

 

[Trisha]

What is the email for the Prime Minister? Not that one note could make any constructive difference, but to me, it's something that is the right thing to do.

 

[Art Eatman]

Sorta drifted off into ranting and emoting about philosophy and polyticks...