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Minister of the Interior Anne Holmlund: Proposal to tighten Finland’s gun law to Parliament next spring

24.09.2008

The Finnish Ministry of the Interior has today on Wednesday, 24 September, launched measures to tighten the licence procedure for handguns, i.e. firearms such as pistols and revolvers. The law drafting project already underway will be implemented in two stages. According to Minister of the Interior Anne Holmlund, the proposal for urgent amendments to Finland’s gun law will be submitted to Parliament next spring. 

Urgent amendments concern the licence procedure for handguns and the procedure for monitoring the storage of firearms. More attention must also be paid to the state of health of applicants for firearm licences. Information on the state of health should be more widely available to persons processing licence applications.

According to Ms Holmlund, the police aim to prevent these kinds of crimes from happening. The licence procedure for firearms is one of the key preventive measures. Over the past year, steps have been taken to harmonise the licence administration procedures of the police. New instructions were issued in October 2007, and since then, all personnel dealing with firearm issues at local police departments have been trained. During the training, particular emphasis is placed on the importance of applicants’ suitability to posses a firearm and the interviewing of applicants.  Ms Holmlund considers that in future particular attention must be paid to the control of Internet use.

In Ms Holmlund’s view, it is important that the licence procedure in Kauhajoki will be investigated by a prosecutor. Only this way can we ascertain whether the instructions and regulations have been followed and whether the police have had information on such matters in the light of which the licence should not have been granted in the first place or the validity period should not have been extended.

According to Ms Holmlund, the police are responsible for a total of 20 measures contained in the Internal Security Programme. To further the implementation of the Programme, efforts will be taken to investigate trends in youth violence. “I have asked the Supreme Police Command to send an enquiry to local police departments to find out, for example, whether young people carry edged weapons more frequently than before,” says Ms Holmlund.

In January, the Supreme Police Command launched, together with other authorities, a training project called “Safety and preparations for crisis situations in schools and educational institutions”.  The Supreme Police Command has also asked local police departments to review their security plans together with municipalities.

For further information, please contact Mr Sami Paatero, Special Adviser +358 9 160 44633..