Gun politics in Finland
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In Finland there are over two million licensed firearms (which is more per capita than in the US) and an estimated quarter of a million unlicensed firearms. According to the Finnish Ministry of the Interior, firearms are present in approximately one-quarter of Finnish homes, with most being long firearms (rifles and shotguns) licensed for hunting. Firearm statistics include signalling pistols, which are very common as boating and yachting are popular sports in the country.
The aim of the Finnish gun politics is on the other hand to reduce gun-related crime and felonies committed with a firearm and on the other hand to encourage and to enable the armed forces' reservists to own and to practise with their own rifles. Since the Finnish defence forces are based on conscription (and basically each and every able-bodied Finnish male is a soldier), maintaining and practising the reservists' shooting skills is a crucial question on the gun politics.The rule of thumb is that the longer (and less suitable for crime) the firearm is, the easier it is to gain a license for it.
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[edit] Civil reserve
Many active military reservists personally possess pistols, target rifles, shotguns and semi-automatic rifles for practice shooting. This has been passively supported by the government, as it gives the reservists the possibility of practice shooting without the requirement of government spending. Valmet has designed a single-shot hunting version of the standard Finnish Defence Forces assault rifle RK62, Valmet Petra for reservist and hunting use.
Their actual service weapons are stored by the Finnish Defence Forces, and are only given to them in reservist re-training exercises or during mobilization. At present, a strong political consensus exists that military weapons must not be stored by individuals, even if they are reservists in first-line, quick response units.
[edit] Regulation
The ownership and use of firearms is regulated by the Firearms Act of 1998.
Firearms can only be obtained with an acquisition license, which can be applied for at the local police for €32. A separate license is required for each individual firearm and family members can have parallel licenses to use the same firearm. According to law, the firearms must be stored in a locked space or otherwise locked, or with vital parts removed and separated. Even then the weapon or any of its separated parts must not be easily stolen. If an especially dangerous firearm or more than 5 pistols, revolvers or self-loading rifles or other-type firearms are being stored, they must be stored in a certified gun safe or in a secure space inspected and approved by the local police authority.
They may be carried only when they are transported from their place of storage to the place of use (shooting range, hunting area or such). Even then they must be concealed or kept in carrying pouches. Only security guards with special training and a permit are allowed to carry a gun in public places. The ownership of air-rifles is not regulated but carrying or firing them in public places is not permitted. A crossbow is parallelled to an air rifle in legal matters.
To obtain a firearms license, an individual must declare a valid reason to own a gun. Acceptable reasons include: hunting, sports or hobby, profession related, show or promotion or exhibition, collection or museum, souvenir, and signalling. Collectors can have licenses for firearms not permitted to be owned by non-collectors (e.g. pocket guns or select fire weapons). This is usually shown by a collectors long history of gun ownership, but ultimately the issuing of licenses is at the local police's discretion. Conversely, a license for a pistol or a rifle is relatively easy to obtain, requiring only an (often nominal) membership to a marksmanship association, although the police usually require that the first gun is suitable for a beginner.
Possession of destructive devices such as automatic weapons, rocket and grenade launchers, breech loading cannons, artillery rockets, or missile systems is generally not permitted. The Finnish Ministry of the Interior has discretion to license such devices to collectors or for motion picture production or exhibition use.
The firearms certificate may be cancelled if a person has committed a violent, gun-related, or drug-related crime or has broken certificate rules. Physical and mental problems or reckless behavior are solid grounds for canceling the certificate.
Possessing a firearm without a license is a punishable offence. Unlicensed firearms may be confiscated by the police without punishment, provided this happens under the individual's own initiative. Firearms surrendered in this manner are auctioned to the public or destroyed.
Gun laws were last changed in 1998. At that time flare guns became subject to licensing, and some types of ammunition were specified especially dangerous. Such ammunition requires a separate license. The difficulty of obtaining such a license is dependent upon the nature of the ammunition. For example, it might be relatively easy to obtain hollow-point ammunition for marksmanship practice but a license for live artillery grenades is effectively impossible to obtain.
[edit] Firearms categories
Shotguns are defined as firearms that are shoulder-fired, have a total length of at least 840 mm and a barrel of at least 400 mm, with either a smoothbore or rifled barrels and that use shotgun shells.
Rifles are defined as firearms that are shoulder-fired, have a total length of at least 840 mm and a barrel of at least 400 mm, with rifled barrels and that use rimfire or centerfire cartridges.
Smallbore rifles (Finnish: pienoiskivääri) are defined as rifles that use rimfire cartridges of .22 caliber diameter.
Pistols are firearms with a total length of less than 840 mm and a barrel length of less than 400 mm, that use center- or rimfire cartridges.
Smallbore pistols (Finnish: pienoispistooli) are pistols that fire rimfire cartridges of .22 caliber diameter.
Revolvers are firearms with a total length of less than 840 mm and a barrel length of less than 400 mm, that use center- or rimfire cartridges loaded in a spinning cylinder.
Smallbore revolvers (Finnish: pienoisrevolveri) are revolvers that fire rimfire cartridges of .22 caliber diameter.
Combination weapons are shoulder-fired, have a total length of at least 840 mm and a barrel of at least 400 mm, with multiple barrels and that use both rifle cartridges and shotgun shells.
Gas guns are defined as firearms that use gas cartridges and that can't use any other type of cartridge.
Signal pistols are defined as firearms, that use a signaling cartridge and cannot use any other kind of cartridge.
Blackpowder weapons are defined simply as weapons that are designed and manufactured to be used only with black powder.
Other-type weapons are firearms that due to function, measurements or other qualities are distinct from firearms in the other categories.
Pocket weapons are revolvers or smallbore revolvers that fit within a rectangle with the dimensions of 140 x 190 mm, or any other firearm that fits into a 130 x 180 mm rectangle, with the standard sight and without magazine or any removable parts that increase its dimensions.
[edit] Action categories
Single shot: The firearm needs to be cycled and cocked by an external force and a new cartridge must be fed manually to the weapon after every shot.
Single shot with magazine: The firearm needs to be cycled and cocked by an external force and a new cartridge is taken directly from a magazine.
Self-loading single shot: The firearm loads and cocks itself by the use of the energy produced by the firing of the previous cartridge or a power source. One shot is fired with each pull of the trigger.
Automatic fire: The firearm loads and cocks itself by the use of the energy produced by the firing of the previous cartridge or some other power source. Multiple shots can be fired with one pull of the trigger.
[edit] Related objects
Sound suppressors, a firearm accessory strictly regulated in many other jurisdictions, are also available in Finland. Their use is not regulated. Their use can be considered to reduce the noise pollution that firearms otherwise produce. Noise pollution is to some extent a problem, since although most ranges are located in relatively remote locations, many ranges may be closed down if the noise becomes a problem for the nearest inhabitants. Suppressors also remove the need to use hearing protection while shooting. Silencers are not a major topic in Finnish gun control debates as they are almost never used in crimes.
Private ownership of tear gas or pepper spray is licensed for the purposes of personal protection, collection, training, or education. It must be noted, however that personal protection, education or training are not valid reasons to get a licence for a private person but apply only to security companies. Any usual need for professional use of guns should be covered with incapacitating agents, but for high risk facilities such as nuclear plants, security guards may get a firearm license.
Black powder firearms manufactured prior to 1890 are free to be possessed without regulation, but for firing them one must possess a firearms license.
[edit] Unregistered firearms
The total number of illegal firearms is impossible to know, according to some estimates, there may be as few as 50 000 or as many as 500 000. The majority of the unregistered firearms are personal war booty Soviet or German firearms dating to WWII.
Thanks to changes to the legislation, illegal firearms may now be handed over to the police without punishment for illegal possession of a firearm, provided that the owner of the firearm does it of his own initiative. The firearm is then stored while the owner applies for a permit. If he chooses not to, it will be auctioned, or destroyed if it is deemed dangerous to use due to its condition. Historically valuable weapons are sometimes handed over to museums. This practice is called "mercy year", as it originally started as a one-year experiment, which was very successful. Thousands of illegal firearms and several tons of explosives and ammunition are collected each year. Many, if not most of these items are old "souvenirs" dating back to World War II or even Finnish Civil War.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- (English)Finnish gunlaw
