No Ban on Semiautomatic Weapons, Despite Recommendation

In 2008, ten lives were taken in a school shooting in Kauhajoki, western Finland. Officials established an investigation board to try to prevent a repeat of the tragedy.

Last February, the board proposed a total ban on semiautomatic weapons. It said this would be the most effective way to prevent mass murders. Finland has dealt with several shooting tragedies in recent years including school shootings in Kauhajoki and Jokela, southern Finland, and a mass murder at the Sello Shopping Centre in Espoo.

“Both of the school shootings and the killings at Sello were carried out with semiautomatic weapons. It is obvious that non-automatic firearms would not have had as deadly of an effect,” says Pekka Sauri of the Kauhajoki investigation board.

However, in preparing a new bill on guns, government decided not to call for a complete ban on any type of weapon.

The board then appealed to Interior Minister Anne Holmlund. It hoped that she would push their agenda forward. However, Holmlund says she doesn't believe banning a particular weapon will prevent mass murders.

Gun enthusiasts have strongly opposed a total ban on semiautomatic weapons. Holmlund insists that the gun lobby has not influenced her decision.

“That had nothing to do with it. We had decided early on that a complete ban was not the way to prevent mass murders,” says Holmlund.

Nonetheless, restrictions on guns are to be tightened. For example, the legal age to obtain a gun permit will rise from 18 to 20 years, and background checks will improve.

Parliament is to receive the first draft of the gun bill in the autumn.