On 23 September 2008, a student entered the local polytechnic in Kauhajoki, Finland and shot nine students, a teacher and himself using a .22 calibre semi-automatic pistol. An investigation commission of eight members was appointed to look into the incident. The commission’s report is now public.
In Finland, we have this thing called kukkahattutäti
From a penal perspective, the participation of two organizations that were represented on the commission, namely the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare and the Finnish Youth Research Society, appears somewhat far-fetched. Unfortunately, such a line-up seems to be a recipe for puritanism and cheap populism.
The commission issues a pot-shot recommendation that firearms capable of firing multiple shots in a short time should be outlawed and that only guns “that do not allow the easy infliction of such carnage” should be available for hobby purposes. In addition, the commission recommends that a licensing policy even stricter than the present one should be implemented for all firearms.
A dissenting opinion was recorded: commission member, Inspector Pekka Aho, representing the police, notes that the recommendation is unconstitutional and would mean the end of many sports (including several Olympic ones), but would not have any effect on illegal guns. Inspector Aho refers to FBI research according to which the availability of firearms does not increase the risk of school shootings. Sadly, facts and expertise were again outweighed by political motives.
The entire report is available, in Finnish, at http://www.om.fi/Satellite?blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobcol=urldata&blobkey=id&blobheadervalue1=inline; filename=OMSO 11_2010 Selvitys_180 s.pdf&SSURIsscontext=Satellite Server&blobwhere=1266333385256 or, in short, http://bit.ly/9hJMlF.
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