Finland proposes new gun laws after Kauhajoki massacre

30/09/2008

The Finnish government has unveiled new guidelines on handgun licensing, a week after a gunman killed ten people in the country's second major school shooting in less than a year.

Authorities are proposing that anyone applying for a licence supplies a mental health certificate, while licences will only be issued after a year's worth of supervised shooting at a range.

The country's interior ministry has already admitted that some handguns may be banned altogether.

Last Monday 22-year-old Matti Saari entered his vocational college in Kauhajoki armed with a handgun, western Finland, killing ten people before setting off several petrol bombs and shooting himself in the head.

Saari, who later died in hospital, had posted videos on the YouTube website showing him practicing at a shooting range.

In one video he fires several bullets just below the camera with the words "you will die next".

But police who questioned Saari over the videos a day before he launched his massacre opted not to arrest him or seize his weapon.

Finland has the highest gun ownership rates in the EU, but historically has a low rate of fatal shooting incidents.

The Kauhajoki shootings come less than a year after Pekka-Eric Auvinen killed eight people at his school in Jokela, prompting the government to consider a review of its gun laws.

On Monday the chief investigating officer into the Kauhajoki case, Jari Neulaniemi, revealed that some of Saari's victims had been shot up to 20 times from close range in the head and chest.

He added that it was unclear whether his victims had been alive when he set off petrol bombs which partially destroyed several classrooms.