GUN LAWS -- FINLAND ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ To buy a firearm in Finland a person must state a reason why a firearm is needed, eg. hunting, sport shooting. This is a lot dependent on the place where one lives. Here in Helsinki area the officials are more strict than usually. For example they require adjustable sights, stating that if a gun has fixed sights it is not suitable for target shooting. After purchasing the gun one must take it to the officials to be inspected that it is the kind of gun they accept. In smaller towns there are usually no such requirements. This is not mentioned in the law, but it is merely the way things are. One can also get a secondary permit for a gun owned by somebody else (usually a close relative, father or brother). This requires a permission from the owner of the gun (naturally). Then there are some general limitations about guns. Hanguns must have at least 10cm barrel. Any handgun with a shorter barrel is considered a pocket gun and requires a special permit, which is given only if it is absolutely necessary in ones line of work. For example, if you are a security officer and have passed a special course given by the police. Also veterinarians (or persons authorized by them) can have a short barreled gun for killing sick cattle. Any shoulder weapons with a barrel shorter than 45cm are illegal. Any such weapons with over all length less than 86cm are also illegal. If the gun has a folding or removable stock the length is measured without it. Full automatic weapons are allowed only for serious collectors. These permits are issued by the provincial government, and are extremely hard to get. The amount of firearms one person can own is not limited. No permit for buying ammunition is required, only a valid gun license. A special permit is required if you want to buy gun powder for reloding. These permit are easy to get. In larger towns they usually limit the amount to 2kg at a time, but from some towns you can get as much as you want. Selling of reloaded ammunition is prohibited. Summa summarum: The regulations are not strict, but officials at different towns might be. PS: In Finland you can be registered to live in one town and be a temporary resident in the other. This is usually the case for must of the students at universities. In such cases one gets the gun permits from the registered home town. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Risto Alanko ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In Finland, the first stage is to apply a permit to buy a gun. The person intending to buy a gun has to state a purpose for the gun: 1. If you have a hunting license, it is enough to show that you need a shotgun or a rifle (elk hunting or bird hunting caliber) 2. If you are a member of a sport shooting club, you can get a statement that you are an active shooter (training for competitions, that is, because plinking or "fun" shooting is totally unknown to the police authorities). The gun you can buy, should be suitable for this kind of shooting. A shotgun, a .22 LR rifle (no semi-autos), a .22 pistol with long enough barrel, a .32 or 9 mm pistol with adjustable sights and suitable for competitions, or maybe a big-bore rifle for benchrest or 300 m matches. Club membership is a bit difficult to get in some cities, where shooting ranges are crowded, but not a real problem. If you own several guns, the buying permit is easier to get. 3. If you are a gun collector (the authorities will decide who is), you can own almost any gun (even full-auto) with a special permit from the District Government (I'm not sure about the translation, Finnish district is bigger than "county", it can include several towns and cities, about 10 districts for 4.8 million people). In Europe, this is something unique, I believe, private citizens owning machine guns in full working condition. Shooting with them is another matter, but in some cases, still possible. When you got the buying permit, you buy the gun, bot the buyer and seller get a copy of the permit and the buyer's copy is converted to "owner's permit", the seller uses his copy to cancel his "owner's permit". In all above cases, you have to prove that you are a sane, law-abiding citizen. Criminal record is a BIG minus, some mistakes showing irresponsible behavior like drunk driving and drunk arrests can get your all gun permits canceled, so you have to bring your guns to the police station for safe keeping and then arrange selling the guns. Also, especially for gun collectors, you have to have a safe place where to keep the guns. This can include a safe, an armored room, or an alarm system, the police will check the place. A new gun law is coming; (has been several years now) it will be more strict (thanks for nothing, Unified Europe) but gun collecting will be still possible, as will sport shooting and hunting.