Acquisition of firearms strictly controlled in Finland
Possession of firearms is subject to authorisation in Finland. The conditions for possessing firearms are specified in the Firearms Act, and their acquisition is strictly controlled. The police grant permits only after careful consideration. The police establish, for example, whether the person is suitable to possess a firearm and whether the firearm is suitable for the purpose given by the applicant. Applicants must prove that they will acquire a firearm for an approved purpose specified in the Firearms Act, such as target shooting or practice.
Applications for firearm permits must always be submitted to a police station in person. The police assess the applicant’s personal characteristics by interviewing him or her. In addition, the police assess the applicant’s suitability to possess a firearm, his or her way of life, behaviour and possible mental health problems.
The Ministry of the Interior issued the police with new instructions on granting firearm permits in October 2007. These instructions help the police to apply uniform rules across Finland when issuing permits. Furthermore, the instructions aim to prevent both the misuse of firearms and firearms offences already when the application is under consideration. In future, the conditions for granting or revoking permits are examined even more carefully when applications are considered.
Under the Firearms Act, a possession permit can be granted if there is an acceptable reason for granting the permit, and if there is no reason to suspect misuse of the permit or the objects acquired or possessed under it. Decisions on permits are always made on a case-by-case basis. The police grant about 80,000 firearm permits every year.
A large number of hunting weapons in Finland
There are about 1.6 million registered weapons in Finland. The register of weapons includes the firearms in the possession of private persons, associations and foundations. There are about 650,000 firearm permit holders in Finland – in other words, about 12 per cent of the Finns have a firearm. About 60 per cent of the possession permits are granted for hunting - that is, there are a large number of hunting weapons in Finland. In Finland, it is not possible to obtain a possession permit for a firearm in order to protect oneself.
Further information on the procedure for firearm permits can be found at www.police.fi
For further information, please contact Mr Jouni Laiho, Director of the Lottery and Firearms Unit, tel. +358 9 160 42849.