Safeguarding the activities of shooting ranges

There is a risk that the number of shooting ranges in Finland will decrease significantly. The existing shooting ranges are in different parts of the country, and they are geographically dispersed.

Shooting ranges for civilian use are usually maintained by game management associations, hunting societies, private individuals or companies. In addition, the Defence Forces have shooting ranges for military use.

Civilian shooting ranges are often in common use and their users range from recreational shooters to public authorities. A sufficiently comprehensive network of shooting ranges is necessary for efficient training. Shooting ranges are safe training places for shooting sports athletes and recreational shooters.

At the moment there are about 670 civilian shooting ranges (i.e. shooting ranges that are not managed by the Defence Forces). The number of shooting ranges has been in sharp decline in recent decades. In comparison, there was an estimated 2,000–2,500 shooting ranges in the country in the 1990s. 

One thousand shooting ranges has been estimated as the minimum amount sufficient for safeguarding the needs of different user groups in a sustainable manner. There are earlier reviews of the situation of existing shooting ranges. For example, the Ministry of Defence drew up a government report on shooting ranges in 2022.

As a rule, shooting ranges must have an environmental permit because they have environmental impacts. The project will examine ways to streamline the environmental permit processes.

Operators need special expertise in environmental permits and sufficient financial resources for a successful application. The process typically takes a long time.

The Government Programme aims to safeguard the activities and number of shooting ranges across Finland. The project will examine regional needs during its work.

There must be enough authorised shooting ranges to ensure the safe handling of weapons. In addition, oversight is easier when most training takes places at shooting ranges.

The establishment and maintenance of a shooting range is subject to a permit. A key condition for a permit is that the operator ensures the safety of its shooting range. The National Police Board is the permit authority for shooting ranges.

The Act on Shooting Ranges promotes safe recreational shooting, the safety of shooting ranges and their immediate environment and the systematic development of regional networks of shooting ranges. It lays down provisions on the establishment, maintenance and oversight of shooting ranges and on the rights of shooting-range operators.