Only a few shooting ranges available for Helsinki´s thousands of handguns

Helsinki residents own 22,000 pistols or revolvers

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Residents of Helsinki own about 22,000 handguns. However, police say that there are only five indoor shooting ranges available for the use of the public, and there are no outdoor ranges.
     One of the few shooting ranges that exist is in the Maunula bomb shelter.
     On Friday evening, three shooting hobbyists were taking part in target practice there. One of them was Erkki Böök, who fired a .22 calibre pistol at a target 50 metres away.
     “The most important is the aim and the hold. When they are just right, you hit the target.”
     
Böök has been a target shooter for five years at the range provided by the City of Helsinki, and at another one at the Santahamina military garrison. He has never set foot in shooting ranges run by private clubs.
     “There are people there who like to shoot with large-calibre weapons. It is adventure tourism of sorts.”
      Pekka Lindfors, chairman of the pistol club of the Finnish Hunting Association, says that because of the lack of firing ranges, Helsinki residents probably have “many” guns that are not actually in use. In his view, many have kept their guns even though they have given up the shooting hobby.
     Residents of Helsinki, Espoo, and Vantaa own a total of nearly 39,000 legal handguns
     
Police have no way of knowing how many unused guns there are, and what is being done with them.
     “It is difficult to establish comprehensive supervision. All holders of gun permits could be sent a letter, asking for a clarification of how much they use the weapon”, says Jouni Laiho of the Lotteries and Firearms Unit of the Ministry of the Interior.
      “This would be quite a hassle in practice. And on the other hand, what would we do with that information? Everyone would probably say that they use the weapon actively.”
     Laiho would like for gun owners in the Helsinki region to have better facilities for target practice.
     “It is not a good situation from the point of view of the hobby that we do not have enough firing ranges in the most densely populated area on the country.”
     Having a shooting hobby is one of the most important reasons that police grant gun licences.
     
Handguns have sparked intense debate recently, in wake of the school killings in Jokela and Kauhajoki.
     A petition calling for the banning of handguns got 57,000 signatures. Two of the signatories, former Minister of Defence Elisabeth Rehn, and former Prime Minister Harri Holkeri, were present when the petition was submitted to the Ministry of the Interior.
     Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) hinted at a possible ban on private ownership of handguns soon after the Kauhajoki killings.
     Holkeri himself surrendered his own pistol to the police on Thursday, saying that he did not need it.
     
Police in Helsinki do not see any problems with the present number of guns.
      Sakari Harju, head of the licence unit, says that most of the handgun permits granted to Helsinki residents are for gun collectors or for people who have inherited the weapon. “One collector can have hundreds of pistols.”
     Police say that 35,000 people or organisations in Helsinki own weapons.
     If all types of firearms are counted, Helsinki residents have more than 76,000 licenced weapons, which is more than residents of Espoo and Vantaa combined. Espoo residents have 10,000 guns, and Vantaa residents have 6,500.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Online petition calls for ban on possession of handguns (1.10.2008)
  A farewell to small arms? (30.9.2008)
  Government wants to restrict access to handguns (25.9.2008)
  Elisabeth Rehn and Harri Holkeri support ban on private ownership of handguns (17.10.2008)
  Police confiscate more than 10 guns in crackdown (9.10.2008)
  Prime Minister open to ban on private possession of handguns (24.9.2008)

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