Around 400,000 firearm permits have been issued in Finland over the past five years. Last year, fewer than 70, 000 were granted to applicants.
At the same time, police took in some 6,500 firearms that were either voluntarily turned in or confiscated. These included shotguns, handguns and gas weapons.
Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen wants to see even tougher policies and even more weapons collected by the authorities.
A few revisions to weapons laws are being proposed. The single most important change by the working group which has been reviewing the issue is a reform of the national firearms registry.
"Despite proposals for even tighter controls, the group believes that there was no basis for banning some models of handguns," says National Police Chief Pentti Saira.
Furthermore, the working group saw no reason for a review of current firearms permits, at least not right now.
