We’ve written before about Finland, a European nation with arguably better gun laws than the majority of the continent. Yes, it has a lot of registration and licensing requirements, but firearms appear to be generally accessible to most law-abiding citizens if they comply with government requirements, and there are fewer categorical bans on firearms than most other countries.
Suppressors are even generally accessible to the average gun owner without a separate license, as they are treated as firearm accessories, much like optics. As stated on the Police of Finland website:
“You don’t have to notify the police of having acquired a (suppressor) if you are (licensed) to possess a firearm.”
Finland also raised some objections, along with a handful of other European nations, when the European Union (EU) moved to impose new restrictions on firearm for those countries under its umbrella in 2017.
Last year we mentioned there seemed to be renewed interest among the nation’s citizens in firearms. With a growing desire for training, the government was looking at opening more than 300 new gun ranges.
Our previous coverage of the Finnish interest in firearms noted that it may have been at least partially driven by unease over its neighbor to the East, Russia. Perhaps that unease continues to lead to more changes withing the Nordic nation.
A recent news story from a Polish media outlet reports that the Finnish Defence Forces, which oversee the combined branches of Finland’s military, will allow members of its reserves to bring their personally-owned firearms when they report to serve.
The arms, of course, will be examined to determine their suitability in service, but the idea harkens back to our own nation’s founding. When soon-to-be Americans were called upon to fight for their own liberty from England, they were commonly expected to supply their own firearms.
The fact that many of our Founders rushed into battle and secured their (as well as our) freedom with the arms they personally furnished is also one of the primary reasons we have the Second Amendment. Protecting the right to own your own firearms is one of the lynchpins to ensuring our nation remains free.
As previously mentioned, while Finland does have far more restrictions and regulations on the lawful possession of firearms than we do here in America, the country is less restrictive than most of Europe—or the rest of the world, for that matter. This has led to one of the higher rates of firearm ownership for Finns when compared to other nations, with about one-in-three adults owning a gun.
Even the Finnish Ministry of the Interior notes, “Finland is a country of hunters and gun enthusiasts.” It is therefore likely that, if called up, many Finnish reservists will show up for their service with their own arms.
Although it is unfortunate that some of what seem to be positive firearm-related changes in what is often called The Land of a Thousand Lakes (actually, more than 187,000 lakes) may be due to anxiety over Russia, positive changes are still noteworthy. Perhaps Finnish authorities will take a page from American history, especially relative to our founding era and our respect to the individual right to arms, and make more positive changes.
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