shooting in a finnish school

I'm upset at the US media for not covering this story. If this incident had occuried in the US the media would be all over it. Only a casual mention of this story.

Forgive me for this statement but if 7 Finnish women with blonde hair and big breast had been murdered the US media would be all over that story.

Well latest news is that the shooter died in the hospital late last evning. And from the victims, there are two adults (the headmaster and the school nurse, both women) and six pupils.

Of the gun laws, they are strickt by the means that if you want to get permission to even buy a .22LR pistol, you need to be part of some offical shootin club and have that shooting clubs recomentation to show to the police...When I bougth my first small-bore rifle, I went trough this procedure and I was 16 or something.
Thats why Im upsetted, how any shooting club would take such openly nazi-sympatised and disturped lad into its ranks

I personally dont expect the gun-laws to stricten, Atleast nothing that sort of hasent floaded around...yet. But more importantly, everyone, even the rigth-wing govrnement seems to by unanimous about how screwed up our menthal healt care of kids are. This have been regocnized by some for quite long, ever since the early 90's depression cribelled our welfare state. The number of child and youth psychologies have been decreasing and most of the schools have canceled so called Tutors that formely used to be some sort of normal life mentalhealt workers to help the kids in the school life.


To popeye of the media coverage, I recall that our news mentioned how the incident was reported by CNN as well as BBC. In hear we seem to have this never ending fetis to be noticed by the big world.

Sorry to hear about it, Golle. My thoughts are also with the victims and their families.

Gollevainen said:

Thats why Im upsetted, how any shooting club would take such openly nazi-sympatised and disturped lad into its ranks

Click to expand...

I think it's tough for a shooting club to try to screen for that sort of thing. What did the letter of recommendation that you got actually say? Are they vouching for your mental health, or just the fact that you know how to handle a gun safely?

Well things vary in each shooting club. For example in my local club, if a young person joins in he definetly wont be given green light to go and purchase a real fire-arm. First he is teached to shoot with airpistols (or rifle, depends your taste) and only then when he is fully comitted to sports-shooting, then the club may give the green light for changing to .22lr calibres. In that time the teachers and coatches in the shooting club can pretty well see wheter a person is there really for the sport and competition or justg wanting to shoot something/one.

What strickes me in this particular incidence is that he joined the shootingclub only in last october and was given the permission to carry the pistol at same month!! That shouldn't be even possiple and doesen't speak well about the shooting clubs actions...

But althoug I support the current gunlaw system here in finland and strongly recomend it to others, in this case the blame really shouldn't be given to the gun nor their availability. The real proplem was somewhere else. People like this fellow would have done it anyway by other means if he wasen't able to get a gun in his hand.

But althoug I support the current gunlaw system here in finland and strongly recomend it to others, in this case the blame really shouldn't be given to the gun nor their availability. The real proplem was somewhere else. People like this fellow would have done it anyway by other means if he wasen't able to get a gun in his hand.

Click to expand...

Exactly. This sort of demented person was hell bent on doing his evil deed no matter what. He would have eventually found some means to do his horrible act.

My condolences go out to those who lost loved ones

Its now revealed that this guy wasen't a member in any official sports-shooting club (under SAL=Finnish shooting sports federation jurisdiction), but in some private shooting range in Helsinki which is mented for people just comming there to shoot without any sport or competition meaning. In 1999 at this very same "Helsinki Shooting Club", a disturbed woman shot 3 mens at the target range. AFAIK everyone can join these type of clubs and there is no pedagocical function nor supervision as in the type of shooting clubs where I'm in...

Also the pistol Sig Sauer Mosquito wasen't even fit for sports shooting, most likely wouldn't pass the ISSF rules for competition pistol.

Golly:

I almost hate to bring this up, but have you seen this outrageous article in the Times?:



I found it quite offensive.

I'm not Finnish, but I live in Helsinki, so I know a bit about Finland. This article completely misrepresents life here.

... Ami.

Well thats mostly amusing article, nothing more...Makes me wonder wheter such is appropriate in times like these.
The gloomyness and and darkness are charectaristic to us, but not by any means in such way how the article presents them. If we would believe that sort of logic, these kind of things would happen all the time. But it doesen't.

Some old police used to say that fins only kill people that they love, And that is more common to finnish violence. We get drunk and start making trouple with people around us, then someone pulls knife and...

But this event has been so shocking mainly becouse its so unnatural, uncommon and unfinish episode. There the article goes wrong. Guess one needs to be a fin to really understand the meaning of our gloom

Gollevainen said:

Well thats mostly amusing article, nothing more...Makes me wonder wheter such is appropriate in times like these.
The gloomyness and and darkness are charectaristic to us, but not by any means in such way how the article presents them. If we would believe that sort of logic, these kind of things would happen all the time. But it doesen't.

Some old police used to say that fins only kill people that they love, And that is more common to finnish violence. We get drunk and start making trouple with people around us, then someone pulls knife and...

But this event has been so shocking mainly becouse its so unnatural, uncommon and unfinish episode. There the article goes wrong. Guess one needs to be a fin to really understand the meaning of our gloom

Click to expand...

This is indeed very, well, I'll use the word foreign, to describe what happened at that school, since it is so out of place in Finland. Finns may well tend (compared to non-Finns at least) towards reserve, even shyness, but once familiarity is strongly established, that may depart, while the "melancholia", so to speak, remains.

On a rather lighter note (but not to make light of the shootings), there are some jokes about Finns at dances (or at least the abundance of wallflowers and the almost painful process of getting some Finns to dance).