Friday, November 16, 2007

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/16/opinion/edpeters.php

The horror that struck Finland last week was inconceivable, incomprehensible, unbearable. The massacre of children, at school, by their classmate - no one can make sense of such a calamity.

Yet as commentators were quick to point out, the scenario at Jokela High School was grimly familiar. A teenage boy, filled with existential angst and rage, buys a gun, takes it to school and opens fire, killing several people before taking his own life.

Prior to the murders, he broadcasts his adolescent delusions on YouTube, posing for the camera with his gun. He refers to himself as a "natural selector" who "will eliminate all who I see unfit, disgraces of human race and failures of natural selection."

We have seen this pattern before, most notably at Virginia Tech and at Columbine High School.

There is a further similarity between the tragedy at Jokela and the other mass shootings that have rocked industrialized societies over the past decade. Along with shock and sorrow, these incidents provoke public outrage and astonishment at the easy availability of deadly weapons.

Pekka-Eric Auvinen qualified for a handgun license simply by joining a shooting club. The process was about as arduous as joining a gym - no vetting, no probationary period, just one visit to pay the joining fee. The membership enabled him to obtain a license from the police. No psychological test or medical reference was required, and Auvinen chose not to reveal that he had been prescribed anti-depressants.

Once he bought a pistol, Auvinen was not required to keep it at the club, nor even to attend target practice. Nor was there any obstacle to his buying 500 rounds of ammunition.

Like the killers at Virginia Tech, at Gutenberg High School in Erfurt, Germany or Dunblane Primary School in Scotland, Auvinen equipped himself for his rampage with the approval of the state.

Each country must decide what policies are appropriate for its situation, but it can be helpful to consider the international experience.

In Britain, the Dunblane massacre in 1996 was legally comparable to last week's tragedy in Finland. In the aftermath, questions were raised about school security, mental health services and the diligence of police in screening gun license applicants. But the most obvious policy defect revealed by the tragedy was the fact that handguns were allowed in private ownership at all.

Two characteristics distinguish handguns from other firearms commonly owned by civilians: a) handguns are designed for killing human beings, not animals; b) handguns are concealable in a pocket, enabling the armed person to avoid detection.

Before Dunblane, most Britons never imagined that thousands of ordinary households contained handguns. After Dunblane, the British government sought to bring reality into line with perception by banning handgun ownership. Existing owners were compensated and the weapons destroyed. Britons continue to own firearms for hunting and target shooting, but they are rifles or shotguns - not handguns.

In subsequent years, gun crime rates have fluctuated, but they remain low in comparison with other developed countries. Meanwhile, gun homicide rates in Finland are seven times higher than in Britain and three times higher than the West European average.

Germany, Austria, Belgium and some other countries have also responded to shooting tragedies by strengthening their gun license requirements with measures such as psychological testing, references, training, waiting periods, probationary membership of hunting associations and higher age limits.

Finland has announced it will raise the minimum age for gun possession from 15 to 18. This is a good start, though increasingly countries are following Germany and Austria in setting the minimum age at 21.

Finland has in the past resisted pressure for stronger gun laws on the grounds that hunting is a traditional part of its national culture. Hunting is a tradition of many nations, in Europe and elsewhere, but the prevention of violent death and injury is also a tradition worth fostering.

Rebecca Peters is director of the International Action Network on Small Arms. (Emphasis added)

Our comment: This statement is generally made to rally support from the civilian rifle and shotgun fraternity for more control/prohibition of civilian handgun ownership.