[url]http://guns.connect.fi/rs/Reflex.html[/url]

Markku´s shop is located about 2.5 miles from our shop in the center of town. He´s a good friend of ours, matter a fact, you can see my other boss in many of the pictures on that site.

I was curious, Tukka, what are the firearms laws in Finland.  It sounds pretty liberated.

Supressors all over the place?  That's my idea of "sensible gun control."

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"Post it like you stole the laptop."

Well, i´ll try to keep this short.

There is no 2nd amendment kind of right to bear arms.

For each weapon you must be able to show a valid reason for owning it, the main reasons are 1. Hunting 2. Sporting use(from clay shooting to IPSC and Reserve 3 gun matches)3. Collecting.

The purchase of a weapons goes like:

1. You figure out what kind of weapon you are looking, and depending on the purpose of it, the difficulty in obtaining the purchase permit varies
 - For hunting, the nation wide hunting licence will normally suffice
 - For target shooting, the .22 weapons are fairly easy to accuire, for larger pistols and semi auto rifles, you have basically two reasons, IPSC and 3 gun match use, but if you have gone thru the IPSC basic course and do shoot somewhat actively, you will get the permit.
 - For collecting, the permit situation is changing, you used to apply the status as a collector from the state officials, but there is a change going which will centralize the application handling to one place.

Now, you have the purchase permit in hand(costs roughly $14 for normal weapons, around $40 for collecting weapons)

You find the weapon you like, the dealer fills the permit, you go withing 30 days to show that the serial numbers are okay and the weapon matches the permit. Now you have the purchase permit until a plastic permit card arrives within 3-4 weeks, you just stop by the station to exchange the temporary permit for the plastic card.

It is fairly simple when in use and the Finns are accustomed to it.

Best thing is, the prices for Class3 equivalent weapons are microscopic compared to US prices..oh..no $200 tax, fingerprint checks and months of waiting on the suppressors either [:D]

Tukka, I've seen your posts and your pics.. Damn you I say, damn you lucky guy. Arrgggh !

Hey Tuukka.....

Sako makes great rifles from what I've heard. What do you know about this one? Looks really nice.
[img]practical.hypermart.net/rk95-223.gif[/img]
SAKO M92S / RK95 YLEISTIEDOT

If you want to move there then you better break out the winter coats and the night vision scopes. How many hours a day is it dark in winter ?

Yup, I'm ready to move.

Does this mean once you receive the permit, you can buy the guns with no waiting period?

[b]"Yup, I'm ready to move."[/b]

So, you wouldn't have any problem living in a country that (1.) requires you to demonstrate a "valid reason" for owning a gun, and (2.) doesn't consider "protection against tyranny" to be one of these valid reasons?

I mean no offense to Tuukka or any other good Finns, but it sounds like Finnish gun laws are no more "enlightened" than our own.

M4, that is a Sako M92S semi auto rifle, that particular one in the picture is one of only a few pieces made in .223. The RK95(full auto version with folding stock) was supposed to replace the older Rk62 rifles in the Finnish Armed Forces, but the Army bought huge amounts of Chinese and East Germany for war time stocks.

So, Sako was very disappointed about this, so they probably made the civilian runs of the rifle to cover costs i think. Few rifles slipped to civilian markets with folding stocks and atleast one RK95 rifle is in civilian hands.

FI, yes, when you have the permit, it´s valid for  6 months so you don´t have to rush the purchase(valid for 12 months on collector weapons)

Protection from tyranny, WTF, im fortunate enough to live in a nation where the citizens don´t have to fear the government and if tyranny appears, most likely from abroad, the government calls the reserve forces to service and hands me a Rk62 assault rifle.

Our crime rate on weapons related offences is low, perhaps because you need a REASON to own one, we have over 2 million guns here, only a handful of crimes are committed with legal guns each year.

I have debated this thing numerous times before and the cultural differences are very different between the US and Finland.

Ask Tuukka about the racial makeup of the population in Finland - there's a large part of the "cultural differences" he speaks of.  I prefer having "protection against tyranny" a valid reason to own a weapon too.  But - I would also enjoy living in a country with a handful of gun related crimes per year.  Ours is a very "open" society - you take the good with the bad.

Tate

Terve TUUKA, kiitos for the restating of the
Finnish gun-laws. I should be over in Salo and
Helsinki after the first of the year.....I get
to drink cider in Helsinki again....yeah!!
And the cultural differences have been a topic of discussion many times...And to everyone else,
read up on how the Finns handled Russsians and Germans and you would be proud to live in Finland.....

Some random points on Finland:

I was in Finland for a business trip. It was September and it was already cold there! I was in Tampere, the city was quite nice, and I noticed that virtually EVERYONE had cell phones. Most people there spoke english fine, but if you want to go there be prepared to learn Finnish and freeze your ass off. I also saw a lot of Russian influence, (e.x. some of the churches), and I think only one SUV while I was there. Lots of diesel engines. No right on red, like in all of Europe AFAIK. If you have dietary restrictions the restaurants are so much better there, since they list if the food has wheat, milk, etc. right on the menu at many of them. I remember this because I have to avoid wheat. The food was great too (company paid, so you're damn right I had the most expensive thing on the menu, from ostrich to reindeer!)

Robby

Thanks for the nice feedback guys [:)]

I've been there once myself while visiting Norway.  I thought it was quite nice.  The cold and such didn't bother me as I live in Alaska.  Anyway, can attest to it being a very nice country.  Sure would be nice to buy my C3 items a bit cheaper :)

I would fear any government that asks for reasons to own personal property.

Sorry, guys, I think I'll stay in the United States.  I guess I have a little more love for this country and its freedoms than some.

It would be ill-considered to move so far away from Mexican food.

That is also a very valid argument.

"And to everyone else,
read up on how the Finns handled Russsians and Germans and you would be proud to live in Finland..."

correct me if i'm wrong, but didn't the germans and finns fight side by side in the continuation war?

although the finnish democratic tradition refuted both communist and national socialist politics, by and large, technically, the allies were at war with finland.