Licensed Gun Owner Murders 10 People

**Autobeat** · September 24th, 2008 10:18 AM

Gunman Kills 10 in Finnish school shooting
Reuters - 9/23/08

KAUHAJOKI, Finland - A student gunman shot and killed 10 people at a vocational school in western Finland on Tuesday before turning the gun on himself, in the country's second such attack in less than a year.

The gunman, 22-year old student Matti Saari, died later of a head wound in Tampere University Hospital, the hospital's medical director told Reuters.

In an echo of last year's deadly attack at Finland's Jokela high school, Saari posted menacing comments and videos of himself wielding a gun on the Internet in the run-up to his shooting rampage, prompting police to question him on Monday.

"A cold-blooded shooter entered the building with an automatic pistol and started cutting down students," said Jukka Forsberg, a maintenance man at the school in the town of Kauhajoki where the shooting occurred.

"He also shot towards me, did not say anything and once the bullets started to whizz by I started running for my life."

Many of the students at the post-secondary school, which teaches catering and tourism studies, are around 20 years old.

Police interviewed Saari regarding the shooting video a day before the massacre, Interior Minister Anne Holmlund told a news conference. They were alerted to footage posted on the Web showing him firing a handgun at a shooting range.

"Police action will be examined in more detail later. The gunman had a temporary permit for a .22 caliber pistol, and he had received it in August 2008. It was his first gun," she said.

Gun ownership in Finland is among the highest in the world, but crime rates in general are low.

Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said Finland should consider banning private handguns altogether, saying a new stricter European-wide gun law was not enough.

"It is not enough to talk about age limits or interviews ... after two such tragic incidents, we have to discuss whether private people can be allowed to have handguns," Vanhanen told Finnish broadcaster MTV3.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/world/09/...chool-shooting

Saw this in the news this morning. What bothered me the most here was that the shooter was actually licensed!

I don't know the details of previous school shootings, but I assumed they were parent's guns taken by their kids to school, or just unregistered/unlicensed firearms. I may be wrong. But in this case it was a licensed gun and the actual licensed gun owner doing the shooting!

Wala bang liability yung bumigay sa shooter ng permit or clearance to own a gun?

**paolorenzo** · September 24th, 2008 10:30 AM

Sad nga. Saw this on CNN yesterday. Eto pa facts on Finland...

Finland enjoys a strong tradition of hunting and has a high proportion of gun ownership, with 2 million firearms owned in a nation of 5 million people.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/eu...ing/index.html

Maybe they should tighten up on gun ownership.

**Altis6453** · September 24th, 2008 10:44 AM

Whether or not the shooter was licensed to own a gun doesn't add or subtract from the gravity of his crime.

Its the fact that he used a gun on unarmed and defenseless persons which aggravates it.

**Autobeat** · September 24th, 2008 11:26 AM

Originally Posted by paolorenzo

Sad nga. Saw this on CNN yesterday.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/eu...ing/index.html

Maybe they should tighten up on gun ownership.

Thanks for the link, paolorenzo. Yes, something very wrong happened in their gun permit issuance system.

The question rin is how well is the gun permit issuance system in the Philippines naman?

Sa mga nagbibigay ng permit, or nagbebenta ng baril, huwag ninyo naman bigyan ng baril ang mga ganitong tao:

Pics of alleged shooter's youtube videos of himself as reported by CNN.

**Memphis Raines** · September 24th, 2008 11:54 AM

Licensed nga

Licensed To Kill

.

**xer** · September 24th, 2008 02:58 PM

from altis6453 "Whether or not the shooter was licensed to own a gun doesn't add or subtract from the gravity of his crime.

Its the fact that he used a gun on unarmed and defenseless persons which aggravates it."

what would be the issue in here.... the person's shooting rampage, the person having a licensed gun in rampage, acquisition of a licensed gun ???

i hope this thread wouldn't be a progun vs gunless or gunless society vs progun advocates. Peace mga sirs

**Altis6453** · September 24th, 2008 03:36 PM

Originally Posted by xer

what would be the issue in here.... the person's shooting rampage, the person having a licensed gun in rampage, acquisition of a licensed gun ???

i hope this thread wouldn't be a progun vs gunless or gunless society vs progun advocates. Peace mga sirs

From a legal standpoint, the weapon used in killing was a gun. It doesn't matter if the shooter was licensed or not as it generally doesn't serve to modify the circumstances as to the commission of the crime unlike, for example, treachery, use of superior force, committed at nighttime, or under the influence of drugs/alcohol.

The fact that he was licensed only serves to prove that he owned a registered a firearm. As far as prosecutors or lawyers know, the probative value remains just that.

**victorlachica** · September 25th, 2008 03:04 PM

[SIZE=3]Strict firearms regulations must be implemented here in the Philippines.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]This is to prevent gun related incidents.[/SIZE]

**victorlachica** · September 25th, 2008 03:12 PM

[SIZE=3]Strict firearms regulations shall be implemented in our country.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]This is to prevent similar incidents.[/SIZE]

**Altis6453** · September 25th, 2008 04:29 PM

^I haven't heard of students going postal in the Philippines yet and its highly unlikely that something similar will occur here. What's more likely as far as gun-related incidents are concerned are those which arise from petty traffic altercations.

Strict firearms regulations = less gun-related crime? I highly doubt it. If anything, ít'll just be criminals with access to guns rather than law-abiding citizens.