Finnish Gun Ownership Third Highest

[Ikutiera]

The Small Arms Survey 2007 by the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies says that there are 56 guns for every 100 residents in the country.

On a per-capita basis, the United States has the world's most heavily armed citizenry, with 90 guns per 100 people, followed by Yemen with 61 per 100 people, and then Finland.

The study says that civilians hold around 650 million handguns worldwide, 40 percent of them in the United States.

Other countries with high per capita levels of private firearms are Switzerland (46), Iraq (39), Canada (31), Sweden (31) and Germany (30).

Yle News

Small Arms Survey - Home

[Gavril]

I thought you were more into knives.
What is the explanation behind it anyway? The term handguns doesn't include hunting weapons, I suppose.

[Savorgnan]

Originally Posted by Ljubomir

I thought you were more into knives.

And on javelins!

[Hweinlant]

I have quite a few guns. Most are for hunting ( 2 shotguns and 1 rifle) and few for hobby shooting (handguns). Hunting is sort of national passtime so that explaines the number of guns in Finland.

[Exeter]

It's interesting to note a high per capita ownership of firearms in for instance Switzerland doesn't lead to a lot of violent crime whereas it does in USA. I remember Michael Moore made the same point in his documentary "Bowling for Columbine".

[Savorgnan]

Originally Posted by Exeter

It's interesting to note a high per capita ownership of firearms in for instance Switzerland doesn't lead to a lot of violent crime whereas it does in USA. I remember Michael Moore made the same point in his documentary "Bowling for Columbine".

Absolutely.It's the classical US "fear intoxication". Just listen to any news program on any US channel and you will get this: "Everything on earth is dangerous". When a fear-intoxicated (and on prozac) has a gun in hand, guess what happens?

[Carnyx]

Originally Posted by Exeter

It's interesting to note a high per capita ownership of firearms in for instance Switzerland doesn't lead to a lot of violent crime whereas it does in USA. I remember Michael Moore made the same point in his documentary "Bowling for Columbine".

That's the society and the people which are wrong in the USA, not the firearms.

The Finnish society is certainly less violent, and counts far less retards and degenerates than does America.

[Erik P]

In Sweden you almost never see guns, even if the ownership per capita might be high. It's because of the hunting rifles -- locked up, in parts, in safes during most of the year.

Also, we have a tradition of shooting ranges & clubs, but I don't think that's as common today.