Work on drafting guidelines for health care professionals is still underway at the Ministry of the Interior. The Finnish Medical Association had hoped to see them issued in June, but the process was delayed by the extended talks on government formation.
Heikki Pärnänen, the director of policy affairs for the Association, says he hopes that the guidelines will be clear, precise and definitive.
"Naturally, it is difficult to evaluate if the individual in question could violate firearms laws. If we take as an example the tragedy in Norway, no one would have been able to report him in advance," points out Pärnänen.
Pärnänen says that he can envision three situations in which health care personnel should file a notice that a personal is not suitable to hold a firearms license.
The first is if a person displays violent behaviour, for example by threatening staff members. The conditions for the requirement to make a report would also be fulfilled if the individual has been the subject of a court-mandated psychiatric evaluation, or if he or she has undergone of an evaluation as a possible danger to self or others.
"It is important that the guidelines are precise so that the doctor doesn't need to file a notice just to be sure," says Pärnänen.
Firearms legislation now requires doctors to report anyone who in their opinion is not fit to own a gun, whether that person is already a license holder or not.