Three newspapers, Turun Sanomat, Kaleva and the Väli-Suomi group reported Saturday that the Interior Ministry now intends to present yet another bill for tighter restrictions on firearms, once Parliament has dealt with the draft legislation already scheduled for a vote.
According to the Ministry's Permanent Under-Secretary of State Ritva Viljanen, the present draft does not sufficiently address the intent of applicants for gun permits.
"The Ministry wants tougher gun legislation. Sports shooting and hunting alone do not explain why there are 1.6 million firearms in Finland," she said.
The draft that is coming before Parliament was formulated following the Jokela and Kauhajoki school shootings, in which the shooters used legally registered firearms.
An illegal handgun was used in Thursday's five murders. Viljanen concedes that illegal weapons are a difficult problem to deal with, even with tougher laws.
Complete registry overhaul
Interior Minister Anne Holmlund has described the nation's present gun registry as being primitive. In some cases, licence information has been written on a file card without the weapon's serial number or the purpose for which the permit was granted. The biggest challenge, she says, is to re-register older permits.
"The technical arrangements are a challenge. However, swift progress must be made, because the registry will be in a key position when changes in gun laws come into force," notes Holmlund.
Monitoring retraining orders
The suspect in Thursday's multiple murders was under a restraining order which did not, however, keep him from stalking and eventually murdering his former girlfriend.
Justice Minister Tuija Brax on Saturday aired the possibility of using electronic ankle bracelets to monitor people under restraining orders in the same was as are people who are released from prison to house arrest.
Brax told YLE that the issue has been under initial review within the Justice Ministry.
Mall security personnel at the Sello shopping centre were unaware of the restraining order against Shkupolli, although security at the Prisma store where his ex-girlfriend worked did know of it.
Brax added that in future officials may have a greater responsibility to make information available about restraining orders.