In early July, three people were shot and killed outside a hamburger restaurant in Porvoo by a gunman wielding a semi-automatic handgun. The incident has not changed Holmlund's position regarding calls for a complete ban on such weapons.
"I don't think it makes sense to create laws that in practice will not have the effect of improving security. We have many other means than a total ban. I believe that they will have more impact on this issue than the complete ban that is being called for," said the Interior Minister.
According to Holmlund, what is more important is to tighten up gun permit procedures and to upgrade cooperation among various authorities.
Greens backing a ban
The Greens are pushing within the coalition government for a tougher stand on the issue and back a ban on types of guns that are rarely used either in competition sport shooting or for hunting. The chair of the Green's Parliamentary group, Ville Niinistö, says he fails to understand opposition among some political decision makers to banning semi-automatic handguns.
"There may be an exceptionally strong atmosphere of approval of the availability of guns in Finland. A surprising number of politicians have taken the position that such tough measures should not be taken now. There is an exceptionally large number of firearms in Finland and an exceptionally large number of cases of violence have been carried out with guns. So, there is quite a burden of proof on them to show that the measures that they are proposing will work," argued Niinistö.
Parliament currently has before it the first part of a new gun law that includes tougher regulations on permits for firearms. The second part of the law will be formulated by the cabinet in the autumn.
In Ville Niinistö's view, a complete ban on semi-automatic weapons cannot be rejected on the grounds of their sport or hunting use.
"We have international examples, including very stringent gun legislation in Great Britain that has not prevented certain widely appreciated use in sport."