Finnish police have confiscated nearly 2,000 guns in recent years based on doctors' risk assessments.
The seizures have taken place since 2012, when a new law required physicians to inform police about anyone whom they considered a threat to themselves or others if in possession of a gun. The daily Aamulehti says the number of such notifications and seizures has dropped since last year, when the notification law was loosened again.
The debate over doctors' role in granting gun licenses is set to expand as the EU firearms directive is being updated, writes the daily Aamulehti.
Tighter laws after mass shootings
Gun laws were tightened in Finland following school shootings that left 20 people dead in 2007-08. New regulations ratified in 2012 stepped up pressure on physicians, requiring them to inform police about anyone whom they considered a threat to themselves or others if in possession of a gun.
Superintendent Jussi Kytösaari of the National Police Board says that during the first three years, police received more than 2,000 such notifications from doctors. These led to the confiscation of 1,800 guns from more than 500 people. Altogether since 2012, police have seized 1,990 firearms based on doctors' risk assessments.
Requirements loosened in 2015
Legislation took a step backward last year, narrowing doctors' responsibility to report such concerns. This has led to a sharp drop in notifications. Police may still ask healthcare professionals to hand over applicants' medical records in individual cases.
Physicians argue that medical tests cannot reliably evaluate an individual's future tendency toward violent behaviour.
Psychiatrist Jukka Kärkkäinen, Development Director of the National Institute for Health and Welfare, tell Aamulehti that effective gun license evaluations would at least require additional resources and further training of doctors. There are presently less than 100 doctors in Finland who are specifically trained to evaluate the risk of violent behaviour.
1:16 Caption corrected to clarify that Finland has one of the EU's highest gun ownership rates.