| Title: | All about Scandinavia | 
| Moderator: | TLE::SAVAGE | 
| Created: | Wed Dec 11 1985 | 
| Last Modified: | Tue Jun 03 1997 | 
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 | 
| Number of topics: | 603 | 
| Total number of notes: | 4325 | 
    I am a Yankee Gun Collector, and have gone through the US state
    and federal licencing formalities.
    I should like to ask you in Scandinavia two questions:
    1. What are the firearms laws?
    2. What is the attitude of the "average" person on firearms?
    PLEASE, will other yanks please reply in SOAPBOX?  I respect
    your right to talk, but it is a distraction here.
    
    Scandanavians, please identify your country.
    
    TOK, Phil
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 97.1 | ECCGY4::JAERVINEN | formerly MUNICH::ORA | Wed May 07 1986 03:38 | 16 | |
|     1. The laws are very strict. It is next to impossible for a private
       person to legally own handguns. Sports & hunting rifles are
       different, of course, but also strictly controlled.
    
    2. I can only speak for myself but I don't think the 'average' person's
       opinion would differ very much. I have never heard anyone expressing
       the need to own (hand)guns for his/her protection. Honest criminals
       don't use guns!
    
    I don't have any statistics for the Scandinavian countries, but
    in US, about 11,500 persons are killed annually by guns. The same
    number for UK (from last year, if I remember correctly) was 8.
    
    If the US number were related to the population of, say, Finland,
    it would mean about 250 dead. Like I said I don't know the actual
    number, but I am pretty sure it is well below 10.
 | |||||