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[Parokki]

Mummelman sent me a PM asking about the media reaction in Finland, especially concerning video games, and I figured I might as well tell everybody.

First of all I should mention that I don't follow the Finnish media a lot. I'm a poor student, so I don't get any newspaper subscriptions at home, and watching actual channels on the TV requires me to unplug all my consoles and plug-in the digital receiver crap. It's not that I don't care about what happens, it's just that the internet is more than good enough of a source if you know how to use it.

Anyway, pretty much all profiles of the killer report that he liked to play shooting games on his computer, but I have yet to see anyone really blame games for this. One article emphasized that parents should be more aware of age restrictions, especially how they're given for inappropriate content, not difficulty. Apparently parents often look at games, see a 16+ limit, but figure their 14-year old is smart enough to figure how to play it regardless. I have no doubt that there have been lots of isolated incidents of clueless old mothers voicing their concerns over "killer training simulations" etc, but looks like none have gotten a lot of media attention. Hopefully things will stay that way.

I did read something about gun laws being tightened, although apparently it's more like we've announced that we'll not defy the EU's new regulations after all. Currently it's legal for 15-year olds to own hunting weapons in Finland and go hunting by themselves, but that limit is going to be raised to 18. 15-year olds can still go hunting and fire with adult supervision, which honestly sounds fair enough to me. Just two weeks or so ago Suomen Kuvalehti (kinda like our Time magazine) had an article about how the Finnish authorities and the EU were going to clash on the matter due to Finland's long tradition of rural folk starting hunting when they're very young, but I guess this settles it...

In case anyone doesn't know, Finland has the third highest amount of guns per capita in the world, but a huge majority of them are hunting weapons, or WW2-era war booty. Finland had the highest percentage of the population mobilized out of all the countries in the war, and just about every young soldier returning from the front took a Soviet/German souvenir back home. They're technically illegal, but the police here have better things to do than raid grandpa's attic for old guns that probably don't even work anymore.

Carrying a gun in public is only permitted for the police and some guards. Otherwise they may only be transported from place of storage to place of use (home->shooting range etc). Applying for a gun permit requires one to supply a reason for owning the gun, and self-defence is not a valid reason in Finnish law.
Wikipedia has more on the subject.

I never buy the afternoon papers (which have been getting more and more tabloid-like over the years), but couldn't help noticing their front pages when I was out yesterday. Out of the big two we have here, one was all black, said something like "GREAT TRADEGY. THE SORROW WILL NEVER STOP", and advertised it had full profiles of the shooter and all the victims.

Here are some pictures from the paper's website:


Friend of dead boys: "CRYING ISN'T HELPING/CEASING" (ambiguous meaning)


POLICE PICTURES FROM THE SCHOOL
SENSELESS SHOOTING

Sorry for going off-topic this much, but I'm really starting to get pissed off at the media.