Good night … and good luck
I wrote earlier about the third big gun-related tragedy that struck Finland in the last couple of years. I also wrote about the sheer reckless stupidity of the police force that “investigated” the perpetrator one day before he brought death to his former mates.
Well, in the aftermath of the even, the same stupidity that seems to drive the finnish police goes further. Let me explain.
It was quite obvious to all the press that there’s a good chance that last year’s shooting and this one might be related. The two were about the same age, their Youtube profiles were similar, they both posted video threats. Of course, the police denied such allegations, but only to discover later that in fact the two bought their guns at the same shop. Now they admit that there’s a chance the kids knew each other.
First thing I want to say is: so what? They can now discover all the similarities they want. It’s simply too late. Last year’s shooter is dead, the new shooter (Saari) is dead, their victims are dead. They could’ve suspected a connection when the police saw Saari’s video online, but no … nobody remembered the other Youtube account that foretold 8 people’s death. It’s not like they were using some complicated metaphors to conceal their intention: they showed their guns, their names, they intention, they said “We’re gonna kill, we have the means and the will”. Come on people!! Put one and one together, you’re the *beep* police!! How hard is to check that the kids really owned the guns, that they were bought in the same store? There are computers for this kind of stuff, you don’t even have to get up from that comfortable chair that the dead kids parents paid for!
And as an interesting fact (this relates to the stupidity of finnish lawmakers) … the minimum age for gun-owning in Finland is 15. 15!!! Please read again, the number is 15. The driving age is 18. The gun-ok age is 15. Am I missing something? Driving is dangerous, but god-damnit! In order to get a driving license you need to take some courses, some tests, quite a lot of them to be exact. Physical, medical, psychological and for every step of the way there are people there teaching you. In most countries the age is 16 or 17 for that, mostly because of the learning and verification system involved.
For guns you ask for a permit, you get a summary verification and after being fingerprinter and registered you get a license based on which you get to go to a gun store and buy a gun. Then it’s the gun store owner discretion on what they allow you to buy. Now tell me why a gun store clerk, interested in selling, would deny a young person a gun, when that person has a permit issued by … the police?
Now the finnish prime-minister is asking whether a revision is required. IF!!! IF!!! What do you mean IF?? Of course a bloody revision is required. You have a population of 5 million and 2 million private-owned guns! Save the number aspect, there’s also the fact that in a civilized country you shouldn’t need a gun, because a civilized country has a working law enforcement system that, you guessed, “enforces” some well-tought laws. 15 years and you can have a gun … geez … that’s quite well-tought, right?
So who am I to speak … when in Romania everything is upside down. First of all, Romania ain’t civilized. That’s right. We have nu justice system here, no law-making and given that, what is there for the law enforcement to enforce?
I guess that’s a similarity between Finland and Romania, nice countries, too bad about the population though. Good night … and good luck! You’ll need it!