The President of Finland today declared a national review of the country’s gun laws after the “shocking” school shooting on Tuesday in which 10 students were gunned down by one of their classmates.

President Tarja Halonen and her foreign minister, Alexander Stubb, said the government will discuss topics including gun control and the differences between hunting rifles and hand guns.

"This news we received today was shocking, sad news about the shooting incident at a vocational school in Kauhajoki," Ms Halonen said during a news conference at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

"We have to have very serious discussions and studies on what to do."

Matti Juhani Saari, 22, went on a shooting rampage at his catering college at the Kauhajoki School of Hospitality, killing 10 of his fellow students before turning the gun on himself.

Saari, who had earlier posted a chilling video on YouTube, had been picked up by police and questioned just 24 hours before the massacre, but released when they found they had no reason to detain him.

The killings echoed last year’s deadly attack at a high school in Helsinki in which nine people died after 18-year-old student Pekka-Eric Auvinen went on a shooting rampage. The teenager had also posted a “massacre manifesto” video on the website.

Ms Halonen said yesterday that hunting was common among the Finnish people which meant many people owned guns.

“Finland is a northern country with large areas of nature and hunting is one of the common hobbies, and so of course there are thousands and thousands of people who do it quite legally. But that means also that many people have many weapons," she said.

Ms Halonen said although the internet and web discussion forums were the domain of the younger generation, adults "should also be active and see that the rules in real life are also the rules that people have to respect in all circumstances. We have to follow the situation there."

There are 1.6 million registered arms in Finland, a country of about 5 million people. The gun ownership rates are among the highest in the world, but crime rates in general are low.

Mr Stubb described the country’s gun laws were “very strict”.

"There is a handgun directive which is channelled through the European Union and our legislation falls within the realm of that legislation," he said.

He noted that a government plan to raise the minimum age for gun ownership to 18 from 15 after last year's shooting had not taken effect but added, "I am sure this whole package with the arms will be reopened after this incident."

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