About handguns and hunting... I talked to a guy in eastern Finland. They had been hunting a wounded bear. One of them tracked it, found it and unloaded his rifle on it, with no effect. The bear kept coming. He had a big revolver and the third shot killed the bear... now they all have revolvers.

Jarmo, Lohja, Finland

Im sorry for the families that have lost relatives in this tragic incident. The story of the world is filled with this type of behabior , in some cases its a personal matter , in others its just a businnes decision ,even at grand scale .
There is no stoping this kind of madness . Prayers

Isabelb, Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Lets start by not glorifying death in any way.... lets stop our children senses being bombarded with violence.
Simplicity and back to basics . Love , attention and a little discipline .
No law will be able to prevent an attack. hand guns will be available allways .

isabelb, Tegucigalpa , Honduras

"draconian British type gun laws", Ah I see your liberal gun laws in the US work a treat dont they!! How many school rampages have there been in the US. Need I say more....

steve Foster, Manchester,

Either everyone has guns or no one has guns and I think the latter is impossible these days with open borders everywhere. In Israel, every family has a gun and there is little crime and when there IS a terrorist attack, which this certainly qualifies, there are plenty of people to mow these rabid animals down. Like my friend says, "What do you call an unarmed person? A Victim".
I wish it wasn't the reality, but I don't make the reality. The world does.

Heidi, Boston, USA

If he didn't have a pistol, he would have used the hunting rifle. If he didn't have a firearm, he would have used another weapon. People like him will always find a way to harm others. During the Olympics in China we heard of the father-in-law of one of the American coaches that was fataly stabbed.

Joe Wincek, Vance, USA

Surely, you should keep your draconian British type gun laws to yourselves !
gjdagis, Saugerties, USA - Ever wonderd why the usa has he highest gun death rate?

Matthew Hunter, Miami, USA - What utter nonsense, as evolved beings its within our conciousness to rise above our Darwinian heratige

Lisa, London , UK

colleges in western countries should have metal detectors at the entrance and perimeter of college highly secure through barbed wire and high walls. Its high time, we saw virginia tech, now this in quick succession. Western countries are exceedingly rich with good infrastructure, so this should be a minimum. In US, given the frequency of shootings, they should have well trained undercover armed personnel in premises to take the maniacs down fast.

Kannan, Kochi, India

The statement by Matthew Hunter is really simplistic and frankly absurd. What a giant leap it is from acceptance of evolution, to no moral compass, to being a killer. No believers in God and direct creation have ever been killers I suppose?

Mike, Ipswich, UK

And how would that make a difference. A rifle could be disassembled and hidden in a backpack, then re-assembled in a toilet stall, and used effectively to massacre people. So banning handguns won't prevent this type of thing. On the other hand, it will prevent victims from defending themselves.

Mike, East Lansing, USA

May be system of education must except some creative "know-how" to solve the problem of such tension(something as Jani said below).
By the way, I heard that Primorsk(not far from Finland) and its suburbs have bad situation too: people drink and kill (but there are single murders).

Oksana, Mukachevo, Ukraine

Tougher gun laws won't stop crazy people. As this case shows it would be as well to ban schools and/or petrol as without either of these two the total event couldn't have happened. I don't mean easing of gun laws but hysterical nonsensical extremely predictable proposals won't do a thing to help.

John, Parafield,

Who really need a gun ??? No one beside peace officer on duty.

OIivier Marcil, Montreal, Canada

Two items:

Firstly, a handgun is used in hunting in many places.

Secondly, a handgun, though possible to make it into an automatic weapon, is usually semi-automatic. It would defeat its purpose.

The question is wether banning guns lowers crime and these awful acts? Unfortunately, it does not

M, Tosa,

Why does anybody need a gun?

james allen, manchester, england

I may have missed something but regarding Christian's comment; what has this got to do with Islam?

John Clarvis, London,

These killings are the result of social and psychiatric disorders. This is a common factor in these type of shootings, proven time and time again in the US, UK and Finland. Why then aren't stringent background checks on an individual's mental health performed before he/she can buy a gun?!

Amy, Brighton, UK

Please do not lump all Americans as pro-gun I am American, and I believe strongly believe that the average person does not need a weapon. Handgun sales should be stopped. Society is failing to provide moral leadership to young people. Guns are not the answer.

Marlene, Alexandria, VA, 22310

I live in Finland and can tell you guys, this is not about guns, this is about Finnish society: very individualistic one. Finns are known being unable to express their feelings - asking for help would be considered here as being loser in most cases.
Scools needs to teach more communication skills..

Jani, Helsinki, Finland

Ahhh. Islam....the religion of peace.

Christian O'Connor, Miami, USA

Britain banned all guns
But they forgot to tell the criminals..

rick, Storlien, Sweden

What some of the pro-gun folk seem to be saying is that in America this nut would have been met with a hail of fire from people defending themselves - well, of course he wouldn't. The only way to keep people safe is for all guns to be taken away. Guns hardly ever work as self-defence.

jim cormick, Buenos aires, argentina

Careful about what you assume about America. West Virginia has the highest number of guns per capita in the country. It also has the lowest crime rate. We are also taught gun safety from early childhood. If you don't have guns, they'll use something else. Crime is the problem, not guns.

Nathan, Greenbrier Co. WV, USA

"Nobody needs an automatic pistol for anything other than killing people."
I totally agree that.
And someone said also that it doesn't help if our government bans all handguns. Well, in both of these massacres the guns were legal and where you think 18-year old guy could get an illegal gun.

Ville, Turku, Finland

Ownership of handguns in the U.S. has increased subsantially over the past 15 years. Violent crime has decreased substantially over the past 15 years. The rate of violent crime in the UK is higher than in the U.S. It has increased since the confiscation of handguns.

R. Fincher, Bishop, U.S.A.

I detest guns as anyone, but it is foolhardy to think that banning guns will eliminate homocide.

Man has and always will be, a violent creature.NO amount of laws or social engineering will change that.

ryan, ann arbor,

Were not that gun grazy as this news tells. No one in my family or people I know has a gun.I´ve never been hunting or any one else I know. It´s not a national sport here.
Of course laws should be changed and those talks about only criminals having guns is lame excuse.
My heart for for the families.

Mari, Laukaa, Finland

I'm sure the desire to ban civilian ownership of handguns is well intentioned. However, this madman could have killed these students with the petrol bombs he used to burn their bodies. Do you really think it is a free country that allows only the military and police to possess handguns?

R. Fincher, Bishop, U.S.A.

Hunting is a fairly small sprice to pay for every human life taken by guns.

or do you dissagree?

Gregor, Crieff, Scotland

Guns were banned here in the UK and look what happened. Guns still readily available to criminals, and shootings now so commonplace that they usually don't even get reported any more. The UK murder rate is still low only because most killings are prosecuted as "manslaughter" rather than "murder".

Hugh, London, UK

Finland has the highest muder rate in western europe but one of the easiest countrys to obtain a handgun 15 .Something wrong there.

lee, essex,

if guns were illegal then he would not have been able to get hold of one so easily. and if he had just used a knife or something instead the people in the class room would have had a much better chance to defend themselves. 10 on 1 person with a gun is much harder thand 10 on 1 person with a knife.

harry, Bristol,

America has the highest murder and gun crime rate in the civilized world. Why is it that the American posters are the ones saying to keep the guns? No wonder you're country is a mess. Nobody has figured out the right mix of laws and regs, right now is the time to reach out to the victims families.

Shawn Fenemore, Calgary, Canada

then if there are lots of people nearby, they can disarm the guy with a knife pretty easily. This isn't unfortunately the case with a handgun. It's just deadly. I don't understand point of views defending guns - you only provoke more and more violence to the world.

Muppa, Oulu,

What we should really be asking is why so many young people are feeling so alienated that they wish to undertake such actions.
This guy could was a chef he could have done just as much damage with a tub of bacteria.

Mark, Epping, uk

I guess Mark, Alex, Matthew, theodore and gldagis would fight to the death with their guns if anyone tried to take them away - yes?
In Florida wouldn't the students have been able to produce their own guns and shoot the guy with impunity on suspicion alone?
People with hand guns kill other people!

Mike, Brisbane, Australia

I hope that the Finnish Government don't rush into a blanket handgun ban, as we did following the Dunblane massacre. Yes, automatic and semi-automatic pistols over .32 calibre should not be in private hands, However, there is a case for the retention of Olympic Class UIT .22 target weapons.

Philip Hollywood, Southend-on-Sea, U.K.

Howard, what is the difference in being shot with a pistol or a rifle?

Jon B, NPR, USA

How would it have been better if he'd used a rifle to kill the victims? People kill people, not guns.

KB, Chicago, USA

In every single one of these cases, the perpetrator was on psycotropic drugs. This, too?

Joe, ONt, CA

People who want to do harm to others, will find their weapons where ever they look. Regulation, age limits, waiting periods, criminalization.. None of it will stop someone who is determined to harm others. A sink full of house hold cleaners can kill a class room.

Jevin Pierson, Des Moines, IA, USA

Sure, outlaw handguns. That oughta do it! Good job Howard! Then when they are against the law, only the criminals will have them seeing that by their very nature, criminals do not follow the law, hmmm...

ElectroFox, San Jose, CA, USA

Pistols should not be made illegal because of incidents like this. It doesn’t change the fact that the pistol is a useful tool, and it is the best ways to protect yourself. Criminals get guns even if they are illegal, so making them illegal for law abiding folk is nonsensical. cant count on cops!

Alexander Supertramp, Duxbury,MA, USA

No one "needs'' a handgun. They are unnecessary for anything but bad intentions.

dan, quincy, usa

I cant believe how brainwashed Americans are about guns. A massacre like this would never happen with a knife& I've never heard of a bystander preventing something like this by shooting the gunman. Even if they were armed & in that situation, few people could bring themselves to shoot another human.

Lucy, Bradford, UK

all these gun rights clowns don't get a simple fact: psychos will use whatever is easily obtainable to kill.
outlawing guns will reduce the ability of anyone to wreak mass havoc. yes you can kill people with cars and knives, but there's a reason governments want to control atomic weapons and WMDs.

jason, vancouver, canada

I'm tired of everyone using these shootings as another excuse to talk about gun control policies. I was at Virigina Tech when the shooting happened and you know what, we didn't care about the laws, we cared about the people we lost. Try thinking about them instead of your own views.

Mike, Blacksburg, USA

What gets me is the logic that if everyone had guns then we would be safer. You may have a chance to react in the case in a mass shooting by a single gun man. However, you would be much more likely to be shot spontaneously by some nutter who you cut-off while driving on the parkway.

A Currie, Don Mills , Canada

Only an imbecile would suggest that allowing everyone to arm themselves will make the world a safer place. Real freedom is not being able to bear arms, its being able to go about your daily life without feeling that you need to carry a weapon.

Steve Chapman, Liverpool, UK

Guns have no eyes, have no heart...

I've heard and seen so many atrocities brought about by these tiny so called mechanical device "gun" it must end somehow.

I pray for the souls and for the families afllicted, and will light a candle to St. Michael for their journey to the light.

Dennis P. Baynas, Cebu , Philippines

he would have killed someone eventually with whatever means he had available.

Craig, Atlanta, USA

The best way to make it difficult (but never impossible) for this to happen again is to ban handguns. Fighting fire with fire rarely works and the idea that you could protect yourself in this way could easily lead to other people being hurt in the cross fire. Not everyone is a perfect shot.

Carolyn, Basel ,

Fair enough comment about the 9mm - but i think a sicko like this would find a way to kill whether it was with a handgun or other means. It is terrible this has happened and as always one of the worst things is the gunman is dead so won't have to answer to his deeds.

Jonathan Price, London,

Stand firm. The dead died in the same fight as those who died in 1940 fighting the Russians, the cause of Finnish freedom. Honour them all.

t j murphy (mr), kings lynn, england

The Dawson College incident and prior to that the Polytechnic School massacre both in Montreal, Quebec Canada or the Columbine shooting in the United States. Someone please explain to me why it is legal to own a hand gun? What use does it serve other then for law enforcement? Its time to wake up!!!

Johnahtan , Montreal , Canada

First, that is not a 9mm pistol, it is a .22LR pistol. Second, if you take good citizen's guns away, it will make the criminals jobs much safer. Criminals love gun control, it means they are the only ones with guns on the street.

Frank, Helsinki,

It's cases like this that get the gun control arguments going on here in the US. Unfortunately there are a few people that ruin it for everyone else. As an alternative to a total ban on guns, maybe complete phychiatric evaluations should be required before being allowed to purchase hand guns.

Paul, Sacramento, US

Handguns are used for self-defence. If I were in the room, and alive, and armed, he'd likely have had more than head wounds.
Until we have one police-person assigned to each citizen (well, police are citizens as well), then I guess folks are going to have to defend themselves.

Mark, Jersey City, USA

If outlawing self-defense (via handguns) might fix the problem, why not just outlaw murder? You can't mean that criminals disobey the law. Next thing, you'll say high taxes stifle growth.

Mark, Jersey City, USA

If it wasn't an automatic pistol it would have been something else - a hunting rifle, a sword, a knife, or just the petrol bombs themselves. People would still have gotten hurt and killed. Focus on the individual - not on inanimate objects. You could ban everything and people will still be murdered.

Alex, Halifax,

Handguns are not used for killing game, only people. The only people who should have these weapons are the police.

Jodie, Halifax, Canada

Handguns require registration with a shooting club, but clearly a tighter protocol is required to see that that is what the guns are used for. Hope hunting weapons are left out of this - neither of these school shootings involved hunting weapons.

Matti, Oulu, Finland

Nobody needs an automatic pistol for anything other than killing people. I think it would be hard for someone to go on a similar killing spree with a single shot rifle, than so allow them for hunting and ban automatic weapons. Even they should only be kept in gun clubs to prevent more massacre.

John, Kent, England

When people have no moral compass, no right or wrong, and are taught that we are basically apes then killing makes since. The theory of evolution, that teaches us that we have very little if any value, in fact for us to evolve we may need the weak to die, has a lot to answer for.

Matthew Hunter, Miami, USA

I am a Finn, and I do agree with you. After the first school shooting laws were modified. Still about twenty years a go our military defence was organized a bit like in Switzerland, normal people could get handguns. I know this ain't positive image for us in abroad.

Niko, Helsinki, Finland

Howard Letch, Baldock, UK, its a .22 calibre pistol, not a hysterical 9mm. Still quite capable of killing at close range.
Pistols for hunting are used for dispatching, or for close quarters when a rifle is of no use, due to a fast running animal, very close to you.

darren, London, UK

The Walther P22 is a small caliber handgun, 22 caliber rimfire to be exact. None-the-less, it is as dangerous and deadly as are most handguns in the wrong hands for the wrong purpose. Tragic the total disregard for human life?

Buck, Fort White, U.S.

Surely the UK should ban all knives! Surely you can do everything with a spork that you can do with a kitchen knife. Since occasionally some sick person misuses an item to cause harm we should take that item away from the 99% that use it responsibly. Brilliant!

Gregory, Birmingham,

The problem in the Finnish case is that only one person had a gun. Had his classmates been armed as well, the result may have been entirely different.

Matthew T Yanni, Morgantown, WV, USA

This sounds like a good opportunity for the government to disarm its citizenry...... which of course is what they have been after all along. Get a life gun grabbers.

theodore kyzinsnski, spencer, usa

Howard, Wouldn't they just use a hunting rifle instead? I think better background checks are in order, as well as an annual renewal that does some sort of evaluation. Also, if they post things like this guy did on YouTube, the guns should be confiscated.

James, Perth, Australia

"Surely the Finish laws should be modified to only allow possession of hunting rifles and not hand guns!!"

Surely, you should keep your draconian British type gun laws to yourselves !

gjdagis, Saugerties, USA

My thoughts at this time are with the families and friends. Any accusations about policy can wait.

Richard, Plymouth,

I can understand why people would have access to guns in country where hunting is almost a national pastime. However, I have never seen anyone go hunting with a 9mm pistol!!! Surely the Finish laws should be modified to only allow possession of hunting rifles and not hand guns!!

Howard Letch, Baldock, UK