Helsinki - The Finnish government Friday said it planned to introduce tighter gun laws in the wake of a shooting where a high- school student killed eight people. The tougher legislation would include preventing minors from buying weapons and only allowing them to hunt accompanied by an adult, Finnish news agency STT said.
Current legislation allows 15-year olds to acquire a gun license. The Interior Ministry estimates there are 1.6 million registered weapons, mainly for hunting, owned by about 650,000 people.
Police have almost concluded their investigation at the school where the shooting rampage took place Wednesday, raising the number of shots fired by Pekka-Eric Auvinen to 76 shots, including nine outside the school building in Jokela, some 60 kilometres north of Helsinki.
Auvinen, 18, died late Wednesday at a Helsinki hospital after he turned the gun on himself. He left a suicide note and was found with at least 320 bullets in his possession.
The victims included six fellow students, the school's nurse and the school's female principal.
Students and staff were Friday temporarily allowed access to the school to collect important personal items, including medicines, keys and wallets, STT said.
The shooting has shocked the country which Thursday held a national day of mourning.
Nerves remained on edge, and two schools were the target of threats.
One of the schools was located in the same municipality as Jokela, the other was in Kirkkonummi, 30 kilometres from Helsinki.
Many students left the school in Kirkkonummi after teachers informed them of an internet posting of an imminent attack that police did not regard as serious.
In Tuusula, police guarded a school after rumours circulated of a copy-cat attack, although police said the threat was likely a prank.
Education Minister Sari Sarkomaa slammed the threats saying it was "not the time and place for fun and games," STT said.
Media continued to try and chart Auvinen and his motives. Posts on the internet suggested he sent e-mails to Dillon Cossey, a teenager who allegedly planned an attack on a school in Philadelphia, in the United States.
Auvinen also had an online relationship with a Danish woman, aged 22, who broke it off in September, preferring the company of a Neo- Nazi supporter.
Like Auvinen, they used nicknames, tabloid Ilta-Sanomat said.
Friends of the victims have set up commemorative sites on the internet community site Facebook, and in a country known for its high use of mobile telephones, text messages have been sent urging people to place a candle at windows.
A site called Jokela High School Shooting Sympathy was also spotted, where some posters supported Auvinen's critical views of society and mankind - but did not support his deadly act.
Minister of Health and Social Services Paula Risikko said the government was prepared to offer economic assistance to fund therapy and other measures.
