The next thing he'll claim that Finland has the most prisoners in the world. :)

Nope that is America, by numbers AND rate even before China, Iran and Saudi-Arabia :D

I think Finland has higher than average number of "guns" per capita than many other western countries (actually according to one article only USA and Jemen have more guns per capita than Finland; I'm surprised e.g. Switzerland and Israel have less, I thought all men who have served in the Swiss army have an assault rifle at their home or something), but that is mainly due to hunting in the rural areas. So those "guns" in Finland are for a very big part hunting rifles and shotguns. That (hunting) is even encouraged somewhat, in order to keep e.g. the moose levels at moderate levels (car crashes with moose are the every year happening here).

People living in cities don't quite similarly have access to firearms. You need a permit (from police) to own a gun, and I think in general the only valid reasons for getting one is either hunting, or sports. In both cases you most probably have to be a member of either a hunting club, or a shooting sports club. No guns permitted for self-defense etc.

I guess Finland got press recognition with the two (or was it three, I don't remember anymore) school shootings that happened many years ago by a couple angry young men. After the school shootings the terms to get a license to a gun were tightened further, I think. So, Finland definitely has gun control, but it is not impossible to get hold of a gun permit if you join a hunting or shooting sports club.

I don't actually have data how much gun related deaths there are in Finland, but I don't feel they are that common occurrence. The stereotype is a drunk Finnish man living alone on the countryside shooting himself with his own hunting rifle, probably because he ran out of booze.

@timppu
thanks for the insight

I know, duh. That was supposed to be the joke. :D

Yeah, I can imagine. Goddam country is full of icelandic people and tourists.

Wi nøt trei a høliday in Sweden this yër? See the løveli lakes, the wøndërful telephøne system and mäni interesting furry animals. :-P

Scandi-land lost Iceland because a long time ago King Cnut the Great beat up a TMZ reporter after leaving a night club. As part of the court plea bargain, he agreed to surrender Iceland to the fish people... and he also had to do 100 hours of community service. I know all of this is true, because I play Crusader Kings II.

And Finland of course isn't Scandi-land. It's always been the west big toe of the Motherland. Russia is just letting them have fun with their own flag and gang signs. If the Winter War taught us anything, it's that Russia might let you win a few battles, but they're gonna win the war.

Isn't far from truth :)
Antirussian sanctions already hit some finnish companies and citizens.
After that film having overwhelming success http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0114055/ and spawning two sequels, average Russian thinks of Finland as 'one of us with different language'.

I am from the Faroe Islands so don't really count as Scandinavian but Nordic.

Oh boy, you and your whale habits :D

Even before I clicked the link, I knew which video it was going to be :-D

I recently had a discussion about this with some Swedes and Norwegians, and was extremely amused at their odd misconception that the reason so many Danish TV programs are subtitled is that we have difficulty understanding one another here in Denmark. The actual reason we tend to subtitle many Danish programs even though they are in Danish is to accommodate deaf and hearing impaired people. I am surprised so many other countries do not do this.

Danish representative here. I couldn't find the thing we were supposed to read and comment on. Would you mind linking it again. I'm curious, even if more opinions aren't needed :)

And while I know everyone else has already corrected you, I feel it is my duty to also say that Iceland isn't part of the Scandinavian thingamajig. Don't worry though, it's an easy mistake to make, and I doubt anyone really cares.

If you're curious about what exactly Scandinavia is, you should watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsXMe8H6iyc