Shooting range in Finland. Photo: Pasi Takkunen / Yle
There are currently approximately 670 shooting ranges in Finland, down from about 2,000 25 years ago. By 2030, the government plans to increase the number to about 1,000.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the popularity of voluntary training courses aimed at teaching reservists and civilians how to defend Finland has doubled. There has also been a big increase in the number of Finns applying for gun licenses.
The government plan does not necessarily mean that more people should learn to shoot, says the chairman of the defense committee, Jukka Kopra. Shooting skills should primarily be maintained for soldiers and reservists. However, there is no harm to anyone by learning to shoot, says Kopra. The interest to participate in national defense has grown, and therefore the shooting opportunities for civilians should be increased accordingly. Shooting sports should be as accessible as football or hockey and one shouldn't have to travel tens of kilometers to train, says Kopra.
Defense forces training center Pohjanmaan training manager Juhani Alkio has trained more than 5,000 people to use a firearm. According to him, the Finns are a nation of shooters, which can already be seen in the number of medals won in prestigious competitions.
Pohjanmaan organized more than 90 courses last year, while three years ago the number was only fifty.
The goal to open new shooting ranges is challenging, but doable. The industry especially sees environmental approvals as a problem to adding more ranges and keeping the current ones in use.
The oldest shooting ranges date back more than hundred years, and even ranges built in the 1960s and 1980s often lack environmental permit. As a result, some municipalities have suspended the range operations, while others have been kept open. National defense and shooting sports organizations emphasize their desire to protect the environment, but they are equally unanimous that the processing of environmental permits is slow and cumbersome.
