Firearm-related themes have always been in the spotlight. While examining suitable firearms policies for society, one can notice that differences lie not only between continents (U.S.A. vs. Europe) but neighboring countries as well.
For instance, in Finland a 15-year-old has the right to own a firearm (Finland Firearm Act § 45), which has had a decisive factor in the fact that Finland is considered to be the world's third-highest gun ownership country per capita after the United States and Yemen. It is beyond a doubt that the Jokela High School massacre in Finland pointed out the vulnerability of the country's current firearm system policy.
In Estonia, on the other hand, a number of disputes have arisen on the basis of the Estonian Firearms Act (EFA) in recent years. It has been argued that the EFA article 43 section 1 point 2 might be inconsistent with the Constitution of Estonia.
According to the EFA 's Article 43, section 1, point 2 's the police district that issued the firearms license has an obligation to stop the validity of the firearms license (as well the license to obtain firearms) in cases when the owner of the license is a suspect or a defendant due to circumstances arising from criminal investigations.
The above-named provision, which pro tem seems to be justified, might to the contrary be an unjustified breach of fundamental rights and freedoms - especially constitution Articles 11 (restrictions), 19 (right to self-realization) and 29 (right to profession). The Attorney General has also conceded in his management report of 2005 the referred section to be inconsistent with articles 19 and 29 of the constitution due to the fact that the absence of discretionary power in the current section is contrary to proportional representation provided in Article 11.
Depending on the circumstances, it is often justified to suspend the license, but there must be clear exceptions for citizens whose profession requires a valid license for firearms, as well as for hunters or professional athletes who shoot guns. Once the license's validity has been suspended, it is forbidden for the gun owner to use a gun in any case (self-defense, hunt, sport), and according to EFA article 44, section 1 the owner is obliged to hand over all firearms with licenses.
Granting an administrative authority discretionary power in the abovementioned provision would help people exercise fundamental rights and freedoms more effectively, since the absence of a discretionary power does not allow the police to consider either facts or circumstances of certain cases and gives an administrative body strict order to stop the license automatically, which might lead to a disproportionate breach of fundamental rights and freedoms.
There are different types of crime provided in Estonian Penal Code that throw doubt on the legitimacy of Estonian Firearms Act Article 43 section 1 point 2, - e.g. EPC Article 169 (refusal to pay alimony) or Article 3851 (failure to perform obligation to file the bankruptcy petition) 's types of crimes that involve no weapons (knives, firearms, explosives) or any form of violence or drugs/alcohol that characterize a suspect or defendant's hazardous behaviour and hostility toward society.
In addition, Article 22 of the constitution provides the presumption of innocence 's a principle that forbids treating a suspect or accused guilty before a court verdict. A decision to suspend the validity of a firearms license in any case (i.e., precautionary extra-penalty and before final verdict by court) is unnecessary and highly inappropriate to Estonia as a state based on the rule of law. Until the court verdict (which could be an acquittal), there exists no legitimate option to avoid disproportionate violation of fundamental rights and freedoms in cases the suspicion or accusation is not related to violent type of crimes 's not to mention the fact that compensation for damage in case of acquittal is impossible to fulfil and the damage is irreversible.
Therefore, it is essential to change the EFA 's Article 43, section 1, point 2 's by giving the police district the right to suspend licenses in cases involving certain crime types, and also the right to consider the gun owner as an individual with his or her prior deeds (criminal record).
Firearms do not kill, people do.
Simo Soolo is a lawyer at Teder, Glikman & Partnerid, a member firm of the Baltic Legal Solutions, a pan-Baltic integrated network of law firms including Kronbergs & Cukste in Latvia and Jurevicius, Balciunas & Bartkus in Lithuania, dedicated to providing a quality 'one-stop shop' approach to clients' needs in the Baltics.
