Back on September 3rd, my friend Mick Larson received a phone call from Paula Vilén, US Correspondent for Finnish Broadcasting Company, YLE. Mick is also the manager of the South St. Paul Rod & Gun Club of which organization I am a proud member. (This is despite the fact that my abilities with a shotgun are such that I have been told that my aim is so bad that I "Couldn't hit my ass with a fistful of rice!")
The Finnish television reporter and her crew were in town for the Republican Party National Convention and wanted to know whether it was alright to stop in and film a background report on American's attiudes toward firearms. The angle was an obvious one, McCain had just announced his moose hunter VP choice, Sarah Palin and the Finns could obviously relate to this very basic but practical qualification to hold the highest office of the land.
To see the clip that aired on Finnish television station YLE's nightly news cast back on September 4, 2008, go to the nine (9:00) minute mark of the playback counter. http://areena.yle.fi/toista?id=1472180
Any European superiority or snarkiness in the tone of the report was wiped away by the tragedy of the Finnish school shooting. I feel for the families of the victims but I hope the Finns are wise enough to know that the answer or proper response to such tragedies is not banning guns, but rather educating people, whether it is on constitutional rights, gun safety, school bullying , mental illness or whatever was behind the evil acts of a selfish perpetrator.
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