Earlier this month a pistol club member in Finland murdered eight innocent people. According to Adjunct Professor Philip Alpers, in Europe’s most deadly recent multiple shootings, almost all the killers were previously law-abiding licensed gun owners.
Deadliest Mass Shootings (8 or more dead) in Europe, 1987-2007:
| DATE | PLACE | DEAD | LEGAL STATUS |
| 7 Nov 2007 | Tuusula, Finland | 8 + 1 | Legal handgun, pistol club member |
| 15 Oct 2002 | Chieri, Italy | 7 + 1 | Legal guns, licensed gun collector |
| 26 Apr 2002 | Erfurt, Germany | 16 + 1 | Legal guns, pistol club member |
| 27 Mar 2002 | Nanterre, France | 8 | Legal guns, pistol club member |
| 27 Sep 2001 | Zug, Switzerland | 14 + 1 | Legal guns, licensed pistol owner |
| 9 Nov 1999 | Bielefeld, Germany | 7 + 1 | Firearm, licensing status unverified |
| 13 Mar 1996 | Dunblane Scotland | 17 + 1 | Legal guns, pistol club member |
| 19 Aug 1987 | Hungerford, England | 16 + 1 | Legal guns, pistol club member |
| Total shot dead, including 7 perpetrators: 100 | 93 + 7 | ||
{Alpers, P. 2007. Deadliest Mass Shootings (8 or more dead), Europe, 1987-2007. Unpublished table. School of Public Health, The University of Sydney. Sydney: updated 8 Nov 2007.}
Note: In 2002 the Violence Policy Center in Washingon revealed that in a study of 65 high-profile multiple-victim shootings in the United States over a period of 40 years, 62% of handgun shootings and 71% of long gun shootings were committed with legally acquired firearms.
From Gun Control Australia’s point of view, this is a shameful record.