In English: The 20-month sentence handed down to a Helsinki man convicted of repeatedly sexually abusing two teenage boys in April 2009 was deemed to be inadequate in the eyes of thousands of people. Major news outlets in Finland reported on April 8, 2009 that the sentencing and punishment of child sexual offenders is like a "lottery" and is neither harsh enough nor uniform across the country.

*Thank you to Mrs. I Aaltonen for providing the Finnish translation of this petition.

UPDATE on 2011.03.16 - This petition is still open and will remain open until the end of March 2011.

On 7 November 2007, Pekka-Eric Auvinen, 18, shot dead eight and himself at Jokela High School in Tuusula, southern Finland; on 23 September 2008, Matti Juhani Saari, 22, killed ten and himself at the college of Kauhajoki, western Finland.

Both Auvinen and Saari committed their murders by .22 calibre semi-automatic handguns, which both of them had legally obtained and registered with the police less than a month before the incidents. Both had received their permits on the grounds that target shooting at shooting range was their hobby. Auvinen was a member of a local shooting club, even if the club later confirmed that he had only attended a single one-hour training session there. As of the evening of 23 September it was still unclear whether Saari was a member to any shooting club; in legislation membership is not even a requirement. As is the common practice in Finland, both stored their guns in their homes.

With 56 firearms per 100 inhabitants, Finland has the world's third highest (official) gun ownership ratio in the world, behind only the US and Yemen. This reflects both a long national tradition of hunting and sport shooting, as well as, relatedly, a comparatively lax gun legislation.

Not only are hunting firearms (e.g. shotguns, rifles) easy to acquire by standards of any other any other rich-world country, but also handguns (e.g. pistols), with no relevant hunting purpose, can be obtained with very little inconvenience. (It is telling that Auvinen, a 18-year-old first-time licensee, had initially applied permit for a deadlier 9 mm Beretta pistol; this was denied as too powerful for a beginner, but since he had no criminal record such a request did not allow/oblige the police to either reject or vet further his second application.)

The Finnish government is currently preparing a new gun legislation. The need for a new law was prompted by an EU directive which mandates the countries to forbid the selling of firearms to people who are under 18 years old (something that Finland until the Jokela massacre opposed), and up to date was not meant to include any other major changes.

By signing this petition you express your concern over the Finnish gun laws, and demand the legislator to review them considerably further and sooner than required by the European Union.

Guns indeed never kill people, but they make it much easier. That's why owning them must be made more difficult.

Yksi pahimmista tapauksista tässä surullisessa kehityksessä on Starbucksin tulo Akateemiseen Kirjakauppaan. Kirjakaupan suuremmoisen rakennuksen ja kimaltelevan kauniit sisätilat tahraa pian yritys, jonka kyseenalainen työvoimapolitiikka, yritysverotuksen välttely ja pienimuotoisten kahviloiden vastaiset toimet ovat tehneet siitä paikan, jossa kukaan sivistynyt ihminen ei halua tulla nähdyksi.

Miksi Suomesta on tulossa pahimmanlaatuisen amerikkalaisen yrityskulttuurin kaatopaikka?

The original and beautiful culture of Finland is in the process of being dismantled, sold off or rented out piece by piece---all for the sake of MONEY.

One of the worst incidents in this sad turn of affairs is the presence of Starbucks in the Academic Bookstore. Both the magnificent exterior and the beautiful jewel-like interior of the bookstore are soon to be stained by a company whose questionable labor practices, corporate tax avoidance and targeting of small artisanal coffesshops have made it a place no educated person wants to be seen at.

Why should Finland be the dumping ground of the worst of American corporate culture?

INFORMATION:

Read about Starbucks union busting here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starbucks_Workers_Union

Read about their tax avoidance here:

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/jun/23/starbucks-pays-corporation-tax

or watch: http://areena.yle.fi/tv/2037061

About hounding small, independent coffee shops watch this:

http://www.cappuccinomovie.com/

For a preview of how Helsinki will soon have a Starbucks on every corner see:

http://mycrains.crainsnewyork.com/stats-and-the-city/2011/manhattan/starbucks-crowds-manhattan

Vastusta tätä Akateemisen Kirjakaupan häpäisemistä allekirjoittamalla tämä vetoomus, joka ojennetaan Eurooppa- ja ulkomaankauppaministeri Alexander Stubbille joulukuun 5:nä päivänä, 2013.

Lisätietoja: dont.defile@gmail.com

Please object to this defilement of the Academic Bookstore and debasement of the Finnish "brand" by signing this petition. We will present the petition to the Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade, Alexander Stubb, on December 5th, 2013.

For further information write to
dont.defile@gmail.com