London: The International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) is among those calling for tighter gun laws in Finland, days after a school shooting that left 11 people dead in the town of Kauhajoki.

On Sept. 23, a 22-year-old student killed nine other students and a male teacher at a catering college before shooting himself. This is the second school shooting in Finland in 10 months, after six students, a principal and school nurse were shot dead in Jokela last November.

“The scourge of school shootings is no longer confined to the United States,” IANSA Director Rebecca Peters said. “European governments must act now to protect our schoolchildren and students from these lethal weapons.”

Finland has the highest rate of gun deaths in the European Union. The Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen has said Finland should consider banning private handguns.

IANSA is a strategic partner of The Advocacy Project (AP).