Kick wrote on Jun 28
th, 2021 at 3:38pm:
When breaking the law it's important to remember the golden rule: Only break one law at a time. The number of drug dealers that get pulled over for a broken light or speeding... Saying this, I'm a goody two shoes. I barely break any laws ever.
So... I went to go check the weapons laws for Finland (actually because I wanted to double check that blowguns are illegal, sadly they are) and came across something... well it's something.
Now, as with a lot of countries weapon laws, Finland's are somewhat vague, confusing and require a lot of interpretation. What doesn't help is that the particularly relevant ones to me have English translations that are, for want of a better term, awful. It's very obvious that the person (team?) doing the translation had absolutely no idea what the terms they were translating meant and I actually think they used Google Translate for some of the terms.
The Public Order Act (2003) states:
"Chapter 3
Banned objects and substances
Section 9
Dangerous objects
(1) The manufacture, importation, trading and possession in a public place and in a vehicle
located in a public place of brass knuckles, stilettos and throwing stars, edged weapons
disguised as other objects as well as electric stunners and stun batons, spring batons and
precision rocket launchers and slings are prohibited, unless otherwise provided in
subsection 2 or 3 or section 12."
https://finlex.fi/fi/laki/kaannokset/2003/en20030612_20100774.pdfOh no! Slings are illegal! And so are... "precision rocket launchers"? That's rather specific... How is it written in the original Finnish?
"3 luku
Kielletyt esineet ja aineet
9 §
Vaaralliset esineet
Nyrkkirautojen, stilettien ja heittotähtien sekä muuksi esineeksi naamioitujen teräaseiden samoin kuin sähkölamauttimien
ja -patukoiden, jousipatukoiden sekä
tarkkuussinkojen ja -linkojen valmistus, maahantuonti, kauppa sekä hallussapito yleisellä
paikalla ja yleisellä paikalla olevassa kulkuneuvossa on kielletty, jollei 2 tai 3 momentissa taikka 12 §:ssä muuta säädetä."
https://finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/2003/20030612?search%5Btype%5D=pika&search%5Bpika%5D=j%C3%A4rjestyslaki
"Tarkkuussinkojen ja -linkojen"? Wait a second! That doesn't mean "precision rocket launchers and slings" at all! That refers to "precision slingshots" (which effectively refers to slingshots with wrist braces, something that has been banned in other countries and areas before) and (as indicated by the dash which shows the next word is a combination word: tarkkuuslinkojen) "precision slings".
You might ask, what is meant by "precision slings"? The answer? Absolutely no idea. It's a nonsense word that doesn't refer to anything. It's just as ridiculous in Finnish as it is to say "precision sling" in English.
So what does all this mean for me and slinging in Finland? Well, TECHNICALLY it could be argued in court that I have broken the law several hundred times over through manufacturing, importing, trading and possessing slings in public places. However, I think it would be an INCREDIBLY shaky case as the law is so incredibly vague. From where I stand, I don't own any "tarkuuslinkojen" because my accuracy is still terrible. It's also important to think about the amount of paper work a case like mine would generate which would, at this point, probably fill a warehouse, and also whether sending me to prison for... probably ever, would in any way benefit the public in any way. I can't see a judge looking at this case and thinking it was worth the effort. I don't think I'm going to the big house any time soon, but I do now take back my initial answer to this thread.
I'm a certified hardened criminal bad ass.