The Guardian (Miranda Bryant) reports:
Finland plans to open more than 300 new shooting ranges to encourage more citizens to take up the hobby in the interest of national defense.
It is hoped that shooting in the Nordic country – which last year became NATO’s newest member and shares an 830-mile (1,330km) border with Russia – could become as popular as football or ice hockey.
Ah, the elephant endure in the room, which in this case the article talks about.
There are around 670 shooting ranges in Finland, up from around 2,000 at the beginning of the century. By 2030, the government plans to increase the number to around 1,000….
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the popularity of voluntary training courses aimed at teaching reservists and civilians how to defend Finland doubled. There has also been a large increase in the number of Finns applying for firearms licenses….
This obviously brings to mind The White Death. Keep your spirits up, Finns.