Finland came up in the US vice presidential debate as the conversation turned to gun violence in schools.
JD Vance and Tim Walz stand behind the podiums next to each other. Vance watches as Walz speaks while pointing his hand in Vance’s direction.
Newspaper Helsingin Sanomat covered the discussion on Finland at the US vice presidential debate on Tuesday night between Republican candidate JD Vance and Democrat Tim Walz.
On the subject of school shootings, Walz brought up his experience visiting Finnish schools.
“I’ve spent time in Finland and seen some Finnish schools. They don’t have this [school shootings] happen, even though they have a high gun ownership rate in the country,” Walz said on the debate stage.
Walz said he and presidential candidate Kamala Harris were both gun owners and stressed that it was the responsibility of policy makers to ensure the safety of children.
He also spoke about how he was affected by meeting the families of the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut. Walz emphasised that change can be made without taking away Americans’ guns.
Vance, however, advocated for improving school safety by reinforcing doors, windows and other security features. He also said schools should be given more resources.
“I appreciate what Tim [Walz] said about Finland, because I do think it illustrates some of the weird differences between our own country’s gun violence problem and Finland. First of all, we have way higher rates of mental health substance abuse, we have way higher rates of depression, we have way higher rates of anxiety. We unfortunately have a mental health crisis in this country,” Vance responded.
HS also noted that Walz is the current governor of Minnesota, a state with a large population of Finnish ancestry, and that a photograph of him wearing a Finland beanie previously circulated online.
Despite the rhetoric praising the Nordic country, Finland suffered its first school shooting in over a decade earlier this year.
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