When Soviet Red Army troops poured across the Finnish frontier three months after the outbreak of World War II, Simo Häyhä, a farmer and member of Finland’s Civil Guard, laid down his pitchfork, picked up his M28-30 Mosin Nagant, jammed his Puukko knife in his belt and calmly went out to kill communists.

Häyhä shot more than 540 Red Army troops in just three months—most using iron sights—becoming the most successful sniper in history. Häyhä survived the Winter War, died at the age of 96 and remains one of Finland’s most celebrated national heroes.

Today, Finland maintains a tradition of arms seldom seen outside of the United States. There are approximately 1.5 million registered firearms, but it is estimated there are about the same number of unregistered firearms, which were secretly cached after World War II and the Winter War. The Finns cannot afford to be disarmed, which even their government understands. Their country of 5.6 million people shares an 830-mile border with Russia, which has a population of 143 million, so the Finns can never stop preparing to fight the Russian Bear.

Tensions escalated last year after Finland joined NATO. Russian saw this as a threat and vowed to retaliate. The government in Helsinki took this very seriously. Unlike the Biden-Harris administration, which views law-abiding American gun owners as a threat, Finland incorporates armed civilians into its national defense strategy, so they decided to boost civilian firearm training to help counter the latest Russian threat.

According to the Guardian, the Finnish Defense Forces started by building 300 additional shooting ranges to “encourage more citizens to take up the hobby in the interest of national defense.”

“The present government aims to increase the amount of shooting ranges in Finland from roughly 600-700 up to 1,000. This is because of our defense model, which benefits from people having and developing their shooting skills on their own,” Jukka Kopra, a Minister of Parliament who chairs the country’s defense committee told the British newspaper. A government spokesman added that the new construction will include “rifle” and “tactical” ranges.

Takeaways

There was a time when our government valued American riflemen and built ranges for civilian use. Sadly, this is a tradition maintained by only a handful of states.

Nowadays, the Biden-Harris administration sees lawfully armed Americans as the enemy, and they are doing everything they can to strip us of our rifles. One has to wonder why, especially now.

While we do not share an 830-mile border with Russia, our porous southern border is an open invitation to any group or government seeking to do us harm, whether they be 20,000 military-age males from China or untold thousands from countries that sponsor terrorism.

Armed civilians are a strategic resource—a force multiplier that should be part of any national defensive plan. It is unfortunate that the Biden-Harris administration is either too arrogant or too ignorant to see this, and that they remain fixated on total civilian disarmament instead.

Finland gets it. But unlike our current leadership, they’re a pragmatic people. To understand this, one only has to look at their traditional Puukko knife, which is a simple, straightforward design that has been part of the Finnish culture—its very soul—for more than a thousand years. Of course, the Finns would include armed civilians in their defensive planning. To do otherwise would be senseless and a waste of valuable human resources.

Sisu is a Finnish word that doesn’t translate well. It’s generally understood to mean “guts” or “intestinal fortitude” or the inability to quit even when pushed far beyond one’s normal physical limitations. Actually, it means much more. Sisu is tenacity, raw angry power, the ability to keep going no matter the pain, personal loss or extreme hardship. It’s the willingness to spit in death’s eye and enjoy it. Sisu is a lifestyle.

I’ve never written about Sisu before in the dozen or so years I’ve been doing this, but as someone with Finnish blood pumping through their veins, it always comes to mind whenever I hear the gun-controllers prattle on about banning this or confiscating that. They don’t understand that regardless of the legislation they introduce or the room-temperature IQs of the dunces who sign their bills into law, all they will ever receive in return is a large heady dose of American Sisu.

Most gun owners get this, even those who haven’t incorporated a Puukko into their EDC. The Finnish model works. It would work here. Besides, rifle ranges are much cheaper than an attack by some of our uninvited guests, especially if no one is armed, trained and willing to stop it.

— Lee Williams for The Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project

 

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

45 COMMENTS

  1. We don’t need fit, trained and ready people. We just need drones of the mechanical and flesh variety. It should be plenty obvious that the US has given up on winning any conflicts and the only purpose of conflict is to shuffle monies between billionaires and maintain a just bearable level of indentured servitude among the population.

    Anyone foolish enough to still be pragmatic won’t be for long.

    • If the Finns were really serious about civilians helping in national defense, they would build fpv drone racing courses all over the country.
      Commercial drones like the inexpensive Malik brand have revolutionized warfare as seen in Ukraine.
      Drones can destroy tanks by dropping grenades or mortar shells into open hatches.
      The tank crew has to open the hatch eventually.
      Any grouping of troops is vulnerable to drone attack.
      FPV drones even attack and kill individual enemy soldiers, even when in trenches.
      Drones observe enemy artillery positions and a cell phone call by the civilian operator gets an artillery strike on enemy barracks, command centers, ammo dumps etc.

      The Russians seem completely unable to mount even the simplest defense against drone attacks.

  2. I am glad to see this article celebrating Finland resistance to Soviet Russia, it is an inspiration for free peoples everywhere.

    And apparently folks are able to overlook the fact that Finland was an ally of Adolf SchickleGruber, even featuring the swastika as their official insignia.

    “In Finland, the swastika (Finnish: hakaristi) was used as the official national marking of the Finnish Defence Forces between 1918 and 1945 and also of the Finnish Air Force, anti-aircraft troops as a part of the air force and tank troops at that time.“

    Finland made the same hard choice Ukraine did, caught between fascist dictator Adolf and fascist dictator, they allied themselves with the anti-Communist Germans as the lesser of two evils.

    The naked aggression of the modern day Russian empire is the same as both Joseph and Adolf, and the free nations of the world need to work together to thwart his ambitions.

    • News flash: ‘Finland not communist or fascist nazi, but internet user ‘Miner49er’ celebrates a dark past of fascist nazi leaning government in Finland gleefully with copy-n-paste in internet blog comment’

      • I’m sure that Miner and his other alter-egos are looking forward to Herr Bribem’s latest multi billion dollar executive order to forgive student loan debt, completely bypassing congress yet again. Maybe now he/they will be able to leave mom’s basement – although there’s free internet there. Maybe soon he/ they’ll also get a nearly free highly subsidized electric vehicle from the most so-shull-ist administration in US history to transport his laptop and 3 beercases of belongings in.

      • Enemy of my enemy minor troll. Besides the swastikas were used for a thousand years prior to the not zees. Duh…

      • Finland participated in WWII initially in a defensive war against the Soviet Union, followed by another, this time offensive, war against the Soviet Union acting in concert with Nazi Germany. Then after realizing the error of their ways when Germany wanted more out of the ‘first date relationship’ they had, they fought with the Allies against Germany.

        Ya didn’t mention the Allies though did you.

        For those that do not recognize the name ‘Adolf SchickleGruber’: Its Miner49er thinking he is being clever with a play on names, but basically…..

        ‘Alois Hitler’, the father of Adolf Hitler, was born ‘Alois Schicklgruber’ (his actual birth father is unknown although there have been some suspects. Schicklgruber was his mothers maiden name and that’s what was used on the birth certificate thus ‘Alois Schicklgruber’). In mid 1876 he asked permission to use his stepfather’s family name of ‘Hiedler’ (Johann Georg Hiedler, who had married his mother and now wished to legitimize him). So Alois went to the parish priest in Döllersheim and asserted that his father was Johann Georg Hiedler. The priest agreed to amend the birth certificate. The civil authorities automatically processed the church’s decision and Alois Schicklgruber had a new name of Alois Hiedler. But there was a problem, when the official change by the civil authorities as registered at the government office in Mistelbach and basically there was a ‘mistake’ (intentional or not is unknown) and ‘Hiedler’ became ‘Hitler’ therefore in official records ”Alois Hitler’. In 1889 (after the official name change for his father) Adolf was born and his fathers official name of ‘Alois Hitler’ was used on the birth certificate (https://www.hitler-archive.com/photo.php?p=ovki51vg), thus came ‘Adolf Hitler’ so in reality in context with the use by Miner49er there was no such person as ‘Adolf SchickleGruber’ and as usual Miner49er trying to deceive again.

        • Good to see someone spell out the entirety of history to Minor49er rather than just handpick parts to his liking.
          That is the difference between objective and subjective thinking.
          Thanks!

      • Since History Confirms Gun Control is a nazi, racist, communist agenda it’s quite easy to see where useful idiots like minor49iq come from.

      • “copy-n-paste in internet blog comment’“

        Nope, I didn’t copy and paste any Internet blog comment.

        I posted information about Finland’s alliance with the Nazis during World War II.

        Hey, I like the Finns, great folks. But as I stated, they selected what they thought was the lesser of two evils and allied with Adolf in Germany. I used Adolf’s real name because the censor sometimes has an issue with his assumed name.
        It seems some folks are offended when I use his actual name, I admit it’s not a very flattering surname but I could give a shit less about his feelings… Or yours.

        “In fact, Finland allied itself with Nazi Germany during the second world war not to prevent Soviet conquest but to win back territories lost to the USSR as a result of the winter war of 1939-40. The peace treaty that ended the war in March 1940 left Finnish independence intact. It was the reckless act of joining the Nazi attack on the USSR that endangered Finland’s national existence and cost tens of thousands of lives. In 1944-45 the Red Army could have occupied Finland with impunity, but Stalin chose not to, mainly because Finnish leaders admitted their error and pledged neutrality and friendship with the Soviet Union. “Finlandisation”, as it was called, enabled Finland to remain free of Soviet domination and communist takeover.
        Geoffrey Roberts
        Emeritus professor of history, University College Cork, National University of Ireland“

        https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/23/why-finland-allied-itself-with-nazi-germany

        And you were being disingenuous when you suggest the the Finns used the swastika because it has been used for 1000 years.

        The Finns used the swastikas so their allies, the Germans who had troops stationed in Finland, would not shoot down their aircraft.

        Interestingly, those swastikas were painted on American-manufactured Brewster Buffalos, which were also used by the USMC against the Japanese in the Pacific.

        .

        .

        “”Good to see someone spell out the entirety of history to Minor49er“

        Oh yes, by all means, please spell out the entirety of history for me, I’ll wait right here.

    • The US has always loved fascism.
      We had bipartisanship love for Mussolini and Hitler.
      Our centers of higher learning protected and even praised them. Our media gushed over them.
      Fascism was the answer to all of the worlds problems. Including protecting the environment .
      We loved them so much we brought a bunch here to continue shaping our government, schools and industries.

      It’s entirely laughable that anyone left or right would pretend to be anti-fascist when our society top to bottom has been shaped by fascist ideals since the beginning of the 1900’s. Our perception is so skewed that people think expressing a point of view is now fascist and must be censored and the person expressing it should be excommunicated or locked away. That using force of government in hand with a manipulative media to project and surreptitiously enforce an official lifestyle or approved set of ideals is NOT fascist.

      Everyone is doing to everyone else all the time and everyone is claiming that everyone else is the real fascist.

      They won WWII. The entire globe is living under a fascist order. A bunch of fascists who vehemently deny their fascism yet paint their perceived enemies as being reincarnations of Mussolini and Hitler. A Mexican standoff of tyrants and imbeciles.

      It’d be hilarious if it weren’t so depressing.

    • Yes yes everything you don’t like is Nazis we get it, don’t particularly care but thanks for the input relevant or not.

    • And once again Miner is rolling snowballs down the hill that’s three hills away from where he started a snowball fight.
      Typical leftie move.

  3. completely lifted from ammoland?
    this surfaced at knifenews as well.
    “a valmet in a helmet!” -ashley
    sako is no slouch either.

  4. Hey,

    Be wary of anybody who used to have a battle cry of “Hack them down”. Finns have always been tough. Glad they are still on our side:)

  5. The myth of the American Minute Man has endured for years as part of the Far Right’s fantasies for generations now. In reality it was the professional French Army and Navy that won America’s revolution, not a bunch of untrained and poorly trained local militia hillbillies led by a totally incompetent general, Georgie Boy.

    In reality armed civilians are not trained soldiers and they are often a hindrance rather than a help to the home professional army in wartime. And civilians are easy prey for a professionally trained army whoes swift annihilation of them only gives a psychological boost to the invading army i.e. they make good target practice for the invading army.

    It was Finland’s well trained and well supplied army that stopped the Russians cold in their tracks, not a few Finnish civilians waving puukko knives in the Russians faces.

    • darcydodo…Since you obviously assume you can look down your pompous democRat nose at an armed citizenry I challenge you to get a box and go door to door in your neighborhood and tell the occupants to put their firearms in your official Gun Control Bozo Box. Don’t be surprised when some home schooling Mom flattens your pinhead with a frying pan.

    • Such ignorance. Ho Chi Minh copied George Washington’s strategy to the letter and won his war the same as George won his.

      When faced with overwhelming force simply surviving each battle is a victory. Both men held out until their much superior enemies gave up and went home.

      The French would not have even gotten involved if Washington had not survived the first two years.

      You’ve found another way to tell us you are uneducated and low iq, dacian.

      • And now we have our High School Dropout Jethro the Janitor is attempting to give us a history lesson. Jethro you are a laugh a minute.

        Mr. Minh’s country Vietnam has been fighting invaders as far back as 1,000 years ago. The Vietnamese fought the Chinese 4 times. I suggest you look up George Washington’s year of birth to understand the stupidity of your statement on Ho Chi Minh copying any of Washington’s hair brain military tactics. Washington lost more battles than he won and was almost captured twice. And I might add the French Generals had to get down on their knees to convince him to send even a token amount of American troops to the battle of Yorktown. Washington by the way did not even bother to show up for that battle. I suppose he was home diddling his old lady.

        You are out of your league Jethro.

        • Washington died almost 100 years before Uncle Ho was born. Unlike you Ho was smart enough to use tactics that worked regardless of where they came from.

          Every comment you make screams “I am an ignorant fascist bumpkin with no understanding of history”.

          If your social worker did not see to it you were fed and clothed you would have died years ago.

        • dacian the demented dipsh*t,

          COOL STORY, BRO!!! Now tell us how uneducated and untrained Vietnamese and Afghan peasants defeated the “mighty” US military, you complete ignoranus. It would be lovely if you would someday pick up an actual book and obtain some knowledge, but unfortunately, you lack the ability.

          What is you degree in, dacian?? You used to tout your faux “education”, but you’ve gotten off of that kick since I, and others, have been calling you out about it. You are an uneducated moron, but more importantly, you are simply stupid. You are too dumb to pour p*ss out of a boot, with the instructions writtten on the heel. But your oft-repeated idiocies are excellent fodder for mocking you, so I am well content with you continuing to parade your lack of knowledge, education, or ability of ratiocination so flagrantly. Frankly, you’re a hoot to point and laugh at. Someday, perhaps when you move out of your mommie’s basement, you will begin to grasp a glimmer of a clue . . . but the smart money ain’t bettin’ that way, is it??

          You are a drooling, ranting ignoranus of a moron. At least MajorLiar, prevaricating propagandist as he is, has at least a PASSING acquaintance with the English language. Even jsled, the drive-by troll, is more articulate than are you, you complete, drooling imbecile.

        • lil d’, you are a laugh a minute. I bet you get a hard-on for a solid month just dreaming you could have replaced Paul Revere, riding the streets of Concord yelling ” The Saviors are coming, The Saviors are coming!! “

        • And now we have The Lamp that went out in his head”. The guy who claimed to have 4 law degrees and wrote numerous books none of which he can seem to remember the titles too. See a Shrink your posts prove you need help.

        • “Now tell us how uneducated and untrained Vietnamese and Afghan peasants defeated the “mighty” US military“

          Sure, the Vietnamese did it the same way they did it to the Chinese four times over the last 2000 years.

          The Afghani did it the same way they did it to Russia, the United States and Britain… Twice.

          Foolish Curtis Lemay said he would “bomb the Vietnamese back to the Stone Age… “. Not realizing they were already there and adapted to the conditions.

        • “I bet you get a hard-on”

          It’s really creepy the way you folks are always posting about other men’s genitalia, you really should get a hobby other than thinking about same sex erotic activities.

      • I get the impression dacian is here for the attention, even if it’s negative. He’s not here for the conversation.

        Much like his being at the antifa barracks banjo recitals. He’s not there for the music.

    • Wow! dacian, just go kill yourself now because if you don’t that stupid and ignorance is going to do it for you.

      • .40 cal,

        Yes, eventually, the realities of Darwinian evolution will catch up with dacian the demented. The wheels of justice grind slow, but they grind exceeding fine. I am praying to God that dacian is unable to/too stupid to, reproduce. We have enough drooling morons walking around, as it is.

    • LOL you think conventional warfare will be relevant on US soil? Oh man do you have some fun surprises to find in just Army doctrine on that topic.

  6. This is interesting. I have a cousin who will be in Finland in a few months. His wife is speaking at a conference. This is a fairly regular thing, especially Europe. He always tries to take the time to check out the local gun/hunting & fishing/law enforcement culture. Usually makes for a couple of interesting conversations when he gets back.

  7. This phrase jumped out at me “There are approximately 1.5 million registered firearms”.
    The Fins still don’t get it, but neither does the US. BAFTE should be promoting firearms production, sales and training, not hindering it. And, where are those ranges that the Pittman-Robinson Act is collecting money for? I don’t hunt, but I sure pay taxes.

  9. Went to Helsinki last year for the first time. I really enjoyed the trip. Learned a lot about a country that I hadn’t really ever thought about.

    First big surprise, Russia is very, very nearby, and many of them do not like the country Russia. Second big surprise, a lot of Russians work in Finland, and many of them like the Russians that they know.

    And finally, they have intentionally preserved the scars of previous wars. Buildings and bridges pockmarked with bullet scars. History is raw and real. Housing codes that require bomb shelters. The large industrial plant that I was at also had one.

    Even in the midst of that, it was about a 50/50 split of those that thought guns were icky and those that wished they could have what we have.

    I hope to return again someday.

      • jwm,

        “I can ABSOLUTELY rely on the government” – they will absolutely roger me right up the poop chute, every chance they get. Reagan was not wrong with his observation that the nine scariest words in the English language are “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help!”. Or, as my dear daddy (a lifelong, yellow-dog Democrat) used to say “The government could f*ck up a one-car parade!”. Why he continued to vote for idiot Dimocrats is beyond me.

Comments are closed.