Attorney Aku Sorainen has put together an extensive package of proposed amendments to Estonia's Weapons Act, drawing on conversations with nearly 100 individuals and participating in public consultations organized by the Ministry of the Interior.

"National defense in Estonia matters deeply to me," said Aku Sorainen, a Finnish reserve second lieutenant. "Right now, we're in a somewhat difficult situation, and we haven't fully grasped what broad-based national defense actually means in Estonia."

According to Sorainen, the most fundamental component of cultivating a will to defend the country is skills development.

While in Estonia, gun ownership has typically been viewed as a potential internal security risk, in Finland it is considered part of national defense, Sorainen said. In Finland, there are 11 gun owners per 100 people; in Estonia, that number is just two. Finland also has twice as many shooting ranges, and following the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the country decided to increase the number of ranges by 50 percent.

Sorainen believes Estonia has not been overly strict in its background checks on gun owners — rather, the problems lie elsewhere. "In my view, what's excessive is the way we regulate recreational shooting — how many firearms someone is allowed to have at home if they've already been vetted. That's where we clearly see overregulation," he said.

Security entrepreneur Jaanus Rahumägi argued that any update to the Weapons Act should take into account today's reality, where Estonia borders a country at war.

"The state must trust its citizens by making it easier to purchase firearms than it is today, and allowing people to use them for training purposes, so that they're available at home if ever needed — even in a wartime situation," Rahumägi said.

He believes the bureaucracy surrounding gun permits should be significantly reduced, and he finds it unfair when law-abiding citizens lose their permits over minor technicalities.

"The police need to be given more discretionary power, and we need people in those positions who understand how society functions — and why, in some cases, it's necessary to carefully assess whether revoking someone's permit is truly reasonable," Rahumägi added.

The Ministry of the Interior also admits that the current Weapons Act is outdated, and it is considering ways to make the permit renewal process less burdensome.

"Some rules will definitely remain, including deadlines, but whether they need to stay exactly as they are today is up for debate," said Riita Proosa, a public order adviser at the ministry. "For example, we're considering shifting to a model where the gun permit is treated as a right, meaning that if the physical document expires, the right itself wouldn't necessarily lapse immediately."

There are also plans to expand eligibility for applying for a national defense designation — currently available only to reserve officers and members of the Estonian Defense League.

"That designation allows someone to own high-capacity magazines, which are otherwise prohibited for ordinary citizens. It means you can train with long-barrel firearms and shoot more rounds per reload," Proosa explained.

The Ministry of the Interior aims to complete its draft legislative intent for the Weapons Act by the end of the summer.

The topic of strict gun ownership rules recently resurfaced when ​Siim Tammer, a member of the Financial Supervision Authority's management board, was denied a firearms license renewal by the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) in autumn 2022 due to his inability to submit the required health certificate on time.

The delay was caused by long queues for psychiatric evaluations necessary for the certificate, and the PPA's online system wouldn't accept his application without it. Despite informing the PPA about the anticipated delay, Tammer was instructed to surrender his pistol and retake the firearms exam within three months.

Tammer contested this decision, and the case escalated to the Supreme Court. The court ruled in his favor, stating that administrative bodies must process applications even if they have minor deficiencies, provided the applicant rectifies them within a reasonable time. ​

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