A majority of Members of the Netherlands Parliament are supporting a recommendation from the public security council that applicants for a gun ownership license prove they are psychologically healthy before they can obtain a license.

In the Netherlands gun ownership is not a right but a privilege, with hunting and target shooting the only two legitimate reasons for owning a gun. Self-defense is not considered a legitimate reason for owning a gun and only the police may openly carry a firearm.

The public security council made its recommendation after the April 2011 supermarket shooting spree by a man with a history of psychiatric problems. The shootings in Norway also prompted greater gun control efforts.

Under Dutch law, the police may reject a gun license application if the would-be gun owner is unfit. The recommended change in the law would place the onus on gun owners to prove that they are mentally stable before they apply for a gun license.

The people who witnessed or were injured in the supermarket shooting spree in Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands are suing the state for damages. They say the state was wrong to give the 24 year-old shooter, Tristan van der Vlis, a gun owner's license because of his known history of psychiatric problems. Police were aware of his mental instability because they had committed Van der Vlis to a psychiatric clinic in 2006. Nonetheless, police granted him a license for several firearms.

The investigation into the shooting spree revealed that Van der Vlis was a paranoid schizophrenic who suffered repeated bouts of depression. He had twice attempted suicide in 2008.

Van der Vlis went on a three-minute rampage with an automatic rifle firing over 100 rounds at supermarket shoppers in April 2011, killing seven and injuring 16 more before turning a handgun on himself.

Although rare, shootings and gun violence are not unknown in the Netherlands. In 1999 four students and a teacher were injured during a school shooting incident and in 2004 a teacher was shot dead by a student.

Only Dutch citizens who are hunters, members of shooting sports clubs, or licensed collectors may obtain licenses for firearms. The Netherlands has 781 gun clubs with a total 42,290 members. Dutch gun ownership is extremely low, with only three firearms per hundred people.

The Dutch gun club association supports tighter checks on gun license owners and has introduced a tip line for possible problem cases.

Private ownership of automatic weapons is illegal in the Netherlands except for licensed collectors.