Responding to a school massacre in Finland and other deadly shootings, European Union lawmakers yesterday overwhelmingly backed tighter gun control rules that make buying and possessing firearms more difficult across the 27-nation bloc.

Under the guidelines, updating rules from 1991, only people over 18 will be able to buy and keep guns, with the exception of firearms for hunting and target shooting under the guidance of an adult.

EU member states will be required to keep computer files with data on each firearm, such as type, model, caliber, serial number and names and addresses of both the supplier and the buyer, including on guns bought through the Internet. Data will have to be kept for at least 20 years.