Disposal of weapons

If you want to dispose of your own weapon or a weapon from the estate of a deceased person, you can:

• sell the weapon
• have the weapon deactivated if it is a firearm
• hand the weapon in for destruction

You are not allowed to destroy a weapon yourself. If you want to have a weapon destroyed, you can hand it over to the police.

 

You must then inform the police by calling +45 114 to tell them when you will bring in your weapon. Please cover up the weapon to avoid attracting unnecessary attention.

If you want to sell your weapon, you can either sell it to an arms dealer or a private individual. 

 

If you sell the weapon to an arms dealer, you must make sure that the dealer has an arms dealer licence. When you have transferred the weapon, the arms dealer will contact the Permit Department (Tilladelser) to cancel your weapon certificate.

 

If you sell the weapon to a private individual, you should be aware that the buyer must have a weapon certificate for the weapon before you transfer the weapon. The Permit Department will undertake to deregister you and register the buyer as the new owner of the weapon when he or she applies for a weapon certificate. 

 

If you are selling a smooth-bore shotgun, you must ensure that the buyer has a valid hunting licence for the current hunting season before you transfer the shotgun. Previous registration or permission is not required. We recommend that you report the transfer of the shotgun when the buyer and the seller are together and at the time when the transfer takes place.

 

The registration of the shotgun in the new owner’s name will take place when the Permit Department has processed the new owner’s notification of the acquisition of the shotgun.

You may possess a firearm without having a weapon certificate if the firearm has been deactivated according to the applicable rules. You can deactivate a firearm and objects appearing to be firearms by cutting through the entire firearm lengthwise except from the stock and the butt. 

When the weapon has been cut through, the deactivation must be approved by the local police in your police district. Contact the police on +45 114 to arrange for an inspection.

When someone dies, the closest relatives have four weeks to decide what to do about the deceased person's weapon. You can:

• apply for a certificate for the weapon
• sell the weapon to an arms dealer or a private individual
• hand in the weapon for destruction at the nearest police station
• have the weapon deactivated to allow you to keep the weapon without having a certificate for it.

 

You may store the weapon for up to four weeks after the death of the owner without having to obtain a separate permission. However, you must inform the Weapons Department (Våbenafdelingen) about who is storing the weapon and where it is stored. See contact details.

If you sell the weapon to an arms dealer, you must make sure that the dealer has a valid arms dealer licence. If you sell the weapon to a private individual, the buyer must obtain a certificate for the weapon before you transfer it. However, if weapon is a shotgun, it just needs to be registered by the buyer within eight days of the transfer. In that case, the buyer just has to produce a valid hunting licence before the transfer.

If you have received a letter from the Weapons Department on the occasion of the death of the owner, you must follow the instructions of the letter.