Personal background check

When we process your application, the Weapons and Permit Department will check whether there is any information about you in the police records indicating that giving you access to weapons could be a cause for concern.This is called a personal background check or an assessment of good character and repute.

 

As long as your certificate is in force, the Department will continuously receive information from the police records.

For example, it may be of significance to your application if you have been punished for offences against the person, possession of controlled substances or violation of the weapon legislation, or if you have in any other way displayed a conduct that raises doubt about your ability to handle weapons in a proper and secure manner. If the police are aware that you move in circles considered to cause an insecure environment, this will also be taken into account as it might involve a risk of abuse of weapons.

The rules on personal background checks are set out in section 48 of the Danish Executive Order on Weapons and Ammunition (våbenbekendtgørelsen) on good character and repute and section 18 of the Danish Act on Knives and Bladed and Pointed Articles (knivloven) on good character and repute.

If the police have information about you indicating that giving you access to weapons could be a cause for concern, you will receive a letter. The letter will specify the information on which the assessment is based, and you will be given the opportunity to comment on the information before the Weapons and Permit Department makes a decision on your application. This is also called a consultation procedure.

You can take the opportunity to elaborate on the police's information about you, or add additional information that you want taken into account in the assessment.

If you are charged with a criminal offence, or if the police obtain information about you in any other way, this may be of significance to your application for a weapon certificate. If you are charged with or convicted of offences against the person, possession of drugs or violation of the weapon legislation, the Weapons and Permit Department will assess whether the offence makes it a cause for concern that you have access to weapons.

If so, the Weapons and Permit Department will contact you with a view to withdrawing your certificate. You will be given the opportunity to comment on the information before a decision is made.

A personal background check is a snapshot, and you can apply for a weapon certificate again if you want the Weapons and Permit Department to make a new assessment of your application. For example, any changes to your personal situation could be of significance to the decision made.

The weapons and Permit Department cannot grant any future applications from you until it is assessed to be safe to give you access to weapons. Information about you in the police records for the five-year period leading up to the time of your application are particularly relevant to the decision, but there will be made an individual assessment in each case.

If you have committed a criminal offence, the Weapons and Permit Department will take into account the nature of the offence, the time passed since the offence and your personal situation. In case of serious offences, you will most often have to wait for more than five years to be granted a weapon certificate.

 

If you have been refused due to health reasons, such as mental illness, we cannot say in advance when you will be able to obtain a weapons permit. This depends entirely on how your health and condition develop. We will only be able to grant any application when is no longer considered a concern that you have access to weapons. The Weapons and Permits Department will consider any comments you may have submitted in the assessment, including, for example, a medical opinion.