Danish Home Guard to rearm after terror attack
The Local Denmark - [email protected]
Published: 26 Aug, 2015 CET.
Updated: Wed 26 Aug 2015 08:48 CET
Six months after some 4,300 volunteer members of the Danish Home Guard were told to disassemble their rifles in the aftermath of the Copenhagen terror attacks, members will once again be allowed to keep functioning weapons at home.
The two men who were killed in the February 14-15 terror attack in Copenhagen were shot with a M95 rifle that had previously been stolen from the home of a Danish Home Guard (Hjemmeværnet) member. As a result, the Home Guard in early March required all Home Guard members to turn in the bolts to their rifles, making them unable to be fired.
On Wednesday, it was announced that Home Guard members can once again keep functional weapons in the home. The registered weapons will be equipped with a chamber lock, following the lead of the Swedish and Norwegian volunteer forces. The new safety measures are expected to be fully implemented within one to two years.
The head of the Home Guard, General Major Finn Winkler, said he was satisfied with the decision and pleased that members would once again be able to keep ready weapons at home.
“With this initiative we will markedly improve security, but it will take some time before the solution is fully implemented. We will need to spend millions of kroner and the whole purchasing process will take time,” Winkler said in a press release.
Copenhagen Police say that the rifle that 22-year-old Omar El-Hussein used to kill a man at a Copenhagen cultural centre and another at the city’s main synagogue had been previously stolen in connection with a home robbery of a Home Guard volunteer.
After putting in the call for all members to turn in the bolts to their rifles, the bolts were stored in a central depots throughout the country.
The Danish Home Guard reported a sharp increase in interest in the aftermath of the February shootings.
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The two men who were killed in the February 14-15 terror attack in Copenhagen were shot with a M95 rifle that had previously been stolen from the home of a Danish Home Guard (Hjemmeværnet) member. As a result, the Home Guard in early March required all Home Guard members to turn in the bolts to their rifles, making them unable to be fired.
On Wednesday, it was announced that Home Guard members can once again keep functional weapons in the home. The registered weapons will be equipped with a chamber lock, following the lead of the Swedish and Norwegian volunteer forces. The new safety measures are expected to be fully implemented within one to two years.
The head of the Home Guard, General Major Finn Winkler, said he was satisfied with the decision and pleased that members would once again be able to keep ready weapons at home.
“With this initiative we will markedly improve security, but it will take some time before the solution is fully implemented. We will need to spend millions of kroner and the whole purchasing process will take time,” Winkler said in a press release.
Copenhagen Police say that the rifle that 22-year-old Omar El-Hussein used to kill a man at a Copenhagen cultural centre and another at the city’s main synagogue had been previously stolen in connection with a home robbery of a Home Guard volunteer.
After putting in the call for all members to turn in the bolts to their rifles, the bolts were stored in a central depots throughout the country.
The Danish Home Guard reported a sharp increase in interest in the aftermath of the February shootings.
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