Denmark to consider psychiatric assessment in new firearms law
Denmark’s government is to present a series of measures aimed at tightening gun laws in the Nordic country.
Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard is to present the firearms control proposals including psychiatric assessment for people who want to own guns, media including broadcaster TV2 reported on Sunday.
The announcement from the government comes as the trial into last year’s mass shooting at the Field’s shopping mall in Copenhagen is ongoing. Three people were killed in the shooting.
Specifically, the government wants health records to be included in screening of persons who want to obtain a firearms licence. The justice and health ministries are to look into ways this can be done in practice, according to the reports.
This could mean police would systematically receive relevant information related to psychiatric health for people who already possess or who have applied for a firearms permit.
READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: How gun control laws work in Denmark
Authorities have experience of similar data sharing arrangements with, for example, driving licences, which carry health requirements.
“We don’t want to stigmatise people who are suffering from severe illnesses but in specific and concrete cases it is necessary to be part of the risk assessment when a weapons permit is issued,” Hummelgaard said to TV2.
The idea is not universally welcomed with organisation Bedre Psykiatri (Better Psychiatry) warning it could increase stigmatisation of mental illness.
“If you want to avoid episodes like the Field’s tragedy, you have to ensure better treatment for people with psychiatric diseases,” the organisation’s general secretary Jane Alrø Sørensen said.
It is unclear whether the proposed law would have prevented the Field’s tragedy. The 23-year-old shooter did not possess his own weapons but was able to access his father’s after finding a key to the cabinet in which they were stored.
In addition to background checks, the proposed new weapons laws include stricter punishments for careless storage of weapons and guidelines for shooting clubs and associations in relation to warning signs.
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Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard is to present the firearms control proposals including psychiatric assessment for people who want to own guns, media including broadcaster TV2 reported on Sunday.
The announcement from the government comes as the trial into last year’s mass shooting at the Field’s shopping mall in Copenhagen is ongoing. Three people were killed in the shooting.
Specifically, the government wants health records to be included in screening of persons who want to obtain a firearms licence. The justice and health ministries are to look into ways this can be done in practice, according to the reports.
This could mean police would systematically receive relevant information related to psychiatric health for people who already possess or who have applied for a firearms permit.
READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: How gun control laws work in Denmark
Authorities have experience of similar data sharing arrangements with, for example, driving licences, which carry health requirements.
“We don’t want to stigmatise people who are suffering from severe illnesses but in specific and concrete cases it is necessary to be part of the risk assessment when a weapons permit is issued,” Hummelgaard said to TV2.
The idea is not universally welcomed with organisation Bedre Psykiatri (Better Psychiatry) warning it could increase stigmatisation of mental illness.
“If you want to avoid episodes like the Field’s tragedy, you have to ensure better treatment for people with psychiatric diseases,” the organisation’s general secretary Jane Alrø Sørensen said.
It is unclear whether the proposed law would have prevented the Field’s tragedy. The 23-year-old shooter did not possess his own weapons but was able to access his father’s after finding a key to the cabinet in which they were stored.
In addition to background checks, the proposed new weapons laws include stricter punishments for careless storage of weapons and guidelines for shooting clubs and associations in relation to warning signs.
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