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Shop owner fined for selling illegal knives
TheCopenhagenPost
May 18th, 2015
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One-handed knives get shopkeeper in hot water
One-handed knives of any size are illegal in Denmark (photo: Nesusvet)
A shopkeeper from Tommerup on Funen was fined 100,000 kroner for selling illegal knives.
The knives from Tommerup Hunting and Fishing were illegal because they can be opened with one hand. That type of knife is illegal in Denmark regardless of blade size.
Critics of the decision have pointed out that, in extreme cases, the law could render a corkscrew with a foil cutter illegal.
Neither the defence council nor the prosecution was surprised by the decision.
“It could not have gone any other way,” said Klaus Holten Kristensen, a prosecutor for Funen Police.
“For any other outcome, either the justice department or parliament has to change the law.”
Ministry examining laws
Defence lawyer Jakob Lund Poulsen was surprised at the severity of the fine, but not the verdict.
“The law is the law,” he said. “I hope that politicians wake up to the unfairness of these rules.”
The Justice Ministry seems to be listening to the criticism. Representatives met with hunting groups last week and asked the National Forensic Centre to examine different types of knives.
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