Police officer avoids prison, fined for bringing service pistol to concert

A police officer avoids prison sentence after violating both police guidelines and firearms laws by bringing his service pistol to a concert in his free time.

The 56-year-old officer, shielded by anonymity, brought his service pistol to a dinner at the Field’s shopping center and to a concert at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen one evening in December 2022.

The prosecution sought either conditional or unconditional imprisonment, but the Copenhagen District Court disagreed, instead imposing 10 fines of 500 kroner each on the officer. Had the officer been sentenced as the prosecution desired, he would likely have lost his job in the police force.

He admitted to carrying the pistol but otherwise pleaded not guilty. His explanation was that he feared a mass shooting, such as the one that had occurred at Field’s just over five months earlier, where three people were killed and seven injured.