gun violence

Gun violence denotes violence in which the perpetrator uses a firearm as the means of inflicting injury, or the risk of injury, on another person. Under Danish criminal law the term is not an independent legal definition, but functions as a descriptive label covering acts that are assessed legally under the general assault provisions of the Danish Penal Code (straffeloven). In practice, gun violence will typically fall under the Penal Code § 245 on aggravated assault, since the use of a firearm against a person almost by definition constitutes a bodily attack of a particularly crude, brutal or dangerous nature. The penalty range under § 245 is imprisonment for up to 6 years. In particularly serious cases — for example where the victim suffers significant harm — the matter may be further aggravated or assessed in conjunction with the Penal Code § 246, which concerns aggravated assault under aggravating circumstances and carries a penalty range of imprisonment for up to 10 years.

In case law, gun violence often appears in combination with violations of the firearms legislation, as the possession and use of firearms without lawful authorisation constitutes a separate criminal offence. These two elements are then adjudicated alongside one another and may together result in a considerably higher overall sentence. In criminological and policing contexts, the term is used in particular in connection with gang-related crime, where firearms are a frequently used means, and where the circumstances of the offence may justify further sentence enhancement.