I’m starting to think that Denmark doesn’t like tattoos.
Back in February, I posted a link to an article about the Danish prison system’s ban on tattoos in the workplace for guards. That was quite surprising considering how liberal of a country Denmark is and that Copenhagen in particular has a strong legacy of very good tattoo artists. I myself still have plans to get to Copenhagen one day in search of the highly skilled Uncle Allan.
Despite this, Copenhagen once again finds itself in the spotlight, this time for handing out a 1,000 kroner ($131 USD, £87 GBP) fine to a tattoo artist who dared to do his job and tattoo a customer’s face. Denmark apparently has a law dating back to 1996 which forbids a tattoo artist from tattooing a person’s head, neck, or hands. All together now: WHAT?
I know, I know…that is completely insane. What really gets me about the whole thing is that the law is from 1996! It wouldn’t be that surprising if the law came from 1886, but 1996? It just blows me away.
I don’t have a lot of information on the issue, but from the information that this tiny article supplies, it seems that the cops were just waiting around outside of the shop to bust the guy who had just had his face tattooed. I guess the cops in Copenhagen don’t have anything better to do. Not that I’m trying to suggest anything disparaging about Copenhagen, but dudes need to sort this one out. A law like that is a total step backwards in time.
If there are any Danes out there who can fill me in more on this story, I’d love to hear from you. In the meantime, come on, Copenhagen. Get rid of that law.