Dangers of weapon's gripping short butt (7)
I believe the answer is:
menaces
'dangers' is the definition.
(I know this)
'weapon's gripping short butt' is the wordplay.
'weapon's' becomes 'mace's'.
'gripping' is an insertion indicator.
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'butt' becomes 'end' (I've seen this in other clues).
'end' with its final letter taken away is 'en'.
'maces' going around 'en' is 'MENACES'.
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for menaces that I've seen before include "Threatens" , "Threats" .)