Review of Arms Act and Arms policy

[m24]

My knowledge w.r.t the Arms Act is negligible. Can somebody with greater knowledge on the Arms Act take the pain to draft a single letter, which:
a) can be be copied by all members who want a say in the Review of the Arms Act, and
b) then send it from their respective email ids to [email protected]?

Members can also add their views with this common response and send it.

Regards

[winnie_the_pooh]

Well they are shafting all the licensees

Here are the proposals aimed at doing this

Proliferation of arms and ammunition in the country disrupt the social order and development. The proliferation of arms, whether licensed or illegal, vitiates the ‘Law and Order’ situation. Holding of sophisticated arms by the conflicting parties directly contributes towards lethality of violent acts. Therefore, in principle, proliferation of arms needs to be curbed. In this context, there is a compelling need to review the provisions of Arms Act/Arms Rules with regard to grant of arms licences for possession of arms and ammunition by individuals and manufacture of fire arms in the country.

Since it is considered very essential that police verification report is taken into consideration before giving arms licence to anyone, it has been decided to delete the proviso to Section 13 (2A). Steps will be taken to delete the said proviso. It has also been decided that it will be incumbent on the part of Police Authorities to send the verification report to the Licensing authority within a period of 60 days. Thus, the Licensing Authority shall wait until the expiry of the prescribed time for the police verification report to be received. If the police report is not received within the prescribed period of 60 days, the Licensing Authority will remind the police authorities of their obligation and demand a report forthwith, but issue arms licence only on receipt of the police report.

It has been decided to prescribe a uniform norm and allow 50 cartridges of the appropriate bore per annum in respect of PB and NPB weapons held by licensees. However, in respect of PB and NPB weapons allowed under the family heirloom policy, the quantity of ammunition will be restricted to 30 cartridges per annum since, ordinarily, there is no threat to the legal heir and the weapon is transferred to him on sentimental grounds. A higher quantity of ammunition will be allowable on merits in exceptional cases for good and sufficient reasons to be given by the licensee, with the approval of Secretary (Home Department) of the State concerned.

been decided that each State Government may prescribe reporting on use of ammunition by the licensee and devise reporting mechanism under which each licensee may keep a record of the use of ammunition with him such as (i) date of use, (ii) place, (iii) number of bullets fired and (iv) purpose. The licensee may report use of ammunition during the previous year before purchase of ammunition in the current year to the authority concerned as per procedure to be prescribed by the State Government. Thus, the quantity of ammunition in a year shall be limited to the use of the ammunition in the previous year so that the total quantity with a licensee shall not exceed the prescribed quantity at any time. For example, if a licensee under the threat perception category had not used any ammunition in the previous year against the quota of 50 cartridges, no fresh quota for the current year will be admissible. The State Governments may issue appropriate instructions to the licensees and all the arms dealers in the State in this regard. A report on the use of ammunition by licensees may be sent by each DM to the State Government concerned on a quarterly basis and a consolidated report may be sent by the State Government to MHA on an annual basis.

Area Validity of arms licences – In respect of Prohibited Bore (PB) weapons, extension of area validity from one State to more than one State or all-India basis is considered by the Central Government on merits

It has been decided to advise the State Governments to allow area validity upto a maximum of three adjoining States and also to consider AIV requests at State level for (i) sitting Union Ministers/MPs, (ii) Personnel of Military, Para-Military, (iii) officers of All-India Services and (iv) officers with liability to serve anywhere in India. AIV may be allowed for 3 years, after which it shall be reconsidered by the State Government based on need and the area validity can be either reduced or allowed to continue for another three years. Request from above categories of applicants may be approved at the level of Secretary (Home) of the State concerned

In the cases of applicants not covered by the above categories, the State Government shall seek prior concurrence of MHA with full justification in deserving cases. All India Validity may be allowed for three years in such cases and shall be re-considered after 3 years by the State Government with prior concurrence of MHA. The State Government may send data of All-India validity on quarterly basis to MHA.

at the time of renewal, re-verification of antecedents will be done by the DM through police authorities (i) in cases where DM/Licensing Authority have any doubt, (ii) in other cases after six years i.e. every alternate cycle, when the licence comes up for renewal, and (iii) in all those cases where the licence has been issued by another licensing authority. In the last mentioned case, verification of the issue of licence from the issuing authority may also be stipulated along with police verification, before allowing renewal. Police authorities will be allowed a period of 60 days to send their report.

What it means:-

1.All licensees are in the same category as criminals.All arms whether licensed or illegal are a threat to the law and order of the country.

2.A license can only be issued when a police report is received in this regard and the licensing authority has to abide by the police report.

3.All India license can only be granted to MP's,Union Ministers,IAS and IPS officers,army men and paramilitary officers,and those who can be posted to any part of the country.It shall be valid for a maximum of three states and the AIV will have to be renewed every three years.For any one who does not meet this criteria AIV shall be granted only with the approval of the MHA.

4.Max quota for SD license is 50 cartridges and 30 in case it is granted on heirloom basis.The quota can only be increased by the state home ministry.The licensee will have to maintain a record of where he/she has fired the ammo.on which date,the no. of shots fired and the reason for firing it.The next year he/she will have to give proof of using the ammo and he/she shall be allowed to buy only as much ammo in that year as he/she has been able to fire the previous year.

[goodboy_mentor]

Nothing much to say. Because we anyways are so frustrated with all that is happening and this is like a icing on the cake.

Please do not give up in frustration, this is just a draft policy, please do give your opinion, it will make a difference. Let us come up with a draft of the reply.

Following are the points I will be working on for reply/opinion to MHA:

Please refer http://indiansforguns.com/viewtopic.php ... 468#p87468

[goodboy_mentor]

Following are the points I will be working on for reply/opinion to MHA:

1)India already has one of the tightest gun control laws in the world and crime is increasing every year. The reason is simple, criminals/terrorists always get illegal firearms and law abiding citizens have been "controlled" by the Arms Act. Controlling weapons by legislation is only going to control weapons going into the hands of law abiding citizens, who anyways have no intention to commit a crime. It is just like controlling prostitution by legislation. Government should give up the policy of needlessly trying to "control" this sector as it has practically failed and has been counter productive. Criminals/terrorists anyways having no respect for Arms Act etc., have unlimited access to illegal, cheap/high quality military style firearms like AK-47/hand grenades/RPGs/explosives etc. as they are in no way or form dependent on legal firearms for their crimes. So called arms "control" only helps the terrorists/criminals because it assures them that their victims are unarmed to defend themselves and they can commit crime with confidence.
2)Arms licensing should be made objective rather than subjective dependent on the personal perception of the licensing authority, if a person is not insane, nor absconding from the law and submitting proof of Identity and Residence, there is no reason why he should not be allowed to defend his life and be issued Arms License. The provision of "Police Report" is pointless, if the person is not an absconder from the law, then state has no right to violate Article 25 of the Constitution by denying firearm license, indirectly denying any citizen to defend his life from criminals. The question of "threat perception is again a very vague concept, does any victim of crime have any prior information of crime going to happen? Did the victims of 26/11 in Mumbai have any prior so called "Threat perception", did they not have the right to be armed and defend their lives. Same logic goes for victim of every single violent crime against every citizen. The concept of "Threat" or "no threat" should be removed, moreover there have been numerous rulings by Ho'ble High Courts that while issuing firearm licenses this should not be taken into account as life of any citizen can come under threat from any unknown quarter without any prior information.
3)It is a known fact that terrorists do not apply for an Arms License and then legally import weapons, instead they smuggle in military style firearms like AK 47 etc., hence the import of firearms by Arms License holders should be opened up. An arms license holder is anyways going to get a firearm, then how does it matter if he buys from the local market or duly imports them?
4)Creating a national database of arms is not going to serve the actual purpose of controlling crime. It will be a waste of taxpayer's money, invading their privacy by collecting needless information. It is like creating a national database of automobiles in India to control rash driving. It is a known fact that majority of the crimes committed by criminals/terrorists are with illegal weapons which the government anyways will not be able to get them into the database. Net result will be harassment of the law abiding arms license holders not only at local Thana level, but also be at the "National" level.
5)Arms licenses by default should be "All India". If every citizen of this country has the right to travel to anywhere in the country, then why should he be prevented from defending his life anywhere in the country?
6)The concept of "Prohibited Bore" and "Non Prohibited Bore" cartridges was created by the British as they did not trust Indians in Armed Forces. It was done with the reason to ensure that in event of possible mutiny by Indian population the cartridges used by the Armed Forces cannot be used in civilian firearms. Hence any cartridge used by Armed Forces was a "Prohibited Bore" It is contrary to the common perception PB bore cartridges are ballistically superior. 7.62*51 mm is PB, but 30-06 is NPB, both are ballistically identical. This concept does not hold today as Armed Forces never supply cartridges to terrorists etc., moreover terrorists prefer to use PB bore cartridges due to their easy and cheap availability all over the world except India. This concept of PB & NPB bore should be done away, since if Armed Forces and civilians use identical cartridges, in even of any war the 2nd line of defense(by civilians) will not need a 2nd line of production and supply by Indian government.

[m24]

Hi goodboy_mentor,

Other than the last line in point no. 6, everything else looks great. Referring to Pakistan Govt. acknowledgement on the PB issue will not help the cause.

Regards

[warthog]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 382617.cms

NEW DELHI: Amid reports of many arms licence holders misusing their legal weapons in one or the other way, the Centre has come out with a comprehensive draft to bring changes in the existing arms and ammunition policy for individuals -- suggesting scores of new provisions ranging from setting up a national database of licensees to making the police verification exercise strict and mandatory.


now you are all criminals.
the so called NATGRID will have 21 types of data and also your phone and net logs and all this is being done without warrant.

[goodboy_mentor]

Thanks for pointing, I have amended it. Requesting all to read/modify/add/correct and email to MHA with opinion.

[goodboy_mentor]

This matter is already been discussed at http://indiansforguns.com/viewtopic.php ... 3&start=22

[vkjalan]

Gr8 going. You have covered most of the points.

Just a request to the admin of IFG.

Please forward the final draft of the letter which needs to be sent to the MHA. to all the IFGians. so that we could all forward it to the concerned authorities.

I am also going to send the draft along with the RKBA which was sent me to me sometime back.

We all have had enough already... And now new means to harass the common tax payers.

[Anand]

Hello Gentlemen,
could not resist writing to Mr. Sudhir Malhotra immediately after I read the entire draft policy . My email to the gentleman is a mishmash of what I posted here earlier and some more points. Below is what I wrote to him:

"To,
Shri S.K. Malhotra,
Deputy Secretary,
Ministry of Home Affairs,
9th Floor, Lok Nayak Bhawan,
Khan Market, New Delhi

Sir,
As a current Arms Licensee in good standing, I decided to write to you after reading the Draft Arms & Ammunition Policy (No.11026/16/2009-Arms). Undoubtedly, what I am about to say will ruffle a few feathers, but as a conscientious citizen of our great country it is part of my duty to intervene when I feel that the government may be taking the path of least resistance rather than doing the right thing.

Unfortunately, if some one advocates beneficial changes in the Arms Law such as removing some of the unnecessary and ridiculous requirements/rules, then they may be termed as radical or proposing making it easier for criminals to get arms. However, please consider the following:

"3. Proliferation of arms and ammunition in the country disrupt the social order and development. The proliferation of arms, whether licensed or illegal, vitiates the ‘Law and Order’ situation."

The above statement is irresponsible and shows bias. If the above case were true, then neither the Police nor the Military should possess arms. Since we all know how impractical and dangerous that would be to our society, statements like this should be refrained from. Especially since the original purpose and spirit of the Arms Act 1959 was to allow easier access of legitimate Arms to Indian citizens after duly complying with the requirements of licensing, who had been treated with unfairness and arbitrariness by British through the previous Arms Act of 1878. It means the above statement does not differenciate between a criminal and a licensee,then what is the reason for a police verification? Any change in the law or policy should only make the process less cumbersome to the licensee not treat him like a criminal.

"4. Acquisition and Possession of Firearms by individuals:..Section 3(2) permits a person to acquire, have in his possession or carry at any time not more than three firearms."

While this is part of the changes made to the law in 1983 and not directly related to the above, I would still like you to think about this. If a person wanted to commit a crime or cause havoc even one firearm is sufficient, so how does limiting a licensee to 3 firearms make the situation any better?
If I can be trusted with 3 firearms then why not 5 or 10? It only goes to show that a bias against firearms existed then and seems to be continuing even now.

"14. Quantity of ammunition permitted under various categories-..It has been decided to prescribe a uniform norm and allow 50 cartridges of the appropriate bore per annum in respect of PB and NPB weapons held by licensees."

When a person has undergone a police verification and has been granted a license on the merit that, allowing him to possess a firearm will not pose a threat to any other person, how will limiting him to 50 cartridges or for that matter 100 or even 200 cartridges make a difference? For any person who is expected to maintain a basic level of accuracy or proficiency with a firearm, 50 cartridges per year is not sufficient, any target shooter, shooting competitor or Police/Defence officer will be able to vouch for that.

"15. Area Validity of arms licences-..All India Validity may be allowed for three years in such cases and shall be re-considered after 3 years by the State Government with prior concurrence of MHA."

What is the logic in this proposed change in policy for licensees who have gone to the trouble of getting the All India Validity from their respective state Home Departments? Who has caused such a violation or misused this part of the law to warrant such a change? Any threat real or perceived to the licensee does not stop at the state or district border. If a driver's license is valid through out India, why not an Arms license? After all, automobiles kill more people in India than firearms do.

"24. Import of arms & ammunition- Import of fire-arms is under restricted list of import issued by DGFT, which allows import in deserving cases. It has been decided to continue with the existing policy on imports."

This earlier law has done nothing but drive the prices of existing imported firearms higher and create a black market of sorts. The one and only manufacturer of rifled firearms in India, the IOF produces supposedly world class firearms, but ask any Arms dealer or licensee regarding the quality of these and the answer will be different. It is a fact that IOF produced civilian arms have not won any international competitions or medals. This sort of monopoly is detrimental to quality. The possible revenue generated by allowing import of firearms by licensees is considerable, it will also keep local manufacturers on their toes because of competition.


Each time a situation occurs where the criminal use of illegal arms takes place, the first thing done is to penalise all legitimate arms licensees with more ridiculous rules and requirements.This is neither beneficial nor according to the spirit and essence of the Arms Law.

The law must be analysed systematically and in an unbiased manner to see where and how the criminal element may be procuring their arms, this must be plugged if not already addressed adequately. If enforcement is not adequate how will new laws make any difference? How are all these new rules and regulations making any difference to the terrorists and criminal elements? Only the law abiding licensees are being made to jump through more and more hoops which is ridiculous.

Legitimate arms licensees must be benefited from any changes to the Arms Law and difficulties caused for criminals. Not inordinate inconveniences caused to legitimate gun owners while the criminal element laughs at the whole situation.

Changes in law such as the above draft policy should not be done merely in order to appear as if the Government is doing something about a given bad situation rather really do something that will make a difference. Consider, even if 5 armed licensees were at the Taj in Mumbai when the terrorists attacked, instead they became sitting ducks because of the already difficult process of getting an Arms License. Now the Government wants to make it even more cumbersome. Please let better sense prevail instead of a knee-jerk reaction sprinkled with a fear and bias against firearms.

Yours Truly,
G.V.Sivanand "

Forgive me for jumping the gun , but I just could not resist,
Regards,
Anand

[art_collector]

14. Quantity of ammunition permitted under various categories

Each State Government may prescribe reporting on use of ammunition by the licensee and devise reporting mechanism under which each licensee may keep a record of the use of ammunition with him such as (i) date of use, (ii) place, (iii) number of bullets fired and (iv) purpose. The licensee may report use of ammunition during the previous year before purchase of ammunition in the current year to the authority concerned as per procedure to be prescribed by the State Government. The State Governments may issue appropriate instructions to the licensees and all the arms dealers in the State in this regard. A report on the use of ammunition by licensees may be sent by each DM to the State Government concerned on a quarterly basis and a consolidated report may be sent by the State Government to MHA on an annual basis.

This can be tough ,I mean tracking where did you fire a cartridge,the time, date and place.Thats just one part of the story,a report has to be sent to the DM, who then reports it to the State which would eventually send it to the MHA.I still can't figure out what does MHA do with the mind boggling statistics.If Mr.X fired a blank cartridge on celebration of the birth of his grandson what use would this information be to the MHA.It would be better if we had tougher laws for people producing illegal firearms. One often reads of illegal firearms being produced in so many cities.

In Delhi licences have ammunition limits varing from 10 to 5000 cartridges at a time, and the large number of licences who would have to report where was the ammo used .I can imagive the strain the Licensing branch would go under even though it is one of the few computerised licensing authorities.

Guess the intention of keeping a track was Ok when it was being drafted ,but what was overlooked was that one is talking of a whole country..every licencee and every cartridge....quite a waste of time and effort .

[m24]

MHA's played it smart by bringing this during the holidays and giving 06/01/2010 as cut off date for responses, as most people would be partying, holidaying and all that jazz. The no. of responses would be negligent and they would have their way with it. So, people who already have licences and own guns and people who want to have license and own guns, please get up from your hibernation / slumber and either send your own response or copy the one posted by goodboy_mentor and send it to MHA.

Regards

[shadow]

Dear Comrades

This is what appeared in TOI Mumbai edition. Some bad news especially for those who want to apply for a licence, henceforth the rules are going to be more stringent

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/ ... =HTML&GZ=T

Regards,
Shadow

[vkjalan]

AIV requests of sitting Union ministers, MPs, paramilitary personnel, officers of All-India Services and officers with liability to serve anywhere in India


- Don't these people usually have security anyways. Another Idiotic Move.

[shadow]

Precisely VKJ. What can we do to stop this? Or is it too late??

Regards,
Shadow