Indians For Guns

Audi is sponsoring an art show of art inspired by firearms. It's taking place today (Sunday 21st October 2012) in Hyderabad. Posted below is coverage of the event in Hyderabad Times.

GUN LICENSE HOLDERS TO GET A LESSON IN SAFETY

Hyderabad is all set to play host to a first-of-its kind digital art exhibition,which aims at educating gun license holders about the responsibly of using weapons

Dipika Pillay

Remember the horrific Colorado shootings that shocked the world this year or the Jessica Lal murder case where the model bartender was shot dead? What’s common between these cases, and many more like them, is the misuse of weapons. And most often, it’s licensed weapons that are misused.

In fact, instances of youngsters pulling the trigger mindlessly is a reality closer home too. In April 2009, gunshots rang through the campus of Deccan College of Engineering, Hyderabad, when Umedullah Khan, a second-year engineering student opened fire on Mukarram Ali Siddiqui, a rival student leader. Early this year, North India reported numerous cases of firing — some by minors as well!

To prevent such happenings in the future and educate people on the use, abuse and control of the guns, a luxury car brand has come up with the idea of hosting a digital art exhibition. Six artists — Professor RC Sharma, actor Kamal Kamaraju, Yungandhar Tammareddy, Pranati Kahnna, Narayana Douluri and Nikhil Bamrajpet, will display 25 pieces of artworks, including photographs, abstracts inspired by firearms and digital artworks.

Curator Kali Sudheer explains that the time is right to use art as a medium to stimulate the public intellectually and get them thinking about the risks of using guns. “I lived in USA for some time and I’ve observed India is obsessed with any culture that the West adapts. Now, the current flavour is guns. The show aims at creating awareness among gun license holders, youngsters and the general public to think twice before pulling the trigger.”

The artists who are part of the exhibition have used various media to express their thoughts on violence, bloodshed and the need to rein in the raw power that a weapon bestows upon you.

Talking about his artworks, actor-artist, Kamal Kamaraju says, “I’m displaying two of my works. One talks about the primitive use of guns. There was a time, in the good old days, when we used guns as a means for protection. Today, it’s flaunted as a status symbol and used as a mean to exploit the innocent and more often, pulled out when one is in the mood for vengeance.” Kamal adds that while the West is still trying to solve its issue of teenagers going on a rampant killing spree gunning down innocents, India too has had its share of misuse. Art exhibitions such as this, which targets the upwardly mobile who look at a gun license as a musthave, will help raise awareness about the responsibility that comes with holding a licensed weapon, Kamal believes. Prof RC Sharma, another artist who is showcasing two paintings on the same theme, agrees. “My painting has liquor and a female model in the background and the rest of the theme revolves around how the atmosphere is tempting to misuse the gun.” The event to be held this Sunday will witness gun license holders, corporates, celebrities, socialites, administrative officers, polo players, Members of the AP Rifle Association and many others come under one roof to exchange their views on weapons, and the rights and responsibilities that come with them.

[email protected]

http://tinyurl.com/8mzk3zs

Don't miss the negative slant of the article... The author is contending that licensed firearms are the ones most likely to be misused!!

Cheers!
Abhijeet

Gentlemen,

Help me with some arguments and statistics. I am going to reply to this lady, hoping that she wakes up.

Anything like the following would do?
Remember, this is not supposed to be anything more than a reply for her own awareness.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Madam,

I don't know if you would even read it fully but it is my duty to do what I'm doing right now.
This is with regards to your article published in TOI recently :
http://mobiletoi.timesofindia.com/mobil ... blabel=TOI
I am writing to you about a very disturbing point thrust in that article.
Quote - "And most often, it’s licensed weapons that are misused."
I request you to share how you reached at that conclusion and what statistics, arguments you have based it upon.

For now I would put up my case here, hoping that you'd be kind enough to go through it once.

From http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes ... rey-market :-
There has been a sudden surge in the use of firearms by criminals, especially by goons in Chennai...
...."Most of the pistols are brought from states like Bihar and West Bengal which is available in the grey market in the range of Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000, while a licensed one can be obtained for Rs 1 lakh."

Would you like to know what our courts have to say on this matter ?
From http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/ar ... 74288.html
"Only respectable and peaceful persons require license. Moreover, unnecessary rejection of applications for grant of firearm license breeds a tendency to keep unlicensed arms - a greater evil", Justice Khan said.


What do you suggest a common man/woman should do for his/her safety after the Cops say things like the following :-
"Police is not like an 'ATM machine' which can be present at the crime scene the moment one inserts a card in the machine."
Assam DGP Jayanta Narayan Chowdhury on Assam molestation case.

Now, we understand women to be a lesser reckless specie then men.
Let me help you with knowing how the women are feeling and poised towards the 'Gun and Self-Protection' debate :-
From http://week.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/ ... Id=-184841
http://week.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/ ... Id=-184841
http://week.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/ ... Id=-184841
“Today, women and elders need guns more than anyone else. They are the most vulnerable,” says Rahoul Rai, president, National Association for Gun Rights India. He reels off statistics of the police-population ratio (134 policemen for a lakh people). “Several young women live on their own in cities and unfortunately our society is increasingly becoming unsafe. Women are aware of this and feel the need to carry a gun. It is a force equaliser,” he says.
Many women gun owners who spoke to THE WEEK asserted the weapon's ability to make them feel secure. Be it Tiny Bidappa, 66, who learnt to shoot to guard her coconut plantation after being widowed at 41, or Kalpana Saroj, who runs a 03,000 crore business and has been carrying a Webley & Scott revolver for over a decade, or homemaker Kalpita Kapadia, who is not very comfortable with guns but admits that their presence makes her sleep safely when her husband is travelling, each woman with a gun has a tale of how the weapon made a difference to her life.

There's more :
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 344542.cms
Delhi Police has been stumped by the huge number of working women seeking gun licences. The trend is partly a response to the city's lawlessness but may also reflect the growing need of women to be in control, claim senior officers....
....But of late women are citing 'self-defense' to apply for a licence," said an officer in the licencing department.

And more :
http://apps.facebook.com/theguardian/wo ... p-firearms
"I don't have faith in the police to protect me. There are so many attacks on women these days. It's everybody's right to defend themselves. I think all women who are vulnerable should be carrying guns," Sidhu said. She is not alone. A growing number of well-off, educated Indian women are turning to firearms for protection.
..."Imagine all the problems and mishaps which could be avoided if women could defend themselves properly. The females have to be self-armed and protected and should send out a strong message that we are not taking this anymore."

If you're willing, I can present umpteen number of cases where law abiding citizenry saved their lives, family and property by responsible use of licensed fire-arm.
As an example, consider this - Armed Citizen saves Cop http://www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=4527526

As you wanted to remind us of the School and Theatre shoot outs in US, you may also want to look at the fact that all the civilians in these places are legally prevented from carrying Guns.
How does it matter? It does, because criminals adhere to self preservation and Gun into places only where they know there won't be anyone armed to oppose them.

If cities are having lesser licensed Guns, how is it that crime is increasing at such a deadly pace. Kindly have a look :-
In 2003 - http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes ... h-firearms
Over 3 lakh unlicensed guns in Delhi - The Times of India
Officials say legal firearms are used only in stray cases of suicides and domestic violence. Delhi Police estimates that the number of illegal guns is five times higher than the 55,000 licensed guns in the city.

Then in 2010 - http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/ ... =HTML&GZ=T
Delhi Police officers however are in a fix over the circular. ‘‘There are nearly 30,000 licensed firearms in Delhi. Where will all these weapons be stored? And then we will have to depute extra people to guard the weapons when we’re already stretched thin arranging for the Games,” said a senior police officer.

And now the list of fresh licenses issued in Delhi, obtained via RTI http://cic.gov.in/CIC-Orders/WB-05032009-01.pdf :-
2000-01 - 1679
2001-02 - 1517
2002-03 -1623
2003-04 - 1263
2004-05 - 1174
2005-06 - 892
2006-07 - 800

Madam if less licensed Guns would make the society safer, then countries like UK would be the safest in the world - being heavens of Gun control.
But hey, look at this - London is now more dangerous than the crime notorious 'Harlem' area of New York.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... arlem.html
....in Harlem last year there were just 5.9 robberies per 1,000 residents. Across London the figure was 7.4 attacks.

So much for the Gun control.

Now that we're talking about crime and your article, would it be possible for you to suggest me what the IPC sections 96 to 106 expect of me and how the citizenry like me can enable itself to carry it out.

While India is still dragging much of the colonial baggage in Gun laws, allow me to share how the Russians reacted to Colorado movie shooting :-
From - http://rt.com/news/firearms-russia-public-use-063/
The principle behind the drafted bill allowing the private use of handguns is “my home is my castle,” so any invasion of private space could be met with loaded barrels...
...To have the right to use handguns, Russians would have to prove they are not mentally ill, have no criminal record, are not addicted to alcohol or drugs and undergo special training.


And now finally lets hear from the horse's mouth this time, to draw a clear line between the real culprits in Gun violence and the victims of Gun phobia.
From : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 509277.cms
An officer (cop) told TOI that illegal weapons outnumber legal ones in the city eight to one, and more than 90% of violent crimes in Delhi are committed using unlicensed guns.

Isn't it unbelievable that this came from the same paper. If it were views of the people, the contradictions are obvious and understandable.
But that is not the case here. It is a direct judgmental statement in the article, like a gospel but coming from God knows where.
I am completely lost at figuring how can someone reach such a conclusion in public media and that too without providing a line of reasoning.
For the next time when you write as a journalist, I beg you to research deeper and be personally neutral.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Regards,
Virendra

very well written sir! BTW Capt. Rakshit Sharma has been trying to get in touch with you for NAGRI. Please do drop him a line when you have a moment secgen [at] gunowners [dot] in

Cheers!
Abhijeet

Thanks Abhijeet. Rakshit had called me once, but that was a month back I guess.
I will contact him on mail.
By the way, the response has been sent to this reporter.

dear virendra

I don't think any kind of crime is being committed with the help of any kind of licensed weapon.

This article looks like another piece of stinking journalism attempting a dig against license holders by calling them irresponsible.

The title and the sub-title range from hilarious to worrying.
Most license holders are aware of safety rules and the same are printed on the license itself.

M.

The sanction/ rejection of application for arms license depends upon the need, justification and threat perception etc to the individual. The grant of an arm license cannot be claimed as a matter of right. It is for the Licensing authority to judge the requirement and pass such orders as deemed fit.

Now I am confused!!!

Y does the RTI return a clause quoting against the Right to Keep and Bear Arms???

Regards,
Vivek

There is nothing to be confused, babus will always interpret the laws in most perverted manner to suit their corrupted and vested interests. The courts are already clarifying the matter like in this one http://indiansforguns.com/viewtopic.php ... 64#p147708

Virendra,

My sincere appreciation for the intelligent, respectful and cogent reply.Excellently done.

Re the article, I do not think that much thought goes into it apart from the superficial information gathering and processing.Very few actually indulge in critical thinking. The present article is no exception. There is no point in accusing them of colluding with the antis. The journalists are very much the part of the target groups that we need to educate. Intelligent and respectful attempts like Virendra's are what we need.JMHO.


Best-
Vikram

Thanks everyone, for the compliments.
@Vikram Yes I do think the reporter was writing without proper homework. That is why I had to respond.
I wouldn't have been so worried by if it was just one mango man saying all that crap.
But this is a reporter who is read by perhaps by lakhs of mango men and women.
I expected that she would not respond to me(and she has done well so far ), probably not even read it.
However I just had to do it as my duty. Couldn't have slept without it
To give it more eye balls, I'll probably post this article and the response at my blog or some other forums as well.

Regards,
Virendra

Great information and draft Virender

Virendra S Rathore wrote:Gentlemen,

Help me with some arguments and statistics. I am going to reply to this lady, hoping that she wakes up.

Anything like the following would do?
Remember, this is not supposed to be anything more than a reply for her own awareness.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Madam,

I don't know if you would even read it fully but it is my duty to do what I'm doing right now.
This is with regards to your article published in TOI recently :
http://mobiletoi.timesofindia.com/mobil ... blabel=TOI
I am writing to you about a very disturbing point thrust in that article.
Quote - "And most often, it’s licensed weapons that are misused."
I request you to share how you reached at that conclusion and what statistics, arguments you have based it upon.

For now I would put up my case here, hoping that you'd be kind enough to go through it once.

From http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes ... rey-market :-
There has been a sudden surge in the use of firearms by criminals, especially by goons in Chennai...
...."Most of the pistols are brought from states like Bihar and West Bengal which is available in the grey market in the range of Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000, while a licensed one can be obtained for Rs 1 lakh."

Would you like to know what our courts have to say on this matter ?
From http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/ar ... 74288.html
"Only respectable and peaceful persons require license. Moreover, unnecessary rejection of applications for grant of firearm license breeds a tendency to keep unlicensed arms - a greater evil", Justice Khan said.


What do you suggest a common man/woman should do for his/her safety after the Cops say things like the following :-
"Police is not like an 'ATM machine' which can be present at the crime scene the moment one inserts a card in the machine."
Assam DGP Jayanta Narayan Chowdhury on Assam molestation case.

Now, we understand women to be a lesser reckless specie then men.
Let me help you with knowing how the women are feeling and poised towards the 'Gun and Self-Protection' debate :-
From http://week.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/ ... Id=-184841
http://week.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/ ... Id=-184841
http://week.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/ ... Id=-184841
“Today, women and elders need guns more than anyone else. They are the most vulnerable,” says Rahoul Rai, president, National Association for Gun Rights India. He reels off statistics of the police-population ratio (134 policemen for a lakh people). “Several young women live on their own in cities and unfortunately our society is increasingly becoming unsafe. Women are aware of this and feel the need to carry a gun. It is a force equaliser,” he says.
Many women gun owners who spoke to THE WEEK asserted the weapon's ability to make them feel secure. Be it Tiny Bidappa, 66, who learnt to shoot to guard her coconut plantation after being widowed at 41, or Kalpana Saroj, who runs a 03,000 crore business and has been carrying a Webley & Scott revolver for over a decade, or homemaker Kalpita Kapadia, who is not very comfortable with guns but admits that their presence makes her sleep safely when her husband is travelling, each woman with a gun has a tale of how the weapon made a difference to her life.

There's more :
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 344542.cms
Delhi Police has been stumped by the huge number of working women seeking gun licences. The trend is partly a response to the city's lawlessness but may also reflect the growing need of women to be in control, claim senior officers....
....But of late women are citing 'self-defense' to apply for a licence," said an officer in the licencing department.

And more :
http://apps.facebook.com/theguardian/wo ... p-firearms
"I don't have faith in the police to protect me. There are so many attacks on women these days. It's everybody's right to defend themselves. I think all women who are vulnerable should be carrying guns," Sidhu said. She is not alone. A growing number of well-off, educated Indian women are turning to firearms for protection.
..."Imagine all the problems and mishaps which could be avoided if women could defend themselves properly. The females have to be self-armed and protected and should send out a strong message that we are not taking this anymore."

If you're willing, I can present umpteen number of cases where law abiding citizenry saved their lives, family and property by responsible use of licensed fire-arm.
As an example, consider this - Armed Citizen saves Cop http://www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=4527526

As you wanted to remind us of the School and Theatre shoot outs in US, you may also want to look at the fact that all the civilians in these places are legally prevented from carrying Guns.
How does it matter? It does, because criminals adhere to self preservation and Gun into places only where they know there won't be anyone armed to oppose them.

If cities are having lesser licensed Guns, how is it that crime is increasing at such a deadly pace. Kindly have a look :-
In 2003 - http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes ... h-firearms
Over 3 lakh unlicensed guns in Delhi - The Times of India
Officials say legal firearms are used only in stray cases of suicides and domestic violence. Delhi Police estimates that the number of illegal guns is five times higher than the 55,000 licensed guns in the city.

Then in 2010 - http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/ ... =HTML&GZ=T
Delhi Police officers however are in a fix over the circular. ‘‘There are nearly 30,000 licensed firearms in Delhi. Where will all these weapons be stored? And then we will have to depute extra people to guard the weapons when we’re already stretched thin arranging for the Games,” said a senior police officer.

And now the list of fresh licenses issued in Delhi, obtained via RTI http://cic.gov.in/CIC-Orders/WB-05032009-01.pdf :-
2000-01 - 1679
2001-02 - 1517
2002-03 -1623
2003-04 - 1263
2004-05 - 1174
2005-06 - 892
2006-07 - 800

Madam if less licensed Guns would make the society safer, then countries like UK would be the safest in the world - being heavens of Gun control.
But hey, look at this - London is now more dangerous than the crime notorious 'Harlem' area of New York.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... arlem.html
....in Harlem last year there were just 5.9 robberies per 1,000 residents. Across London the figure was 7.4 attacks.

So much for the Gun control.

Now that we're talking about crime and your article, would it be possible for you to suggest me what the IPC sections 96 to 106 expect of me and how the citizenry like me can enable itself to carry it out.

While India is still dragging much of the colonial baggage in Gun laws, allow me to share how the Russians reacted to Colorado movie shooting :-
From - http://rt.com/news/firearms-russia-public-use-063/
The principle behind the drafted bill allowing the private use of handguns is “my home is my castle,” so any invasion of private space could be met with loaded barrels...
...To have the right to use handguns, Russians would have to prove they are not mentally ill, have no criminal record, are not addicted to alcohol or drugs and undergo special training.


And now finally lets hear from the horse's mouth this time, to draw a clear line between the real culprits in Gun violence and the victims of Gun phobia.
From : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 509277.cms
An officer (cop) told TOI that illegal weapons outnumber legal ones in the city eight to one, and more than 90% of violent crimes in Delhi are committed using unlicensed guns.

Isn't it unbelievable that this came from the same paper. If it were views of the people, the contradictions are obvious and understandable.
But that is not the case here. It is a direct judgmental statement in the article, like a gospel but coming from God knows where.
I am completely lost at figuring how can someone reach such a conclusion in public media and that too without providing a line of reasoning.
For the next time when you write as a journalist, I beg you to research deeper and be personally neutral.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Regards,
Virendra

Very well written, and a smashing answer to the people who thinks that increasing numbers of licenced arms owners are a
threat to the society.

Well done sir.