Indians For Guns

Hi Guys,
My uncle is an American Citizen. He came back to settle in India in 1998. When he moved his things over to India, he brought with him a Ruger (I donno the exact model) 30-06 with him, packed up in the container, which he shipped to India. The customs officials did not know there was a gun in the container and they let him check out his things. But my uncle being so straight minded, let the customs officials know he had a gun in one of them boxes. The customs guys then detained the weapon and gave him a detain receipt of some sort.
Its been 13 years since that happened.
Now, my dad (my uncle is his sibling) owns a M1 Garand 30-06. He wanted to change his weapon, and we remebered the detained 30-06. We had someone enquire about the detained 30-06, and to our surprise, we found out last week that the weapon was still there.
Now, is there any possibility for my uncle to let my dad get this detained weapon? If so, what is the procedure we need to follow?
Guys, please let me know if there is a way.
Thanks and Regards
Vivek

NB- My uncle now has a copy of the detain receipt with him. I am not sure if he has the original reciept issued to him.

Surprising that the custom's chaps have not already allotted it to some VIP.

Your uncle can apply for a license and probably have it released after paying the demurrage charges/ duties etc. Wonder what demurrage would work out for 12-13 years, probably not cheap.

Anyhow your uncle CANNOT transfer the firearm's ownership to ANYONE ELSE for the duration of his lifetime. That includes your father.

HTH

Cheers!
Abhijeet

vivekpeter wrote: But my uncle being so straight minded, let the customs officials know he had a gun in one of them boxes. The customs guys then detained the weapon and gave him a detain receipt of some sort.
Its been 13 years since that happened.
.

I must point out your uncle acted very sensibly. Imagine what his plight would have been if he had walked out of the airport without declaring the gun, and would later on be found in his possession, unlicensed.

While I second Mundaire's advice, he can apply for a NPB rifle license and transfer it to his name, can you please clarify;

i. Why did he wait for 13 years?
ii Did he airline, he was returning to India from, let him carry it as baggage? He wasn't asked to carry it in a lockable suitcase which was handed over to the Indian customs by the airline?

wow. what a tale, good luck on getting it back mate.
/S/

hamiclar01 wrote:

vivekpeter wrote: But my uncle being so straight minded, let the customs officials know he had a gun in one of them boxes. The customs guys then detained the weapon and gave him a detain receipt of some sort.
Its been 13 years since that happened.
.

I must point out your uncle acted very sensibly. Imagine what his plight would have been if he had walked out of the airport without declaring the gun, and would later on be found in his possession, unlicensed.

While I second Mundaire's advice, he can apply for a NPB rifle license and transfer it to his name, can you please clarify;

i. Why did he wait for 13 years?
ii Did he airline, he was returning to India from, let him carry it as baggage? He wasn't asked to carry it in a lockable suitcase which was handed over to the Indian customs by the airline?

i'll answer your query about the airline sir,pre 9/11 american airport security including their airlines wasnt that strict as i remember a relative of mine who travelled using his expired passport a few months before 9/11 and the american airport security didnt care as long as it was an passport ofcourse luckily he presented a proper passport in bombay as our customs have hawk eyes in these matters,so you can guage that a gun wouldnt have caused them to care so much as long as the passport holder was an american in those days nowadays post 9/11 all this stuff isnt possible you dont declare stuff at american airports like firearms then get ready for a might big check.

Guys,
Thanks for your replies!

I would like to make clear some points here.

First, My uncle did not airline the baggage. He moved all his things from America over the sea.

Abhijeet - My uncle cannot apply for a licence, because he is an american citizen, settled in India now. He has opted for dual ciizenship now, but will that make him eligible to own a gun licence now?

Hamiclar01 - We waited this long, because there was no possibility of him getting an Licence, and the only way he could recover the weapon was that, he needed to go back to America, wherein he can collect it and sell it over there.

One more thing - Is it not possible for him to give rights to someone to buy it, after paying all the duties and demurrage, because we dont want to lose a fine weapon.

Guys, is there any way out of this?

Regards,
Vivek

no, only way to get this gun out is with a licence.once out , he cannot,sell,gift ,exchange,change all his life.if he is a legal citizen he should be able to get a licence.this is thee LEGAL way i know of.

vivekpeter wrote:Guys,
Thanks for your replies!

Abhijeet - My uncle cannot apply for a licence, because he is an american citizen, settled in India now. He has opted for dual ciizenship now, but will that make him eligible to own a gun licence now?


Regards,
Vivek

your uncle can apply for licence, check out the tread can foreigners have arms licence. there is also a court judgement that says so. its all in the legal section/rkba

My uncle cannot apply for a licence, because he is an american citizen

He can apply for license. License is not issued on basis of citizenship but on residency of individual. You will find the link for High Court judgment at http://indiansforguns.com/viewtopic.php ... 95#p118448

im not getting what that means. is it like i buy a handgun,say from singapore,anyhow travel by seaway,bring that gun to indian shores, declare it at indian custom,they detain that gun,give me a detain receipt,i show them my license and get it released.is it that easy?

There is a catch to what you have said, you should be returning to India on Transfer of Residency or you are a Renowned Shot. It is not that any Indian can go abroad for travel and bring back a firearm.

If possible, check the condition of the gun, before jumping through a zillion hoops trying to get it released. Unless treated for storage with protective chemicals, there is a strong possibility, it might have been reduced to a worthless piece of rust. Thirteen years is a long time, improperly stored guns have been rendered worthless in much less time.