Indians For Guns

Hi,
Can someone state the differences between a Retainer & a Co-Licensee.
Thanks
/s/

As far as I know, there is no such thing as a co-licensee.
A retainer is usually some one, usually a family member or trusted person/servant, etc who's name will be added in relevant column in the license of the licensee. He can carry the firearm independant of the licensee, but his name must be deleted from the license if requested by the licensee.
Basically the retainer gets his privilege to carry the firearms on the strength of the licensee, although he has to go through a verification just as a regular license applicant. The retainer cannot continue to hold the firearm after the death of the original licensee as the license will automatically stand cancelled. His privileges will always be secondary to that of the original licensee.

It may be easier for a retainer to get a license in his own right at a later time, it may also be easier to get the firearms transfered on to his license (if granted) from the license of his former "retainee" if he was a relative.
Regards,
Anand

Thank you .
/s/

Anand is right, even AFAIK there is no such thing as co-licensee, I could be wrong but I do not recall seeing this term mentioned anywhere in the Arms Act or Arms Rules. IIRC there was another thread regarding retainers on this forum, maybe a forum search would be helpful. Anyhow, in brief the concept of retainers was made a part of the Arms Act as a carry over from the British era Arms Act, it was common in those days for feudals to have one/ more armed retainers - employees who held arms actually owned by the local feudal, zamindar or what have you, on his behalf and for his service/ self defence. These days most commonly retainer licenses are issued to bank guards who bear arms which are actually owned by the bank, in service of the bank (branch security, etc.). Retainers never own the arms, merely bear them at the pleasure of the owner and till the time they are in service of the owner/ original licensee. You can also apply for he retainership on a relatives license, but the same conditions apply, it in no way entitles you to any sort of stake on the ownership of the firearm, merely to bear it in the service of and at the pleasure of the original owner/ arms licensee.

Cheers!
Abhijeet