Transfer and sale of imported firearms

[chitapure]

New Delhi: Transfer and sale of imported firearms have been made easy with the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) partly relinquishing its powers in this regard.


An owner can transfer and sell the firearm after 10 years of import without prior DGFT's permission, according to the changes in the Foreign Trade Policy, announced today.

A permission from the local police licensing authorities or district magistrates will suffice.

For a senior citizen, the procedure for sale and transfer has been further eased. Upon attaining the age of 60 years, he or she can transfer or sell the imported firearm even if the possession of the same has been for less than 10 years.


However, those who relinquish these weapons would not be allowed to import any more firearm during their lifetime, the policy said. " Such importers will be debarred from acquiring any additional weapon in India during their ifetime," it said.

Even for shooters, sale/transfer of imported weapons would not require approval from DGFT.

DGFT is an arm of the Commerce Ministry which deals with export and import related matters.

PTI

zeenews.india.com

[nagarifle]

interesting do you have the link for this?

what i would like to know is that does this rule apply to arms under the TR? or not?

[goodboy_mentor]

This "decision" of the DGFT may provide some apparent relief to some people. But the question is, from where has the DGFT got legal "power" to regulate sale/ resale/ transfer etc. of firearms? Is DGFT above the law? Who is DGFT to regulate the sale/ resale/ transfer etc. of firearms when there is already Arms Act 1959 to do the required job?

Arms are fundamental right under Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India. Arms Act 1959 is a specific law to regulate this fundamental right. The Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992 should yield to specific act of Parliament to regulate the specific Fundamental Right i.e. Arms Act 1959. Sale/ resale/ transfer etc. of firearms is already well regulated under the provisions of Arms Act 1959. Extract of Section 5(2) of Arms Act 1959 is mentioned below:

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) a person may, without holding a licence in this behalf, sell or transfer any arms or ammunition which he lawfully possesses for his own private use to another person who is entitled by virtue of this Act or any other law for the time being in force to have, or is not prohibited by this Act or such other law from having in his possession such arms or ammunition:

Provided that no firearm or ammunition in respect of which a licence is required under section 3 and no arms in respect of which a licence is required under section 4 shall be so sold or transferred by any person unless--

(a) he has informed in writing the district magistrate having jurisdiction or the officer in charge of the nearest police station of his intention to sell or transfer such firearms, ammunition or other arms and the name and address of the person to whom he intends to sell or transfer such firearms, ammunition or the other arms, and

(b) a period of not less than forty-five days has expired after the giving of such information.]

Going by the Section 5(2) of Arms Act 1959, the arms license holder is free to sell his arms to another arms license holder after the expiry of 45 days notice period given to the District Magistrate or Officer Incharge of the nearest Police Station. The 45 day notice period form can be read at http://www.abhijeetsingh.com/arms/india ... notice.pdf

Similar topic has also been discussed at http://indiansforguns.com/viewtopic.php ... 42#p146250 and http://indiansforguns.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=15151

what i would like to know is that does this rule apply to arms under the TR? or not?

If you want know my honest answer, then DGFT or any government department has no legal "power" to override an Act of Parliament i.e. Arms Act 1959. When firearm is legally possessed by someone under Arms Act 1959, he can follow the Section 5(2) of Arms Act 1959 for sale/ resale/ transfer etc. When an act of parliament is very clear about the matter in Section 5(2) of Arms Act 1959, where does DGFT legally come into the picture and override Section 5(2) of Arms Act 1959?

[nagarifle]

ok lets that this a step forward.

As per the TR rules, one can bring a firearm, but has to give a written undertaking that one can not sale/give/ transfer or parted with it during ones life time.

now what can one do if something like this happens:

1/ the state/LA issue an order to deposit it either with gun dealer or with the police.

and by doing so have you not in a sense given/transferred parted from you the said arms? and thus breaking from the undertaking with the customs? can the customs do anything? if so what action can they take against you?

2/ the L/A refuse to renew ones licence, or cancelled it, thus you are forced to deposit it to dealer etc,
and again you have parted from the arms and thus in breach of the undertaking with the customs, what action if any can they take.

3/ what if the refuse to renew the licence and you are told to deposit or sell it, and you want to sell it. can or what action can the customs take against one.

now lets bear one fact in mind- the arms are to be kept for life time, customs says, but the customs do not issue licences.

the LA does not wish to renew licence and customs can not force the LA to do so.

[HERE one is FEELING that one is out of ones depth. ] on one hand, one has an order from one government department and another order from an another department, in effect countering the order, the owner left in the middle of the field kicked by both sides. any thoughts on this?

[goodboy_mentor]

Arms Act 1959 gives the license holder the right to do sale/ resale/ transfer etc. by following Section 5(2) of Arms Act 1959. If one notes in Section 5(2) of Arms Act 1959, it talking about giving forty five day notice and it is not asking to seek permission. Also those from legal background will be able to see that this forty day notice before the sale itself is unconstitutional and against fundamental rights. The original Arms Act 1959 did not seek notice before the sale, rather notice was required to be given after the sale. The version of Arms Act 1959 when forty five days notice was not required to be given before the sale can be read at http://www.abhijeetsingh.com/arms/india ... r_1_2.html

Any undertaking done by anybody, done for anybody that is done to undermine one's right under the law, i.e. Section 5(2) of Arms Act 1959 in this case, has no sanction of the law. If the Licensing Authourity is acting within its scope under the Arms Act 1959, then there is nothing illegal about it.

[art_collector]

Good boy,

If u own an imported firearm on a Delhi licence..then when you give a 45 days notice for sale to the licensing branch you are required to get a permission (in writing) from DGFT that they have no objection for the sale of the firearm.Only after this permission is there that the licensing branch grants u the permission to sell the firearm.

AC

[goodboy_mentor]

It is a well known fact that Police in various states are acting in their own manner, without any respect to not only the Arms Act 1959 but also to plenty of various other laws. But here we are not discussing what the Delhi Police or the police in some state is doing. If you read Section 5(2) of Arms Act 1959, it is very clear that you do not need to get any kind of "permission" from anybody. When a period of not less than forty five days has expired after you have given the intimation of sale, you are free to sell your firearm to another arms license holder. Even this requirement of forty five day notice before the sale is unconstitutional and against fundamental rights. What can be said about the people who are not applying their mind to understand their rights in order to protest and take up the matter in appropriate forum, but are blindly following what Delhi Police or some government department like DGFT is asking them to do?

[SYED833]

Heres the link for the DGFT pdf..http://dgft.gov.in/exim/2000/Highlights1112-E.pdf
Point 28.

syed..

[Ganesh TT]

Dear IFGians

Is it legal If one import Air Gun and sell or transfer the ownership of the imported air gun.

for ex: a rifle club member who imported a co2 air pistol about 1 year back and now he wanted to sell it to any civilian, is it legal..did the seller or buyer have to undergo any formalities for the sale.

[indiaone]

The DGFT notification regarding sale of firearms imported by individuals is a welcome move. It will now encourage more returning NRIs to bring in firearms, as they will be able to sale the same once they reach the age of sixty years.
Legally there is no contradiction. The Arms Act and the Rules deal with normal firearms in the possession of civilians.The Import of Fire Arms is regulated by the DGFT and they are fully competent to regulate the import of firearms and further resale/transfer of the same, in acccordance of the Rules of Business of the Government of India.The same hase been approved by the Parliament of India and as such the rules, procedure, restrction etc imposed by DGFT is legally valid.The very fact that Import of Firearms has figured in the notification indicates some positive signs, let uswait and see.