Diana 35 import story

[shahid]

Bits and pieces of the story are known to all. I had called Abhijeet and Sanjay during my last visit to Delhi and told them what had happened. Here are the details.

I came to India through Delhi on March 23, and purchased a Diana 35 the evening before departure. I called up some people in India for some Vaasta and ease through customs. I was assured it is done.

When I landed at 3 AM, Mr. ******** and ex India Gold Medallist at Asian Games and now a custom official seized the gun. I said this is murder of shooting sports in India, he said go to hell.

A receipt was made and the rifle was placed in the seized goods warehouse next to arrival hall. Courtesy was extended in the form of me being allowed to smoke in the customs area and the commissioners office. I tried calling up people but at 3 AM the customs commissioner in question had his mobile switched off.

I showed them the downloaded page from IFG, they said very well, where is the State / District / National Rifle Association membership card ?

I showed them the Jebel Ali Shooting Club card and the National Rifle Association card, they said these cards are not Indian and thus invalid and I an not a "Shooter"

I went on with my travel, met with a few friends, MPs, the lot. The MP gave me the number of a customs official in Delhi, I called him up, he introduced me to Mr.*****, the commissioner in-charge of the Delhi Arrivals.

Meanwhile we discovered that Bihar has the most Rifle clubs at city, district, state level, all defunct but Digvijay SIngh has the most votes because Bihar has most clubs. Great. I called up KN SIngh brother of Digvijay singh to get my membership card made. He said it will cost Rs. 5,000 and take 3 weeks, the DG of Patna police has to recommend. I met the DG and told him to approve my membership immediately. He called Mr. KN SIngh and asked for the case to be put up.

Meanwhile I went to see Mr. Jalan of the Magadh Rifle association, and went to the pathetic unused shooting range, which has outdoor air rifle ranges. A couple of IHP air rifles were gathering dust and rust.

I offered to pay the membership fee, but again he said the card will be issued by Bihar Rifle association. We called up Digvijay Singh again and told him to get on with it fast. He said send him the photographs he will get it done.

Back in Delhi on the return leg, I went to see Mr. ***** after taking a pass from the Airport Manager.

He did not know of any arms imports law. Luckily there were a few books in the office, we pored over these and discovered exactly the same text as the printout from IFG I gave him.

He too pointed out about the state / district / membership card.

I said give me the vanguard case and the scope, keep the rifle here. He said the scope according to an official in the central customs is illegal to import. I said I wish to break the scope, shatter it to pieces. But give me the case. And I wish to bend the barrel of the Diana, after all its mine.

He said he cannot do it, its seized. I said I am an NRI, give it back to me, I am leaving for Dubai in 2 hrs, I will take it back. He pleaded sir, there is too much paperwork involved and it is a Sunday, why do I wish to make his life miserable, a few minutes ago one of my Bihari MPs had called him and given him hell on the same issue. Why not get a card made and take the gun.

I said I have imported it for a friend of mine. This friend had come with me to his office along with his NRAI Life membership card. He said no, this cannot be done, it can be carried for self use only. I said go to hell and went up to departure to catch my flight back.

Anyway I gave 2 photographs to this friend and asked him to go to the duo of KN Singh / Digvijay singh and get the card made.

Meanwhile this same friend came to see me in Dubai. He bought an air rifle and called up the customs official, but he was carrying his NRAI card. The customs official and the welcome committee from the local administration were waiting at Delhi airport. THis was 9 AM and he was whisked through the customs seamlessly. The Air Rifle was in its card board carton.

Morale of the story - DOn't arrive in Delhi at 3 AM. Vaasta does not work this time.

Next step - I hope by Bihar standards too the DG, my friends, Munna Jalan and KN singh / Digvijay singh by now would have obliged me with a card. I f the gun is still there I will spend max 1 hour in trying to take it out. If not it has been sold in customs disposal then armed with the card I will bring in more on future trips.

(Names of certain officials edited out to protect their privacy - The IFG Moderator team)

[Olly]

Thanks... interesting story...

[kanwar76]

Can we see what notification from IFG you showed to custom officials?

And one more thing you had a Diana 35 on sale here sometime ago and that post seems to got vanished somewhere. So do you have a second Diana 35 also?

-Inder

[shahid]

No longer, sold it for Rs. 40,000 to a real estate developer from Banglore.

Notification downloaded and printed from IFG was the same text, in the string importing an Air RIfle topics.

TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY

PART-II, SECTION-3, SUB SECTION (ii)

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


NOTIFICATION No. 12 (RE-2005)/2004-09
NEW DELHI: Dated: 4th July, 2005


S.O. (E) In exercise of powers conferred under section 5 of the Foreign
Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992 read with paragraph 2.1 of the
Foreign Trade Policy, 2004-09, the Central Government hereby makes the
following amendments in Chapter-93, Schedule-I (Imports) to the ITC(HS)
Classifications of Export and Import Items, 2004-09:


1. After amendment the Exim Code 9304 00 00 shall be read as under:


Exim Code
Item De.scriptions
Policy
Policy conditions


9304 00 00
Other Arms (for example, spring, air or gas guns and pistols, truncheons),
excluding those of heading 9307
Restricted
However, import of 0.177 bore air guns and air pistols will be
free for shooters registered with Rifle Clubs or District/State/ National
Rifles Association .



2. Import Licensing Note No.(1) will amended to read as follows:


"Import of arms is permitted against a license to renowned shooters/rifle
clubs for their own use on the recommendation of Department of Youth Affairs
and Sports, Government of India . However, import of 0.177 bore air guns
and air pistols will be free for shooters registered with Rifle Clubs or
District/ State/ National Rifles Association."



3. This issues in pubic interest.



(K.T. CHACKO)

Director General of Foreign Trade and

Ex-officio Additional Secretary to the Government of India





(Issued from File No. 01/93/180/M-46/AM05/PCI(B)


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------


(TOBE PUBLISHED IN THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY

PART-II, SECTION-3, SUB-SECTION (ii) )





GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE





NOTIFICATION NO. 17 (RE-2005) /(2004-2009)

NEW DELHI DATED THE 28th JULY, 2005




S.O.(E) In exercise of powers conferred by Section 5 of the
Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation) Act, 1992 read with Paragraph 2.1
of the Foreign Trade Policy, 2004-2009, the Central Government in partial
modification of this Department's Notification No.12/(2004-2009) dated
21.12.2004 and Notification No.24/(2004-2009) dated 21.02.2005 hereby
notifies that the provisions contained therein shall come into effect from
1st October, 2005.



2. This issues in the public interest.







(K. T. CHACKO)

DIRECTOR GENERAL OF FOREIGN TRADE

& EX-OFFICIO ADDITIONAL SECRETARY TO THE GOVT.OF INDIA

[Hunter]

Wow Shahid,

u were pulled thru the barb wire here pal! It brought back memories for me when I imported my BSA many years ago,but I had a much softer ride in Bombay.
I only needed to get a NOC from the Police Comm.office stating that it was not a firearm and then I paid the duty and walked off with the airgun!

This is going to put off a lot of people planning to buy an airgun on their overseas visits. Strangly Abijeet(I think) I think recently brought an Air-arms to India and sailed thru Delhi Customs!

[Mack The Knife]

Notification downloaded and printed from IFG was the same text, in the string importing an Air RIfle topics.

Shahid,

I am unable to find this thread. Since you know where it is, post the link on this thread.

You have also been claiming that one cannot import a .22 air-rifle as part of one's personal baggage.

However, the notification you have mentioned in your post concerns import of airguns via post or courier, which is restricted to .177".

Have a look at the following link and note that there is no mention of .22" calibre airguns being banned when brought back as part of one's luggage.
http://exim.indiamart.com/customs-duty/ch93.html

As far as I can see, you goofed up by bringing the air-rifle with a pre-mounted scope, showing them the wrong notification (which is why you were asked to produce a shooting club membership card) and further compounded your error by getting shirty with customs.

Mack The Knife

[shahid]

I tried looking up. Where is it mentioned that a .22 or .177 Air Rifle can be brought in without a State / District / NRAI card ? If I have that paper I will carry one Air Rifle again.

[Mack The Knife]

This is going to put off a lot of people planning to buy an airgun on their overseas visits.

Will it deter you? If not, why not?

I will agree that customs can be inconsistent when it comes to airguns but that is very often due to some of them not knowing the appropriate ruling on the subject. So if bringing an airgun into the country make sure you have enough time to finish the formalities such as getting a NOC from the Arms Section of the Commissioner of Police's office - especially if you land in a city that is not your final destination.

Mack The Knife

[Mack The Knife]

I tried looking up. Where is it mentioned that a .22 or .177 Air Rifle can be brought in without a State / District / NRAI card ? If I have that paper I will carry one Air Rifle again.

http://exim.indiamart.com/customs-duty/ch93.html

Heading No.: 93.04
Sub-Heading No.: 9304.00

There is no mention of .22" calibre airguns being banned. Infact there is no mention of calibre at all.

If you know someone in customs ask him if you can bring back a .22" calibre air-rifle as part of your personal baggage. It's quite possible that he will not know, so request him to check thoroughly before answering.

Considering the statements you have been making about the import of .22" cal. airguns on Gun Geek and via private communication, I am surprised that you are even asking me where this information came from. Infact, your statements were so forcefully worded, it made me think if there had been a recent change to the ruling that I was unaware off.

If there is a policy that restricts/bans the import of .22" calibre airguns, then this needs to be found and preferably in an official government ruling or notification rather than just hearsay on conjecture.

Mack The Knife

Mack The Knife

[kanwar76]

I tried looking up. Where is it mentioned that a .22 or .177 Air Rifle can be brought in without a State / District / NRAI card ? If I have that paper I will carry one Air Rifle again.

And may i ask you where is it written that you need a state/ District / NRAI card?
and you are lying again. You never showed them this notification. You showed them the recent notification where one can import (Ship, Courier) .177 airgun and get it after showing them the membership card

Airguns have always been allowed to be carried back as personal baggage - for the simple reason that the notification banning the import of firearms as personal baggage NEVER covered airguns. Thus by default they have been allowed... There is no calibre restriction on airguns imported as personal baggage either.

The much talked about govt. notification ONLY covered airguns imported via courier/ post/ freight - as THIS WAS NOT allowed previously and of course this notification only covers .177 cal airguns

As Mack The Knife said.. You bought in Air rifle with a scope mounted on it, showed them the wrong notification and may be tried to throw your weight around.

You not only made your life difficult but also made it tough for people who follow rules and wanted to bring back an air rifle as personal baggage.

-Inder

[mundaire]

Inder is correct, which is why customs officials will sometimes ask the person to get a certificate from the local police, saying that it is an airgun and NOT a firearm. For so long as it is not a firearm, import (as part of baggage) is allowed - refer to what Inder has written above...

As to imports of scopes, it is clearly mentioned that ANY scope when presented with a gun - whether mounted or not is to be treated as a restricted item...

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[shahid]

I has showed them exactly a copy of the text written above. I do not have any other text or print out with me.

The very same text was there in the Custom officials office, a private book by BPB Delhi called Nabhi's 2006 Customs and Tariff guides or similar.

Here is the text :

However, import of 0.177 bore air guns
and air pistols will be free for shooters registered with Rifle Clubs or
District/ State/ National Rifles Association


In the above text, .177 only and the fact of being a shooter registred with a rifle club or Sate / District / Rifle Association is mentioned.

What is the proof of being registered with a State / District National Rifle Association - Obviously the membership card. So if the Custom official demanded a membership card as a proof, he was correct.

I am not aware of a seperate set of laws by post or any calibre of Air Rifle, inclusive of the .22 being allowed in as personal baggage, duty pais or free import, since I am not aware of any rule or notification apart from what is mentione above, I am in no position to comment about imports by post or import of .22 as personal baggage / with / without membership cards.

Look, in my prsonal case if I had not carried the rifle in a special Vanguard case which had made it so obvious, like others had I dismantled it, and packed in inside a regular suitcase it would have attracted no attention. There was a 99 % chance of sailing through unrestricted.

However I hate to do this to a fine AIr Rifle like Diana 35. I am not sure about dismantling it and assembling it back through an unqualified mechanic. As for me personally I am not quite qualified personally into mechanical fittings and do not possess the capability to dismantle and assemble air rifles personally, mainly because of the time involved in such workshop practise, I would prefer to get these jobs outsourced through specialists.

Absence of quality Air Rifle mechanics in Patna left me with only one option, to bring it assembled.

Mounting a scope on it yes was a mistake. Since a scope is restricted item, it should not be imported.

A print out of the text above was requested by Mr. ***** of Delhi Customs, since there were no xerox machines there, I left it with him.

This other method of going to a police station and shooting a few shots on a wooden board to prove it is a toy and not a firearm, is not possible because the gun was retained at the customs.

From the link Mack The Knife mentioned above :

93.04 9304.00 Other arms (for example, spring, air or gas guns and pistols, truncheons), excluding those of heading No. 93.07 35%

It says there is a 35 % duty on Spring / Gas Air rifles. Where does it mention import in personal baggage is allowed and the calibres allowed ?

The customs officials in Delhi, namely namely Mr. ****** and the entire team present in that shift, said import of only .177 is permitted as personal baggage , and on production of a membership card of district / state / national rifle association or rifle club. They told be they are placing it under the custom bonded warehouse, I can come anytime with this membership card and take it.

THis is what I am trying to do. People in Bihar are so slow with things, you must do a personal follow up every day which I cannot from here in Dubai.

Once I get hold of this Bihar Rifle Association card, on a future trip I will bring along more .177 calibre Air Rifles, unless I have a writen piece of paper from a recognised authority for .22 calibre as well.

There is a beautiful HW 85 in . 177 calibre here, and Diana 35, Panter with KEvlar stock and fibre sights. Gamo hunter 440 and Diana Magnum 350, and of course Diana 35 and 36 and 68, I will bring a few of these on future trips in .177 calibre. If I can get hold of an HW80 in .177 then that is a sure buy, I love it so much in the .22 I have here.

(Names of certain officials edited out to protect their privacy - The IFG Moderator team)

[mundaire]

There is no "piece of paper"/ notification in this regard. As Inder has mentioned, airguns ARE NOT covered under the 1984 ban (on import of firearms as personal baggage) and therefore by default are allowed.

If you do wish for a "piece of paper", then the best way forward would be to file an application for information at the office of the designated Public Information Officer at Central Customs headquarters - under the Right to Information Act 2005. A fee of Rs. 10/- is to be deposited along with this application.... In fact, you know what - I think I'm going to do this now... to get a clarification ONCE AND FOR ALL! This should help clear the air AS WELL AS remove any doubt that anyone here as to the legality of importing airguns as part of personal baggage!

As to "dismantling" airguns - I take it you are referring to my case. Dismantling suggests breaking up the gun into all individual parts, I did NOT "dismantle" my gun, I simply removed the stock from the action - a mere matter of removing two screws in front and two at the back (the trigger guard screws). This requires NO SKILLS to do, OR to put back together again!

This was NOT done to "obfuscate" the nature of the goods (as you have insinuated above), it was done for one MAJOR reason - that was the airline requirement of carrying the gun in a "lockable hard case". The hard shell suitcase I had was not big enough to accommodate the gun - UNLESS I separated the stock from the action, therefore....

The customs people were informed of the fact that I was carrying an air-rifle, which had been purchased second hand by me. Since the second hand price was below the dutiable limit, I did not need to pay duty on it either. I was carrying the manual of the air-rifle with me, just in case they needed confirmation of it being an air-gun and not a firearm.

Also, you CAN carry a telescope back - BUT NOT with a gun! The rule is very clear (under the optics section of the exim regulations) - ANY scope presented along with a gun, whether mounted OR NOT, is treated as a restricted item. Otherwise import of telescopes, binocs etc. are permitted on paying duty as applicable....

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[shahid]

Thats a very good idea. Get hold of the correct information from the PR deptt. of Indian Customs for obviously customs officials in India are of the opinion that import of Air Rifles any calibre is banned and only .177 is allowed if one is a member of District / State / NRAI and can produce a membership proof thereof.

A 35 % duty id levied is perfectly allright.

No I was not referring to your case. I would prefer not to dismantle or seperate the stock of any fine Air Rifle unless done by a very qualified Mechanic.

Once he have this clarity, then it would be so good. I will celebrate it by bringing a .22, Weirauch HW80 with me when I come in next. It is one of the finest air rifles ( springer, barrel cocking type ever.

[shahid]

There is no "piece of paper"/ notification in this regard. As Inder has mentioned, airguns ARE NOT covered under the 1984 ban (on import of firearms as personal baggage) and therefore by default are allowed.

If you do wish for a "piece of paper", then the best way forward would be to file an application for information at the office of the designated Public Information Officer at Central Customs headquarters - under the Right to Information Act 2005. A fee of Rs. 10/- is to be deposited along with this application.... In fact, you know what - I think I'm going to do this now... to get a clarification ONCE AND FOR ALL! This should help clear the air AS WELL AS remove any doubt that anyone here as to the legality of importing airguns as part of personal baggage!

As to "dismantling" airguns - I take it you are referring to my case. Dismantling suggests breaking up the gun into all individual parts, I did NOT "dismantle" my gun, I simply removed the stock from the action - a mere matter of removing two screws in front and two at the back (the trigger guard screws). This requires NO SKILLS to do, OR to put back together again!

This was NOT done to "obfuscate" the nature of the goods (as you have insinuated above), it was done for one MAJOR reason - that was the airline requirement of carrying the gun in a "lockable hard case". The hard shell suitcase I had was not big enough to accommodate the gun - UNLESS I separated the stock from the action, therefore....

The customs people were informed of the fact that I was carrying an air-rifle, which had been purchased second hand by me. Since the second hand price was below the dutiable limit, I did not need to pay duty on it either. I was carrying the manual of the air-rifle with me, just in case they needed confirmation of it being an air-gun and not a firearm.

Also, you CAN carry a telescope back - BUT NOT with a gun! The rule is very clear (under the optics section of the exim regulations) - ANY scope presented along with a gun, whether mounted OR NOT, is treated as a restricted item. Otherwise import of telescopes, binocs etc. are permitted on paying duty as applicable....

Cheers!
Abhijeet

Then why did the custom people behave differently with me ? They clearly said it is banned. On showing Mr. Chacko's notification they opened the Vanguard case and checked as to whether it was .177, they asked me what is Diana 35 and 4.5 mm ? I explained, they were satisfied that 4.5 mm is .177. Then this issue was brought out, where is the district / state / national rifle association card ? They claimed it is mandatory.

Duties were never discussed. Since it was a Air Rifle for my personal pleasure, plinking day in and day out, I wouldn't mind paying duty, 35 % or 100 % or 170 % if classified as luxury goods, whatever.

I had nothing else with me on that trip, my own duty free import limit was Rs. 12,000, this Diana 35 was purchased for Dhs. 750 ( close to Rs. 8,000 ), well within the limit. My wife had a limit of another Rs. 12,000 so exceeding limit was out of question, we had no other dutiable items with us at all.

Your offer to seek clarification from customs is great. If clarified, it makes great economic sense. ****Post moderated - The IFG moderation team***