Can a foreign national apply for an Indian Arms licence?

[Mack The Knife]

Can they?

Thanks.

Mack The Knife

[monty3006]

ya he can. But lot of factors come into play. Consular officials find it easier. There is a provision in the arms act for tourist license, but its valid for six months only and needs to be applied six months in advance of landing at port of entry.
Basically its a case by case allotment with not many precedents.
Rusty email me your exact requirements and I'm sure we can find some way out
Monish

[Mack The Knife]

Monish,

We have a new member called Spud who will be moving to Bangalore from Japan and it is he who posed this question to me.

I will PM him a link to this thread and he can take it from there.

Grateful if you could help him out.

Thanks.

Mack The Knife

[monty3006]

Rusty,
always glad to be of service 2 u.
Monish

[indian]

hi everybody im posting this request on behalf of my friend who has accquired canadian citizenship a few years ago and is in possesion of pio card(person of indian origin) which is like a dual citizenship.he is moving back to india permenantly.can he apply for an arms license??any info would be greatly appreciated

[nagarifle]

please check out the kg link, far as i know any one who is a resident can apply as per any other citizen of India. PIO card is not a duel citizenship only a 15 visa. he should try for oci card.

[mundaire]

Indian,

Naga is correct, the law makes no distinction based on citizenship, its is merely concerned with the place where the applicant is normally resident.

I assume he is taking a Transfer of Residence (TR)? He can apply for an arms license on arrival. In fact I'd suggest he and his/ spouse/ other family members who are coming back with him - should seriously consider importing a firearm each under TR rules. Check out the KB article on import of arms & ammunition for more details on how to go about it...

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[nagarifle]

please check out the legal section link, far as i know any one who is a resident can apply as per any other citizen of India. PIO card is not a duel citizenship only a 15 visa. he should try for oci card.

[indian]

thanks nagarifle and abhijeet even my friend is planning to import a gun on TR

[indian]

hi there im planning to apply for a .380 pistol license this june when i visit india.if i succeed,i will be bringing my beretta.is it possible to enter a retainers name in the license(not a transfer) if i opt to come back.please advice regarding this.i would opt for a safety deposit if the above is not possible.can anybody advice me on how to apply for a retainership and does the retainer has to be someone in the family or someone of my choice?? please help me with this

[mundaire]

hi there im planning to apply for a .380 pistol license this june when i visit india.if i succeed,i will be bringing my beretta.is it possible to enter a retainers name in the license(not a transfer) if i opt to come back.please advice regarding this.i would opt for a safety deposit if the above is not possible.can anybody advice me on how to apply for a retainership and does the retainer has to be someone in the family or someone of my choice?? please help me with this

The "retainer" term in the Arms Act is in keeping with India's feudal past, when it was not uncommon for large landlords to have one (or several) armed retainers in their employ. The definition of the word in this context is - A servant or an attendant, especially one in the household of a person of high rank (definition taken from answers.com). Which is why it is clearly mentioned in the Act that the "retainer" is allowed to carry the arm(s) ONLY so long as he is in the employ of the original arms license holder, when the "retainer" ceases to be in the employ said arms licensee - the "retainership" as entered in the arms license is no longer effective.

Of course these days few people (asides from armed guards in the employ of companies/ banks) are entered as retainers in the sense of the word as mentioned above. Most "retainership" applications by private citizens these days are for family members.

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[indian]

thanks for the quick response abhijeet is there any specific application form to apply for a retainership??will my application be entertained if i keep my uncles(moms brother)name as retainer?please advice me and thanks in advance

[penpusher]

Indian,

The terms under which the import of firearms under TR is allowed clearly mentions that the firearm can't be lent to anyone.So legally you can't have a retainer on your license on which you have the firearm imported on TR,as handing over the firearm to the retainer would be tantamount to lending the firearm.

I have seen stranger things happen,so no harm in trying.

[sagar_doon]

I have a peculiar problem on which no body seems to help me.

I am a British Citizen residing in India for the last 16 years. I applied and later became an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI). However i still am a British Citizen. I would like to apply for a gun licence since I am residing in a remote jungle area village in Uttarakhand along with my mother and Wife. No body seems to know if I can apply for the said licence, not even the clerks at the court.
I would be grateful if you could help and advice me in this matter.

Thanking you

[nagarifle]

hi sagar_doon

u should be able to apply as ur a residence of india. as far as i know it should not matter if ur a man from mars.

the fact is ur leaving in india and have every rights of Indain citizen apart from politics, govet jobs, and pay more at the taj mahel etc.

i would go head anyway, since they can only say no and get it in writing on what ground they turn you down.

if u do apply please keep us posted.

all the best
nagarifle