I have read at below mentioned link that IOF wants to bring out .223 rifle for civilian market but is unable to bring it out solely due to arcane/outdated clause Category 1(c) from Schedule I of the Arms Rules 1962.
Reference:
http://indiansforguns.com/viewtopic.php ... 4&start=30
I would request IOF to take it seriously and contact MHA and get the concerned clause Category 1(c) from Schedule I of the Arms Rules 1962 deleted. Probably hundreds of concerned citizens including myself(members of indiansforguns.com) have already written to MHA regarding the same. Please refer
http://indiansforguns.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=8412
Please read page number 10 para number 4 with reasons a, b, c at:
http://www.indiansforguns.com/draft_objections.pdf
The following are the reasons:
4. Category 1(c) should be deleted from Schedule I of the Arms Rules 1962. The restriction on these calibres was initiated under British rule, as the Govt. of the time did not completely trust Indian citizens or it's native soldiers. It was thought at the time that if the Govt. restricted civilian access to firearms in these calibres, even if Govt. arms were captured by rebels, they would be unable to source ammunition for use with them from the civilian population. In the current scenario this is at best a specious argument, it is a fact that anti-national elements have no dearth of ammunition supplies in any and all calibres they so desire. Arms as well as ammunition are illegally smuggled in to India for use by such persons, as well as for sale to all manner of criminal elements. None of these people are queuing up to purchase ammunition legally from licensed dealers. Furthermore, it was also argued in some quarters that civilians owning firearms in these calibres could lead to black marketing of ammunition by native troops. In the present scenario, India is a free country and we have implicit faith in the loyalty of our men & women in uniform, if we cannot trust those who have sworn to lay down their lives to protect us, then who do we trust? Even the parliamentary committee set up to review the proposed Arms Bill which eventually became the Arms Act of 1959 had also envisaged a situation wherein the State could use civilian riflemen as the last line of defence for the country, or has our Govt. of the people, for the people & by the people lost faith in the people? My proposal to do away with category 1(c) of Schedule I, would have the following benefits:
a) The government has a vast surplus of bolt action rifles, pistols and revolvers chambered for the calibres listed under category 1(c), which have been or are in the process of being phased out from service. Ordinarily these would be scrapped, however most of these are serviceable or can be made serviceable for use by civilians for sport as well as for self-defence. Once category 1(c) is scrapped these could be auctioned off by the Govt. and considering the prevailing extortionate prices of legal firearms in India, the sale from these phased out firearms could earn the Govt. enough revenue to reequip every single soldier in the military, para-military and police forces with modern firearms more suitable for use in the current security scenario. Scrapping usable firearms in such large quantities is nothing, if not a huge national waste.
b) A large number of citizens owning firearms in these calibres, would mean that in times of need the State would be able to call on citizens to provide the arms and ammunition held by them in service of the nation, without the associated logistical difficulties of calling into service firearms chambered for all sorts of different calibres, which would literally be impossible to keep supplied with required ammunition. For precisely this reason, many nations actively encourage their citizens to keep firearms chambered for the same calibres as in use by their own forces.
c)A large number of citizens owning firearms in these calibres, would also mean that the military, paramilitary and police forces, could maintain large stores of ammunition in reserve, without incurring the heavy cost of disposing off large quantities of ammunition after their use by date has expired. This would be possible, as expired ammunition could be auctioned off to licensed dealers, for supply to arms license holders. Since expired ammunition is prone to misfire, while it may not be usable for front line use by Govt forces, citizens could put this to use for getting in more practice at the range, at a reduced cost - a scenario in which one may be willing to forgo 100% reliability in favour of a much lower cost. This is a win-win situation for both licensed firearm owners as well as the State.
The marketing departments of IOF might also be interested in reading paragraph numbered 3 on page 10 concerning allowing more than 3 firearms per person. And paragraph numbered 5 on page 11 related to allowing possession of full/semi automatic rifles.