Review of Arms Act and Arms policy

[Anand]

Times of India (Hyderabad) had an article today mentioning the review of the Arms Act, salient points being:
1. No issue of licenses without verification(earlier the LA could issue if the verification did not come
within 3 months),Verification time frame reduced to 60 days, if it does not come then the LA can ask
for it "forthwith" but can issue only after it comes.
2. National database of Arms Licensees to be constituted
3. All India Validity may be allowed for 3 years
4. OCI persons can only be issued a license on basis of family heirloom
5. Widened scope of "legal heir" under family heirloom category now includes brother, sister, son-in-law,
daughter-in-law.
6. Grant of license to police & paramilitary personnel awarded weapons during training or passing out
parade.
7. States may consider All India Validity for Union Minister, MPs,Paramilitary personnel, officers of All
India Services and those with liability to serve anywhere in India.
8.Annual audit of confiscated ,seized and recovered weapons.

My questions:
Except for the prescribed time frame for verification and the National database, how is the new policy going to deter armed crime? "All India Validity (AIV) may be allowed for 3 years" Does this mean this "validity" has to be renewed every 3 years, or, only AIV licenses will be renewable every 3 years while others will be renewable for lesser periods?

If anyone can get the actual draft policy we can look at it point by point and possibly write to the MHA.Rather than looking at an Newspaper article which may not have included certain pertinent points
or may have printed their "interpretation" of the policy.
Regards,
Anand

[winnie_the_pooh]

http://www.mha.nic.in/pdfs/DAAM-PolicyI ... 211209.pdf

[goodboy_mentor]

f anyone can get the actual draft policy we can look at it point by point and possibly write to the MHA.Rather than looking at an Newspaper article which may not have included certain pertinent points
or may have printed their "interpretation" of the policy.

Please refer http://indiansforguns.com/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=8312 for the draft. Views are invited from general public, requesting to submit the views by 6.1.2010, this is the time.

[winnie_the_pooh]

f anyone can get the actual draft policy we can look at it point by point and possibly write to the MHA.Rather than looking at an Newspaper article which may not have included certain pertinent points
or may have printed their "interpretation" of the policy.

Please refer http://indiansforguns.com/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=8312 for the draft. Views are invited from general public, requesting to submit the views by 6.1.2010, this is the time.

You have posted the wrong link.Please refer to my earlier post.

[goodboy_mentor]

I'm sorry, I stand corrected, I have referred the link for discussion on "Draft Arms and Ammunitions Manufacturing Policy" instead of "Draft Arms and Ammunitions Policy"

The correct link is http://www.mha.nic.in/pdfs/DAAM-PolicyI ... 211209.pdf

I will be shortly posting the contents of the email for all to comment/give their opinion before being sent to MHA as my opinion( I request all to send their opinion by 6.1.2010, as this is the time when we can help some positive change. Requesting the admin to send email to all members of IFG requesting the same, once a final draft acceptable email has been finalized by them)

[casual shooter]

please visit this site for the new arms act draft policy they have requested public opinion
http://www.mha.nic.in/pdfs/DAAM-PolicyI ... 211209.pdf

[m24]

casual shooter, thanks for the link.

Mods: Can you please merge this post with http://www.indiansforguns.com/viewtopic ... 3&start=15

Regards

[vkjalan]

New means and methods to screw a common mans interest. Gr8 going. I dont understand why they need to issue licenses itself. Cancel all Licenses issued all over India and Ban everyone from owning and possessing fire arms. The rules were so strict anyways now this. Gr8. Hats off to the government of India.

Nothing much to say. Because we anyways are so frustrated with all that is happening and this is like a icing on the cake.

[m24]

My knowledge w.r.t the Arms Act is negligible. Can somebody with greater knowledge on the Arms Act take the pain to draft a single letter, which:
a) can be be copied by all members who want a say in the Review of the Arms Act, and
b) then send it from their respective email ids to [email protected]?

Members can also add their views with this common response and send it.

Regards

[winnie_the_pooh]

Well they are shafting all the licensees

Here are the proposals aimed at doing this

Proliferation of arms and ammunition in the country disrupt the social order and development. The proliferation of arms, whether licensed or illegal, vitiates the ‘Law and Order’ situation. Holding of sophisticated arms by the conflicting parties directly contributes towards lethality of violent acts. Therefore, in principle, proliferation of arms needs to be curbed. In this context, there is a compelling need to review the provisions of Arms Act/Arms Rules with regard to grant of arms licences for possession of arms and ammunition by individuals and manufacture of fire arms in the country.

Since it is considered very essential that police verification report is taken into consideration before giving arms licence to anyone, it has been decided to delete the proviso to Section 13 (2A). Steps will be taken to delete the said proviso. It has also been decided that it will be incumbent on the part of Police Authorities to send the verification report to the Licensing authority within a period of 60 days. Thus, the Licensing Authority shall wait until the expiry of the prescribed time for the police verification report to be received. If the police report is not received within the prescribed period of 60 days, the Licensing Authority will remind the police authorities of their obligation and demand a report forthwith, but issue arms licence only on receipt of the police report.

It has been decided to prescribe a uniform norm and allow 50 cartridges of the appropriate bore per annum in respect of PB and NPB weapons held by licensees. However, in respect of PB and NPB weapons allowed under the family heirloom policy, the quantity of ammunition will be restricted to 30 cartridges per annum since, ordinarily, there is no threat to the legal heir and the weapon is transferred to him on sentimental grounds. A higher quantity of ammunition will be allowable on merits in exceptional cases for good and sufficient reasons to be given by the licensee, with the approval of Secretary (Home Department) of the State concerned.

been decided that each State Government may prescribe reporting on use of ammunition by the licensee and devise reporting mechanism under which each licensee may keep a record of the use of ammunition with him such as (i) date of use, (ii) place, (iii) number of bullets fired and (iv) purpose. The licensee may report use of ammunition during the previous year before purchase of ammunition in the current year to the authority concerned as per procedure to be prescribed by the State Government. Thus, the quantity of ammunition in a year shall be limited to the use of the ammunition in the previous year so that the total quantity with a licensee shall not exceed the prescribed quantity at any time. For example, if a licensee under the threat perception category had not used any ammunition in the previous year against the quota of 50 cartridges, no fresh quota for the current year will be admissible. The State Governments may issue appropriate instructions to the licensees and all the arms dealers in the State in this regard. A report on the use of ammunition by licensees may be sent by each DM to the State Government concerned on a quarterly basis and a consolidated report may be sent by the State Government to MHA on an annual basis.

Area Validity of arms licences – In respect of Prohibited Bore (PB) weapons, extension of area validity from one State to more than one State or all-India basis is considered by the Central Government on merits

It has been decided to advise the State Governments to allow area validity upto a maximum of three adjoining States and also to consider AIV requests at State level for (i) sitting Union Ministers/MPs, (ii) Personnel of Military, Para-Military, (iii) officers of All-India Services and (iv) officers with liability to serve anywhere in India. AIV may be allowed for 3 years, after which it shall be reconsidered by the State Government based on need and the area validity can be either reduced or allowed to continue for another three years. Request from above categories of applicants may be approved at the level of Secretary (Home) of the State concerned

In the cases of applicants not covered by the above categories, the State Government shall seek prior concurrence of MHA with full justification in deserving cases. All India Validity may be allowed for three years in such cases and shall be re-considered after 3 years by the State Government with prior concurrence of MHA. The State Government may send data of All-India validity on quarterly basis to MHA.

at the time of renewal, re-verification of antecedents will be done by the DM through police authorities (i) in cases where DM/Licensing Authority have any doubt, (ii) in other cases after six years i.e. every alternate cycle, when the licence comes up for renewal, and (iii) in all those cases where the licence has been issued by another licensing authority. In the last mentioned case, verification of the issue of licence from the issuing authority may also be stipulated along with police verification, before allowing renewal. Police authorities will be allowed a period of 60 days to send their report.

What it means:-

1.All licensees are in the same category as criminals.All arms whether licensed or illegal are a threat to the law and order of the country.

2.A license can only be issued when a police report is received in this regard and the licensing authority has to abide by the police report.

3.All India license can only be granted to MP's,Union Ministers,IAS and IPS officers,army men and paramilitary officers,and those who can be posted to any part of the country.It shall be valid for a maximum of three states and the AIV will have to be renewed every three years.For any one who does not meet this criteria AIV shall be granted only with the approval of the MHA.

4.Max quota for SD license is 50 cartridges and 30 in case it is granted on heirloom basis.The quota can only be increased by the state home ministry.The licensee will have to maintain a record of where he/she has fired the ammo.on which date,the no. of shots fired and the reason for firing it.The next year he/she will have to give proof of using the ammo and he/she shall be allowed to buy only as much ammo in that year as he/she has been able to fire the previous year.

[goodboy_mentor]

Nothing much to say. Because we anyways are so frustrated with all that is happening and this is like a icing on the cake.

Please do not give up in frustration, this is just a draft policy, please do give your opinion, it will make a difference. Let us come up with a draft of the reply.

Following are the points I will be working on for reply/opinion to MHA:

Please refer http://indiansforguns.com/viewtopic.php ... 468#p87468

[goodboy_mentor]

Following are the points I will be working on for reply/opinion to MHA:

1)India already has one of the tightest gun control laws in the world and crime is increasing every year. The reason is simple, criminals/terrorists always get illegal firearms and law abiding citizens have been "controlled" by the Arms Act. Controlling weapons by legislation is only going to control weapons going into the hands of law abiding citizens, who anyways have no intention to commit a crime. It is just like controlling prostitution by legislation. Government should give up the policy of needlessly trying to "control" this sector as it has practically failed and has been counter productive. Criminals/terrorists anyways having no respect for Arms Act etc., have unlimited access to illegal, cheap/high quality military style firearms like AK-47/hand grenades/RPGs/explosives etc. as they are in no way or form dependent on legal firearms for their crimes. So called arms "control" only helps the terrorists/criminals because it assures them that their victims are unarmed to defend themselves and they can commit crime with confidence.
2)Arms licensing should be made objective rather than subjective dependent on the personal perception of the licensing authority, if a person is not insane, nor absconding from the law and submitting proof of Identity and Residence, there is no reason why he should not be allowed to defend his life and be issued Arms License. The provision of "Police Report" is pointless, if the person is not an absconder from the law, then state has no right to violate Article 25 of the Constitution by denying firearm license, indirectly denying any citizen to defend his life from criminals. The question of "threat perception is again a very vague concept, does any victim of crime have any prior information of crime going to happen? Did the victims of 26/11 in Mumbai have any prior so called "Threat perception", did they not have the right to be armed and defend their lives. Same logic goes for victim of every single violent crime against every citizen. The concept of "Threat" or "no threat" should be removed, moreover there have been numerous rulings by Ho'ble High Courts that while issuing firearm licenses this should not be taken into account as life of any citizen can come under threat from any unknown quarter without any prior information.
3)It is a known fact that terrorists do not apply for an Arms License and then legally import weapons, instead they smuggle in military style firearms like AK 47 etc., hence the import of firearms by Arms License holders should be opened up. An arms license holder is anyways going to get a firearm, then how does it matter if he buys from the local market or duly imports them?
4)Creating a national database of arms is not going to serve the actual purpose of controlling crime. It will be a waste of taxpayer's money, invading their privacy by collecting needless information. It is like creating a national database of automobiles in India to control rash driving. It is a known fact that majority of the crimes committed by criminals/terrorists are with illegal weapons which the government anyways will not be able to get them into the database. Net result will be harassment of the law abiding arms license holders not only at local Thana level, but also be at the "National" level.
5)Arms licenses by default should be "All India". If every citizen of this country has the right to travel to anywhere in the country, then why should he be prevented from defending his life anywhere in the country?
6)The concept of "Prohibited Bore" and "Non Prohibited Bore" cartridges was created by the British as they did not trust Indians in Armed Forces. It was done with the reason to ensure that in event of possible mutiny by Indian population the cartridges used by the Armed Forces cannot be used in civilian firearms. Hence any cartridge used by Armed Forces was a "Prohibited Bore" It is contrary to the common perception PB bore cartridges are ballistically superior. 7.62*51 mm is PB, but 30-06 is NPB, both are ballistically identical. This concept does not hold today as Armed Forces never supply cartridges to terrorists etc., moreover terrorists prefer to use PB bore cartridges due to their easy and cheap availability all over the world except India. This concept of PB & NPB bore should be done away, since if Armed Forces and civilians use identical cartridges, in even of any war the 2nd line of defense(by civilians) will not need a 2nd line of production and supply by Indian government.

[m24]

Hi goodboy_mentor,

Other than the last line in point no. 6, everything else looks great. Referring to Pakistan Govt. acknowledgement on the PB issue will not help the cause.

Regards

[warthog]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 382617.cms

NEW DELHI: Amid reports of many arms licence holders misusing their legal weapons in one or the other way, the Centre has come out with a comprehensive draft to bring changes in the existing arms and ammunition policy for individuals -- suggesting scores of new provisions ranging from setting up a national database of licensees to making the police verification exercise strict and mandatory.


now you are all criminals.
the so called NATGRID will have 21 types of data and also your phone and net logs and all this is being done without warrant.

[goodboy_mentor]

Thanks for pointing, I have amended it. Requesting all to read/modify/add/correct and email to MHA with opinion.