Can I bring a firearm on a visit to India?

[eljefe]

Quite a complex case you present Mehul,
What is your current status?PIO or Indian citizen/ US resident or US citizen?
I have a copy of the indian arms act-unfortunately in the office-dont ask how! bought a whole set of law books a while ago and they are in the off reference library.
Then again, as is usual, it will be open to interpretation by the person actually handling you at the airport...
I know a couple of high profile lawyers in Delhi and also somebody from Central Excise & Customs.Will start asking after 25th-most offices are closed till then.
I really wonder how the CG will interpret the whole situation...Probably refer to Dir Gen of Imports and Exports?
Will keep you posted.
Best
Axx

[mehulkamdar]

Asif,

I'll wait to get some feedback before I go to meet the CG because I don;t want them rejecting this outright on their whims. The following is my status: Indian citizen, US Permanent Resident. No PIO, Dual CItizen or other complications.

Have Indian license issued in Chennai and an Illinois FOID card issued in Chicago. Own two guns in India and currently 6 in the USA. The said rifle is NOT mine, it is in Wisconsin, a state that does NOT require licenses or the registration of guns. I can get an official letter from the owner telling whoever wants to know that I am borrowing it and taking it out of the country with his consent.

The US formalities involve getting permission from customs to take the rifle out - they give you a card which you have to carry wth you on the trip and surrender when you return. It is the formalities in India that I am concerned about. As I have said before, the rifle in question is a very valuable one and I do not wish to take it along if there is even a slight doubt as I do not want it to be seized or held because some bureaucrat decides that he needs some baksheesh not to exercise his authority.

That said, I would like to bring the rifle in so friends in India could have some fun. The only other way to get you guys to shoot this thing would be if you came to the US together. Not a very likely option from what I can see...

Mehul

[eljefe]

Hokay,
Will carry a hard copy of your last post and see what the story is here.
Best
axx

[mehulkamdar]

Gentlemen,

This might be bad news for my plan unless some knowledgeable in the law offers a solution. I was directed to a page on the Indian Consulate's Chicago website that says that "under most circumstances" trave;;ing to India with firearms is not permitted. Now the problem is that the gentleman I spoke to was not sure under what circumstances an exemption could be granted. I seriously doubt that even the CG would know unless I had some legal statute to show him, if this is allowed.

I would request the help of Abhijeet/penpusher/Piyush in this regard. Please let me know if this is possible. If it is, then I shall need to apply for permission as soon as possible. I cannot afford to delay as the time that it takes to get this permission may be long.

Please let me know if someone could guide me on the law in question.

Thanks,

Mehul

[jonahpach]

Wowee!
All this trouble just so that us Blokes stuck here in India can get a few shots off.. Thats what I call Gung Ho!
All the luck Mehul! and may the sun shine on your Kopf for a long long time.
Jonah

[mehulkamdar]

Jonah,

I thought I'd do this so that we could have some fun in India as it would be impossible for everyone to have a get together in the US. Sadly, with no idea of how to get the relevant permission, I am not at all sure that this could happen unless someone suggests a way to work this out.

Since the earlier post that I made was on recoil, the rifle that I plan to bring, if all goes well, is a really heavy recoiling piece. Would like to see how the august membership of our group shoots it. To be honest, I haven't shot this rifle myself - would like to shoot it before I come there, though.

I wish there were a way to bring it there <banging my head against the wall.

[monty3006]

hi MEhul,
Sorry it took so long in replying. U can bring a weapon into India only if U r a foreign national. U get a tourist license which is valid for six months only. U need to apply at the port of entry for the license six weeks in advance of your date of arrival. On landing, the word tourist will be stamped across the firearms license issued to you. I'm not sure if u can get an all india license .... but a local license for say Mumbai or Goa can be arranged. I'll get more info on this for u.
Monish

[monty3006]

Another thought mehul why don't u experiment with an el cheapo rifle which ... god forbid .... even if it gets jammed in say customs or immigration, would not matter? An expensive weapon belonging 2 some one else might put u in a soup wit ure friend if some thing untoward happens in India. This is just a random thought..... I'm not discouraging you. The lord knows that I'll be the first to shoot this monster if u succeed in this endevour.

[eljefe]

Mehul,
No info from the customs and Excise chap.What's your date of arrival at bangalore? I'll try to schedule my trip so that we can meet and let off the 450/400 and have an official celebration and Bangalore IFG offline meet ...

Best
Axx

[penpusher]

Mehul,

As per the Arms Act only a person who is not an Indian citizen would qualify as a tourist and can bring in a firearm for the purpose of sport alone.

The relevant sections and rules are Sec10 of the Arms Act 1959 and Rule 32 of Arms Rules 1962.The license is granted in Form III to a bonafide tourist(will type them out if you want me to)

My suggestion is not to bring in the rifle as it would in all probability be confiscated or atleast detained pending your return.

penpusher

[mehulkamdar]

So the great government of India trusts foreign citizens to bring guns into the country but it does not trust Indian citizens themselves? What a bloody tamasha!

[shooter31]

hi there mehul
coming to india with a gun sounds intresting but not practical... si last yr when we went to singapore at departing at the customs they made us stay at the departing for about 2 hours clearing our weapons and when we arrived at singapore we took 6 hours to clear out and gagan was with me... and when coming with wepons in india.. if you can remember and i cannot that when was a last international shooting championship held at india... so i dont think that their is any transperency in the process and this visit of yours you are planning must then be atleast 2 months long because 15 days to you will spend dancng one place to other getting the required documents and and clearing and geeting all the permits and stuff may be jaspal bhaiya has some idea i think chandu bhai is one of the best person to talk to as he is the person supplying spare parts to the indian shooting circuits and he may be aware of the law thou he has other means to get the things in india as herd by diffrent shooters... i am not discouraging you in any way but just trying to tell you that in ny case this is not a cake walk because if you can come inside without being identified with a tank and political backup to blow sm part the custom ppl may allow you but if they trace you say for eg with a small spring then they may pin you down and your arm goes in their custody.... for eg i have a bit of problem with a spare part of lp10 known as the pressure reducer, if i would have ordered it online then for sure the custom would have stopped it at the airport and i would have to get it releazed it from the custom , so when a small thing like a pressure reducer can be siezed just think what will happen to your big dadddy weapon... did you ever b4 came to india with a weapon, if you have then follow the same procedure... what else can i say... i hope sm one helps you with the legal stuff and yup go to the dgca and ndian custom and excise site if their is one dgca (directorate general civil aviation) has one as far as know dont mail them these are govt departments and i dont think ny body is so much techno savy here....call on the given ph no's instead..and one of the very imp q's that they will ask you is that why have you brought this weapon in india and for what specific reason so plz dont tell them to shoot in a wedding or something be ready with a smart ans any spontaneous and unrelated thing can be asked to you at the custom and if you njoy the privlage of sm politcal links or sm jacks then i hope you can easily get the thing done

thats from me

abhinav

[Pran]

As per the Arms Act only a person who is not an Indian citizen would qualify as a tourist and can bring in a firearm for the purpose of sport alone.

What cheapos!
Btw, Mehul when are you coming to India?Is a visit to Bangalore on your schedule?
Pran

[mehulkamdar]

Abhinav,

We learned that the government of India allows foreigners to bring guns into India temporarily but does not allow Indian citizens who live abroad to do so. It is a sad comment on how we are treated by our own government. Even the British did not mistreat Indians like our own government is doing.

Pran,

I was planning to come in January but my father's death a few days ago and my mother's planned surgeries in late December and early January mean that my trip is somewhat delayed. That said, I have postponed my trip to India considerably over the past few months and I need to travel without fail in 2007. Bangalore is definitely on the cards - good friends like Mack The Knife being there - as are Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi, possibly also Hyderabad as we have properties in all of these places and I need to help my mother settle matters following my father's death.

I look forward to meeting good friends I have made here and I had hoped to bring a big bore rifle for everyone who wanted to to shoot, but sadly, thanks to our babus and netas, they would consider all of us criminals if I tried bringing a gun in officially.

Best wishes,

Mehul

[Pran]

I had hoped to bring a big bore rifle for everyone who wanted to to shoot, but sadly, thanks to our babus and netas, they would consider all of us criminals if I tried bringing a gun in officially.


Mehul

Mehul,
So what? We still get to meet you!
Pran