INTRODUCTION
According to the study conducted by American Medical Association, India comes third rank in whole world for gun related deaths. In the year 2016, a total of 26,500 firearm related deaths occurred in India. India is preceded by Brazil with 43,200 deaths, followed by United Nation with 37,200 deaths[1]. According to National Crime Records Bureau, there has been a jump in the number of gun related deaths in India from the year 2010-2014 from 3,063 to 3,655. Out this number 14 percent of gun users were gun license holder.
Indian laws related to arms are very strict compared to other countries. India recently shifted from manual record keeping to national database keeping in which total 33, 69,444 active licensed gun users were found.
In India, all provisions related to guns and gun licensing is written in The Arms Act 1959 and The Arms Rule of 1962 and 2016. Indians who want to own can only procure NPB (Non- Prohibited Bore) guns. Usually gun licenses are only given to people who succeed to prove that their life is under threat.
REASONS DEMANDED BY LAWS FOR THE POSSESSION OF GUNS
The laws in India doesn’t provide gun license to anyone without any reason. If someone wants to procure a gun for themselves, they have to give the government a legitimate reason as to why they require a gun.
To get a gun license in India, the reasons should be self-defence, crop protection or sports. If the person who wants to acquire a gun he should be able to show the authority that his needs come under the above-stated reasons. Other than these reasons, there are some more special categories mentioned under The Arms Rules 2016, from section 35 to 46. They are mentioned below:
- License for destruction of wild animals which do injury to human beings and cattle and damages the crops.
- License for training and target practice.
- License for sport shooting association.
- License for shooting ranges.
- License for accredited trainers.
- Quantity of ammunition to sports person, shooting associations, etc.
- License to museums.
- License for arms and ammunition for theatrical, film or series productions.
- Acquisitions, possession and exports of arms and ammunition by tourists visiting India.
- License to an International sports person for participation in shooting events in India.
- Other temporary categories for imports/exports licenses.
- License for firearms free zones.[2]
PROCEDURE TO BE FOLLOWED TO OBTAIN LICENSE
Section 13 of The Arms Act, 1959 talks about grants for license. The procedure as to how to acquire license for gun is mentioned under that section. Only a person whose age is not below 21 and is of sound state of mind can apply for license of gun. Following are the procedures to follow for applying for the license:
- The very first step to do is submit the application form. Application form is easily available at website of Indian ordnance factory. or one can get the form from the district superintendent of police of that particular state.
- Once the application form is submitted, the police would start the background check of the person who has applied for the license. They will investigate whether that person has any charges of criminal activities under his name or whether the address and other personal information submitted by that person is authentic or not.
- While gathering the information they will also investigate his relationship with others and their neighbours, they will also investigate whether that person had been into any fights with anyone and whether that person has any anger management issues.
- The DCP also conducts an interview with the person who has applied for the license in order to establish whether he is a person with sound mind or not.
- During the interview, the most important questions asked are related to the purpose of obtaining the license. The most common answer usually are self defence and crop protection.
- After the interview is completed, the DCP sends the report to crime branch and National Crime Records Bureau.[3]
Once all these steps are fulfilled and when the DCP is satisfied with the very thing, a person would be granted their gun license.
While procuring a gun, there are certain documents which are required to be presented. The documents necessary for that purpose are mentioned below:
- The issued license with valid date should be presented in either English or Hindi.
- A photocopy of gun license.
- One copy of no objection certificate (NOC) to the factory owner and one copy to the police authority.
- Transport license of where the factory is located is also necessary.
RULES REGARDING ANCESTRAL GUNS
If the original gun license is present while the life of the holder and that person wants to pass/transfer his gun license to their legal heir, then they should write an application in a plain paper and attach that application with Form A of the person to whom the license is given.
If the license has passed the expiry date, then the same should be done with the Form A. Besides that, two passport-sized photo of the legal heir and a no objection certificate of the legal heir.
CONCLUSION
With the above-mentioned information and procedure, we can easily say that, Indian laws for arms are very strict compared to Americas. The number of procedures and strict investigation makes sure that the person who truly needs it can only procure them. The number of license applicant is increasing.With the higher number of license holders, the chances of catching culprits for gun related crimes gets higher.
[1]https://www.counterview.net/2018/09/india-third-highest-in-gun-related.html
[2] The Arms Rules, 2016, Chapter III.
[3]https://blog.ipleaders.in/how-to-get-the-gun-license-in-india/
This article is authored by Anjali Krishnan, Second-Year, BBA. LL.B student at JEMTEC School of Law
Also Read – How To Get Gun License In India?
