History

With the British uprising in India in the middle 1800s, incidents like bad pay, racial insensitivity, poor terms of pensions, increasing cultural indifference etc. on the part of the British officers contributed to the discontent among Indian soldiers. The sepoy mutiny of 1857 was an outcome of the “greased cartridges” which had a catalytic effect on the religious sentiments of Hindu and Muslim soldiers. The Britishers were under an immense fear that such repeated rebellions in the future would lead to the end of British Colonial era from India forever. Although the rebellion failed, the illegal and unauthorised use of Britsh weapons such as guns, rifles etc., by the Indian soldiers led to the introduction of Arms Act of 1878. The act passed under the tenure of then viceroy Lord Lytton, ensured that no Indian could possess a weapon of any description unless the Crown was satisfied that he was a loyal subject of the Crown. The position of the Arms Act remained unobjected to up until 12 years of India gaining independence, when the Arms Act of 1959 was passed.

Present Gun Laws in India

In 1959, the Arms Act of 1878 as enacted by the British was finally repealed and a whole new Arms Act was passed. It was better than the Britisher’s edition, but at the same time, it was also reflective of the Indian Government’s distrust in its own citizens. This act gave arbitrary use of powers to the licensing authorities. The act of 1959, was supplemented by the arms rules in 1962. They both together regulate, i.e., prohibit the acquisition, possession, manufacture, sale, export, import and transfer of firearms except with a license, which in itself is quite difficult to obtain since the process is tedious and may take even years to complete.

The Arms Act 1959, classifies firearms into two categories- Prohibited Bore (PB) and Non Prohibited Bore (NPB). A bore simply is the thickness/ diameter of the bullet or so to speak, the hole in the middle of a barrel through which a bullet emerges.

Non Prohibited Bore weapons include arms such as- handguns of caliber .35, .32, .22 and .380. All civilians can apply for possession of an NPB by following the due procedure under Chapter II and Chapter III of the Arms Act 1959.

Prohibited Bore weapons include pistols(9 mm)  and handguns of caliber .38, .455  and caliber .303 rifles. They also include semi automatic and fully automatic guns. Earlier, usually only defence personnel and family heirlooms could be issued PB category weapons but following the terror attacks of 2008 in Mumbai, the Government had to re- think about its gun ownership norms. Now, civilians who are apprehended by “grave and imminent threat” to their lives or who live in terrorist- prone areas, or government officials who have made themselves targets in front of terrorists by nature of their job, or MLAs or MPs or of citizens associated with anti- terrorist programmes or their family numbers.  Issuing of license of PB weapons only applies to a specific species of weapons as notified by the Government in the Official Gazette, other species still remain prohibited to civilians.

Before 1987, the position was such that the license for possession of both of these categories could be granted by any state government personnel or any district magistrate. But after 1987, the granting of licenses for Prohibited Bore became entirely the responsibility of the central government.

The Indian Government holds monopoly when it comes to manufacturing, sale, export and import of such arms and ammunition. The Indian Ordnance Factory headquartered in Kolkata has the responsibility of production and sale of these arms and ammunition in India. The Defence Ministry of India governs the Indian Ordnance factories all over India.

As of present day, the gun laws in India are one of the most stringent in the world. In the United States, acquiring any firearm (including a gun) is a constitutional right, but in India it can only be termed as a privilege. No ordinary Indian citizen can acquire a gun without obtaining a license from the competent licensing authority. The amended Arms Rules of 2016, make acquiring a license necessary even for airguns.

How can a citizen apply to get a gun?

Any ordinary citizen in India cannot just go to a shop and buy a gun. The strict draconian laws in India on arms control have made it nearly impossible for an ordinary citizen to own a gun. Nevertheless, the procedure for acquiring a gun is laid down clearly by the Arms Act, 1959 under Chapter III.

●       First and foremost, to own a gun in India, a civilian needs to be minimum 21 years of age. An application form needs to be filled by the applicant which asks about his or her past criminal behaviour. Guns are for only three purposes: crop protection, sport and self defence. For a self- defence license, a civilian has to prove imminent threat to life. Protection can also be from wild animals.

●       Other than that, certain documentation is necessarily required of the applicant- identity proof, residence proof, proof of age, proof of education, residence proof, 4 photographs, last three years’ income tax returns, character certificate after verification from eminent members in the locality, health certificates both mental and physical.

●       The next step involves the police performing applicant’s strict background check for 2 months. Interviewing the applicant and his family, his neighbours, checking his mental health history, behaviour towards others- suppressive or aggressive , domestic violence etc.

●       The recorded interviews are then sent to the Criminal Branch and National Crime Record Bureau for record keeping. It is after this that the licensing authorities interview the applicant and the reason for their approval or declining of license is also documented.

●       The applicants whose applications are approved have to observe mandatory arms handling course whereby they learn safe handling, firing and transporting a gun.

●       The license granted has to be renewed after every three years. Since owning a gun in India is only a privilege and not a right, the Government reserves the right to confiscate such weapons at any time.

●       In case a civilian intends to procure a gun from a factory, more documentation is required- residential proof, the factory must possess a transportation license to transfer a gun, and a mandatory No Objection Certificate for the factory owner and the police. This process requires a month after which it has to be produced for inspection and record keeping.

●       It is mandatory for any person carrying a gun to carry it in a holster or a rucksack in case of rifles.

Position in 2019

From April 2019, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is planning to maintain a National Database of Arms Licenses which will include the details of all arms license holders- both old and new, and they will be issued a Unique Identification Number. This measure is taken in the wake of keeping a check on authorised and unauthorised gun owners many of whom are also involved in crimes leading to loss of lives.