INTRODUCTION
Gun laws in India date back to the time of 1800s wherein India was under British colonialism. During this time, the country witnessed the British uprisings and the first war of Independence in 1857 which shook the mindset of the Britishers and drove them to think about the regulation of such armed rebellions in the future. In the first war of independence, civilians used a lot of British government arms and ammunition to protest against their soldiers.
The said event led to the introduction of the Arms Act of 1878 to ensure that no Indian could possess a weapon of any description unless the crown was satisfied that he was a loyal subject of the crown. This Act remains unobjected till 12 years of Indian independence as the same was replaced by Arms Act, 1959.
In this article, team YLCC brings you an overview on gun possession laws in the country. Read on!
FEATURES OF ARMS ACT, 1959
The new Act finally replaced the previous Act and was also better than the previous edition. However, it also showed that even an independent government shall not be able to give very much liberty to its citizens. It was also criticised to give some arbitrary powers to the licensing authorities. It was supplemented by the Arms Rule, 1962. The Act r/w rules regulated the acquisition, possession, manufacture, sale, export, import and transfer of firearms except with a license, which is also quite difficult to obtain since the process is quite lengthy and may take even a number of years to complete.
It classified firearms into two categories i.e. Prohibited Bore and Non-prohibited bore wherein bore means thickness/diameter of the bullet. Non-prohibited bore includes arms like handguns of calibre .35, .36, .22, and .380 wherein all civilians can apply for possession of an NPB by the procedure specified under Chapter II and III of the Act.[1]
Prohibited bore includes semi-automatic & automatic guns which only defence personnel and family heirlooms could get before the terror attack of 2008 in Mumbai. Now, even civilians can get guns who are apprehended by grave and imminent threats to their lives or who live in terrorist-prone areas. It can also be issued to government officials who are exposed to such kind of threat and who have made themselves targets in front of the terrorists.
A change was introduced in the year 1987 wherein the power to grant a license for possession of both of these categories could be granted by any state government personnel were shifted to the central government in the case of Prohibited bore after 1987. Currently, the government holds a monopoly over the manufacturing, sale, export and import of such arms and ammunition. If we compare Indian guns laws with other countries, then the Indian laws seem to be more stringent than other countries. Like, in the U.S. acquiring any fireman including a gun is a constitutional right while in the case of India it’s only a matter of privilege. The amended Arms rules of 2016, make acquiring a license necessary even for airguns.
PROCEDURE OF ACQUISITION OF GUN BY A CITIZEN
The procedure of acquisition of gun is laid down in Chapter III of the Arms Act, 1959 and are elaborated briefly as follows:-
- First and foremost, to own a gun in India, a civilian needs to be a minimum of 21 years of age. Furthermore, guns can only be obtained for the protection of crops, sport and lastly for self-defence. Thereafter, an application form needs to be filled out which caters for details about the applicant’s criminal records.
- Other than that certain documents needs to be required of the applicant i.e. identity proof, proof of age, education, residence proof, 4 photographs, last three years ITRs, character certificate, etc.
- Thereafter, a background check of an applicant is done strictly for 2 months which includes interviewing the applicant, family members, neighbours etc.
- The above-mentioned interviews are then sent to the crime branch and the National crime record bureau for record-keeping. It is only after this licensing authority takes an interview of the applicant.
Thereafter, one gets the license of a particular gun is obtained which again needs to be renewed every three years and also the Government can confiscate these weapons anytime as this is only a matter of privilege to the individual and not his right.
Also, in case anyone wishes to procure a gun from the factory then the factory must possess a transport license and No Objection Certificate for the factory owner and the police. This process also requires a month after which it has to be produced for inspection and housekeeping.
ARM LAWS AFTER 2019
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs is introducing a Database of Arms Licenses which will include the details of all arms license holders and they will further be issued a Unique Identification number from April 2019. This has been done to keep a check on the authorised and unauthorised gun users in which many of them are also involved in crimes leading to the loss of many lives.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ARMS LAWS OF USA AND INDIA
India has stricter arms laws than the U.S; as a result, gun ownership is rare in India. According to the report of Small Arms Survey, India ranks 110th in the world in terms of the ownership of civilian arms with only 4.2 guns per citizen while the U.S. on the other hand ranks 1st with 88.5 guns per 100 citizens. This proves that the country wherein rules are stringent leads to less civilian violence than those wherein there is less civilian violence. In the U.S., firearm laws are administered by state agencies and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, tobacco, firearms and Explosives. Furthermore, in addition to Federal and State gun laws in USA, several local authorities have their firearm laws as the second amendment of the U.S. Constitution was implemented to safeguard its citizens against the possibility of repression, arising from within the government.
In the case of Ganesh Chandra Bhatt v District Magistrate, Almora[2] it was held that if an application for a license to bear a Non-PB weapon is not accepted or rejected in three months, the license is deemed to have been granted by the Government since the right to self-defence has been considered to be within the ambit of Article 21. However, the judgement has no validity as it has been overruled and in the present state, there is no right to bear arms as it is solely governed by the Central government as per Arms Act, 1959 and is not constitutionally protected. There is also punishment for the usage of celebratory gunfire or in a rash and negligent manner as they shall be punished with two-year imprisonment and a fine up to Rs. 1 lakh.
CONCLUSION
After going through the procedure & provisions of the Act we can conclude that India has strict firearms law when it comes to the issuance of gun licenses, however, India still has the 2nd most number of deaths due to inefficient regulation of the Arms Act. Another reason behind the same is the large-scale smuggling of illegal firearm weapons throughout the country with the assistance of various stakeholders.
YLCC would like to thank Utkarsh Sharma for his valuable insights in this article.
[1] Chapter III, Arms Act, 1959
[2] Ganesh Chandra Bhatt v District Magistrate, Almora AIR 1993 All 291
