GUN CONTROL

“The only way to heal was to take action”

-Jaclyn Corin

Gun violence is a contemporary global human rights issue. Gun-related violence threatens our most
fundamental human right, the right to life. Gun violence is a daily tragedy affecting the lives of
individuals around the world. More than 500 people die every day because of violence committed with
firearms. Anyone can be affected by firearm violence but in certain situations gun violence
disproportionately impacts communities of color, women and other marginalized groups in society.

A complex and variable constellation of risk and protective factors makes persons more or less likely to
use a firearm against themselves or others. For this reason, there is no single profile that can reliably
predict who will use a gun in a violent act. Instead, gun violence is associated with a confluence of
individual, family, school, peer, community, and socio cultural risk factors that interact over time during
childhood and adolescence. Although many youths desist in aggressive and antisocial behavior during
late adolescence, others are disproportionately at risk for becoming involved in or otherwise affected by
gun violence. The gun industry is booming, with more than 875 million firearms being in circulation
across the globe and over 15 billion rounds of ammunition being produced every year.

GUN CONTROL IN INDIA

Gun control, politics, legislation, and enforcement of measures intended to restrict access to, the
possession of, or the use of arms, particularly firearms. Gun control is one of the most controversial and
emotional issues in many countries, with the debate often centering on whether regulations on an
individual’s right to arms are an undue restriction on liberty and whether there is a correlation between
guns and crime. Proponents of gun-control legislation assert that the strict enforcement of gun-control
laws saves lives and reduces crime. By contrast, opponents of gun control assert that minimal
restrictions on guns ensure that individuals have adequate means for self-defense and that a wider
distribution of firearms results in safer communities.

India has one of the strictest gun laws in the world. Here, acquiring firearms is a privilege and not a
constitutional right). In fact, Arms Rules, 2016, makes licenses necessary, even for air guns. The process
of procuring licenses though, is difficult and often takes months. They are granted only after a thorough
assessment, including background checks.

Gun Laws in India are governed by Indian Arms Act 1959 which provides guidelines for keeping arms. It
is an act of parliament which has repealed the earlier act of 1878 and this act has been passed only to
curb the menace of keeping illegal weapons and possible threat of violence arising from them and made
impossible for Indian to keep weapons because to ensure that if there were any Indian uprising it would
be less effective also the Arms Rules 1962 of India prohibits the sale, manufacture, possession,
acquisition, import, export and transport of firearms and ammunition unless under a license and is a
stringent process. Indian Government has monopoly over production and sale of firearms, with the
exception of some breech loading smooth bore shotguns, of which a limited number may be produced
and imported.

The Arms Act classifies firearms into two categories: Prohibited Bore and Non-Prohibited. (A bore is the
thickness/ diameter of the bullet or in simple words, the hole in the middle of a barrel through which
the bullet comes out.)

 Bore where all semi-automatic and fully automatic firearms fall under the Prohibited Bore
category. Any firearm which can chamber and fire ammunition of the caliber .303, 7.62mm;
410,380; .455; .45 rimless; 9mm is specified as Prohibited Bore under The Arms Act.
 Smooth bore guns having barrel of less than 20" in length are also specified as Prohibited Bore
guns under The Arms Act.

HISTORY

In ancient India, the Sultans and Rajas were typically absolute monarchs and their people were
subordinate to them as well as poor, not only was there no cultural proponent encouraging armed self
defense, or of reliance on a militia for defense of the realm but common use arms was discouraged.
When the British were in charge, they actively discouraged the private ownership of arms, for obvious
reasons and The Arms Act, 1878 was passed by them and it was an act regulating the manufacture, sale,
possession, and carrying of firearms. The act included the mandatory licensing to carry a weapon, but
contained exclusions for some groups and persons.

In 1959 Arms Act was passed with new strict rules which 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.

REASONS FOR PASSING THE ARMS ACT

Before 1857 there was no gun control law in India. any Indian could own any weapon of any caliber but
after 1857 they thought their empire will no longer remain stand because everyone was allowed to kept
weapons and they passed the Arms act 1878 to prevent any such possible uprising against their empire
and allowed only few groups to kept arms till it was amended in 1959.

FIREARM POSSESSION

The Arms Act 1959 classifies firearms into two categories- Prohibited Bore (PB) and Non Prohibited
Bore (NPB).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.

Issuing of license of PB weapons only applies to a specific species of weapons as notified by the
Government in the Official Gazette. 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 Defense Ministry of India governs the Indian Ordnance factories all over India. As of 2016, there
are 33, 69,444 firearm licenses active in India with 97, 00,000 firearms registered to them. According to
Small Arms Survey there are 61,401,000 illegal firearms in India.

APPLICAATION TO GET GUNS AND ISSUING LICESENSE

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 behavior.
Guns are for only three purposes: crop protection, sport and self defense. For a self- defense 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, and proof of age, proof of education, residence proof, 4 photographs, last three years’
income tax returns, and 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 neighbors, checking his mental health history, behavior
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.

The criteria which are considered during the issue of Non Prohibited Bore firearm permits are whether
the person faces threat to life. These firearm licenses are strictly regulated Prohibited Bore firearms
criteria is even more strictly applicable for a person especially having a government position who faces
immediate danger or threats, family members of such people and a person whose occupation by nature
involves open threats and danger. Persons eligible for Prohibited Bore licenses are also frequently
rejected on basis of national security grounds. Exceptions are defense officers who are allowed to keep
firearms without licenses under the Defense Service rule until they complete their service and a handful
of professional shooters.

LATEST AMENDEMENT

The Arms Act (Amendment) Bill was passed in 2019 and according to this amendment:

 The bill seeks to decrease the number of licensed firearms allowed per person from three to
one. This includes licenses given on inheritance or heirloom basis.

 It provides a time period of one year to deposit the excess firearms with the officer-in-charge
of the nearest police station or with a licensed firearm dealer as specified. The excess firearms
will be relicensed within 90 days from the expiry of the one-year period.

 It prohibits obtaining or procuring un-licensed firearms, and the conversion of one category of
firearms to another without a license.

 It allows members of rifle clubs or associations to use any firearm for target practice instead of
only point 22 bore rifles or air rifles. 

 It increases penalties for certain offences from three years and seven years, along with a fine to
between seven years and life imprisonment, along with a fine.

 The Bill increases the duration of the validity of a firearm license from three years to five years.

 The Bill increases the punishment for acquisition, possession or carrying of prohibited
ammunition without a license from five and ten years to imprisonment between seven and 14
years, along with fine.   

 The punishment for cases in which the usage of prohibited arms and ammunition results in the
death of a person has been revised from the existing punishment of death to death or life
imprisonment, with fine. 

 It introduces new categories of offences: 

(i) Forcefully taking a firearm from police or armed forces
(ii) Using firearms in a celebratory gunfire which endangers human life or personal safety of
others.

 The Bill also defines offences committed by organized crime syndicates and illicit trafficking.

 “Organized crime” refers to continuing unlawful activity by a person, either as a member of a

syndicate or on its behalf, by using unlawful means to gain economic or other benefits. An
organized crime syndicate refers to two or more persons committing organized crime.

 “Illicit trafficking” includes the trade, acquisition, sale of firearms or ammunitions into or out of
India where the firearms are either not marked as per the Act or violate the provisions of the
Act. 
CURRENT POSITION ON LAW OF FIREARMS

As per reports and recommendations, the Ministry of Home Affairs has now planned to maintain a
National Database of Arms Licenses so as to have an official record of all the holders of arms licenses
including both old and new holders.

All these weapon holders will further be furnished a Unique Identification Number. The following step
has been taken as a pro-active step so that they are able to monitor and track authorized as well as
unauthorized gun holders. This is a precautionary step to minimize crimes leading to loss of lives due to
gunfire/ shootings by unauthorized guns/ weapons.

CONCLUSION

Possession of firearms by civilians is for self defense and it should not lead to law and order problems.
The growing gun culture across the globe has jeopardized the internal security of few countries. India
has some of the strictest gun laws in the world, a vestige of British colonial rule, which aimed to disarm
its subjects. Indian law allows citizens to own and carry guns, but it is not a right enshrined in the
constitution. Getting a gun license in India is a difficult task that can take years. Despite all the steps
taken to ensure minimum violence due to arms and ammunition and hence, it can also not be ignored
that India still records the 2nd highest deaths relating to gun violence. This proves that the existing laws
have failed to achieve their purpose and necessary steps need to be taken to prevent situations like
those prevailing in USA and various other countries all over the world. Steps like recognizing the faults in
the present system and tracing the origin of the illegal weapons to curb the black markets of arms and
ammunition need to be taken.