Gun violence in India is on its peak and there is no full stop to it. A recent instance is the shootout on Uttar Pradesh police in which eight police personnel were killed by gangsters.
The continuous grabbing of arms and ammunitions by Maoists and anti-national elements (NCRB data 2018) and growing illegal arms manufacturing factories in West Bengal and other parts of India are a few areas of concerns for the authorities Further, India’s latest stand at number two in the world ranking in a number of privately owned firearms, named as one of the largest arm importer countries by the report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), and growing gun shops in many States are the few questions on the enforcement and existence of the Arms Act 1959. Therefore, the Government’s quick action of reviewing and amending the Arms Act 1959 can be seen in Arm Rules 2016 and Arms (amendment) Act 2019 respectively.
Under the Arm Rules 2016, the Home Ministry’s decision on issuance of Unique Identification Number (UIN) to every arms licence holder to lessen crimes and regulate the private gun holders through national database was one of the welcome steps.
Similarly, the recent introduction of the Arms (amendment) Act, 2019 in the Parliament has primarily three objectives; such as (a) limit the number of licenced firearms per individual, (b) reduce the crime by introducing many new offences and penalties on violation, and (c) stop illegal arms smuggling. Furthermore, the new act aims at bringing transparency to regulate the entire arm regime in order to prohibit illegal trade and comply with the global standards etc. The Ministry of Home Affairs (Internal Security Division II), solely regulated and enforced of guns in India through its State, territory and special-task police forces etc. In addition to that, the custom regulations also certify and take a written declaration from all the small arms users and in case of ammunitions transfer. They too maintain records on individual civilians on such transactions.
Before 2019, the arms laws in India also barred the right to private gun ownership and private possession of fully automatic weapons. But with proper permission/licence; private possession of semi-automatic assault weapons, handguns (pistols and revolvers) can be owned.
For self-defence or personal protections, target shootings and hunting, and security purposes, gun owner licences are mandatory by the arms laws in India and every three years, an owner must re-apply and re-qualify for the licence.
Additionally, the minimum age for qualifying a gunship is 21 years in India and an applicant must pass through criminal, mental and health records. On the existence of any previous offence involving violence, the gun licence can be denied or revoked.
For owing a gun in India, third-party references are not required and also no need of interviews and advice required by the licencing authority to applicant’s partner or family members. Importantly, a licenced owner of a firearm can only possess three firearms according to the Arms Act, 1959. Now discussing the crime data before the Arm (amendment) Act 2019, the civilians in India owned both
The number of possession of legal and illegal guns by civilians in 2017 was approximately 72,101,000 out of which the registered guns in India were 9,700,000. The unregistered and unlawful guns in India are estimated to be 62,401,000 in 2017 while in 2011 there were 33,700,000 of such weapons.
Relating to the firearms related murders, the NCRB 2016 data pegged them at 3,775 out of which 90 percent murders were committed using the unlicenced weapons. Additionally, the NCRB data also reveals that a total of 1,08,444 number of ammunitions were seized during 2018. Cases registered under the Arms Act 1959 were 66,305, in which 74,877 firearms were seized (3,742 arms were licenced and 71,135 arms were unlicenced).
Further, explaining on the crimes under the Arms Act 1959 were reported asFurther 66,305 crimes were committed all over India out of which firearms crimes were 39,192 (337 through licenced arms and 38,855 through illegal and unlicenced arms), says the NCRB data 2018.
In the world ranking on manufacture of small arms and medium arms, India stands at a medium place while it was reported high on home-made guns and illicit craft of manufactures.
Though the firearms export is limited in India, the annual value of small arms and ammunitions exports reported by customs was 14,000,000 in 2010 while they were 61,000,000 in 2016. Similarly, the firearms import is equally limited. Smuggling of guns and ammunitions in India stands moderate in the world ranking that indicates India is one of the biggest importers of illegal firearms in the world. The Government of India recently passed the Arms (amendment) Act 2019 with an objective to govern the entire firearm in the country in order to bring safety and peace in the society. The law limits the ownership of two firearms per person and the additional firearms must be deposited in police station within one year of the passing of the law.
The law also extends the duration of an arm licence from three years to five years. The manufacture, sale, transfer, procuring of un-licenced firearms, import and export of banned firearms, modifications including conversion of firearms without a valid licence are prohibited by law.
Possession of any kind of firearms including automatic, semi-automatic and assault rifles without licence is severely punishable. In such cases, punishment would be imprisonment between seven years and life imprisonment, along with fine. But, on the possession and acquisition of small arms under curio, no licences are required for Indian citizens.
New amendments bring punishment of 10 years and life imprisonment along with fine on the grabbing a firearm from police or armed forces, imprisonment of up to two years, or a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh or both as punishments for the use of guns in weddings or religious ceremonies that risk human life, and imprisonment between 10 years and life, along with a fine on the ‘illicit trafficking’ of trade, acquisition, sale of firearms or ammunitions into or out of India.
Introduction of “Organised Crime” and its punishments by Arms Act 2019 states that any unlawful activity by any person for unlawful means through violence or coercion to gain economic benefits would be punished with imprisonment between 10 years and life, along with a fine.
Similarly, a few changes in the shooter’s possession of guns under the firearm exemption category, now depending on the shooter’s performance in events especially renowned shooters, possession of guns are allowed and that should not exceed twelve guns in any case. Junior shooters/aspiring shooters are allowed only with two weapons for shooting purpose.
Now a natural question arises is, will by limiting or reducing the gun license, crimes in India go down? The answer is very straight; firstly, in order to check crime and lawlessness, the Government needs to focus on illegal firearms import and possessions as licenced gun contributes less towards crime in India; secondly, the Government should establish a strong gun controlling machinery for watch on illegal firearms along with maintaining a national database on Arms license;thirdly, the failure of earlier law should be taken seriously and the focus of the amended law should be on the practical implications than a text revision in the act;lastly, identification and correction of faults in the present system and to curb the black market & illegal arms and ammunition need to be taken care.
In India owning a gun is not a right but a privilege, therefore it is expected that the government would take necessary action in order to achieve the objectives of new amended arm law 2019.
(Dr Panda is Assistant Professor, Xavier Law School, Xavier University Bhubaneswar, Ph: 078879450/9953079450, Email: biranchi@xub.edu.in)
