India already had some of the world’s strictest gun laws. Now it’s tightened them

by Rama Lakshmi, August 1, 2016

NEW DELHI — As mass shooting incidents in the United States rise, India has tightened its firearms regulations, making it even more difficult for common citizens to own a gun.

India already had 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.

Now, in the most ambitious restructuring of arms rules in more than five decades, the government has made the laws even tougher. Prospective gun owners will have to show they have been trained, and they must carry their firearms only in holders and secure them in a “knocked down” condition in gun lockers at home. The government will declare new gun-free zones, in addition to schools, across the country. Even air guns will require an arms license.

The new gun restrictions are not a reaction to recent violence. The process has taken five years, but it quickened after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was elected in 2014. The rules were put into effect last month and will be presented in Parliament.

An official in the Ministry of Home Affairs, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media, said the changes are intended “to bring in transparency in the arms-control regime, prevent, combat and eradicate illicit trade in small arms and light weapons . . . and bring in the contemporary practices in international laws.”

The changes have riled the nascent National Association for Gun Rights India.

“We are very disappointed. What the government is saying is that it cannot trust its citizens,” said Rahoul Rai, the group’s president.

The “last few years, we have discussed with the government steps to remove the harassment law-abiding citizens face in getting firearm licenses,” Rai said. “One shouldn’t have to jump through 25 hoops to get a license.
Unfortunately, they have created a situation where people will get desperate and will end up getting illegal guns.”

From now on, an official who issues or denies a gun license will have to write down the reasons. Rai said that is unworkable because no
bureaucrat will “stick his neck out.” Licenses are issued for three categories: self-defense, sports and crop protection.