49 per cent dip in new arms licences in last 7 years

NEW DELHI: As a preventive measure to control the menace of gun culture in the national capital, the Delhi police have been more conscious. According to the data provided by the Delhi police, there has been 49 per cent decline in terms of arms licences issued in the city over the last eight years.

According to the data, 1,174 arms licences were issued in 2011 by the licencing branch of the Delhi police, however in 2018 only 574 licenses were issued, showing a drastic decline of 49 per cent.

The data said, total 6607 arms licences have been issued between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2018.

The police said 998 licences were issued in 2012 while 961 in 2013. However, in 2014 it rolled down to 635 but in 2015 boomed to 922 and since 2016 it is constantly decreasing, as 780 in 2016, 603 in 2017 and 574 in 2018.

The data further revealed that 10,664 licences were renewed in 2018 while only 491 were cancelled in the same year. The reason behind the decline is that majority of the applications are rejected, said the police, adding that the Delhi police follows a very stringent licencing process.

When an individual applies for an arms licence, he has to inform police if he has been previously convicted or has a court case pending against him, apart from other formalities after which the local police station conducts a verification, following which a report is sent to a DCP-rank officer who decides the fate of the licence, whether he or she is eligible or not.

“In case of individuals who claim that there is an imminent threat to their life, the police cross checks it with different departments and then call the applicants for interview. Like every coin has flip side, these strict and stringent rules have however boomed the sale of illegal guns in the national capital, the reason being its easy availability from border areas.

Police claimed that they gave a severe blow to the illicit fire-arm suppliers in Delhi and recovered huge quantities of illicit fire-arms. Police recovered 1905 illicit firearms in 2018. Recently, the police launched an online facility for granting or renewing the arms licences, which will simplify the process.

The “online e-arms licensing system” is intended to simplify the process like issue of new arms licences, renewal of existing arms licences, registration of arms licences issued from other states and addition of weapons.