Review proposal to limit firearms: Bajwa

New Delhi, December 6

Ahead of the Central government moving the Arms Amendment Bill-2019 in the Rajya Sabha tomorrow to limit the number of arms an individual can own from three to one, Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa today wrote to the PM, asking him to rethink certain parts of the new law.

Arguing that the government should not reduce the number of arms being held by licensed arms holders, Bajwa, in his letter to Narendra Modi, said, “The National Crime Records Bureau data of 2017 shows there were 35,873 incidents that involved illegal firearms. In 2016, there were 322 murders committed by licensed weapons and 3,453 by illegal firearms. I condemn those who used their licences to commit murders but these murders can be traced to the owners who can be brought to justice. Illegal firearms is a growing problem in Punjab where reports of cross-border attempts of trafficking weapons are rising. My request is to reconsider the amendment which says the licensed arms holders must also own only one arm.”

“In Gurdaspur, of the 38,290 licences, 11,526 licences have still not received their unique identification numberUIN. Details have been submitted to the authorities but they have not been allotted numbers. Given this, I fail to see how this amendment can be carried out without causing undue harassment to legal owners of firearms within the present regulatory regime,” the Congress MP said. — TNS

Not issuing the UIN

The Home Ministry through a notification in 2016 asked for licence holders to get a unique identification number (UIN) by March 2019, but the administration is not allotting the numbers. Partap Singh Bajwa, Cong leader