Provincial legislature passes new arms bill for a safer Karachi

Possessing an illegal weapon is now a non-bailable offence.

KARACHI: The provincial legislature unanimously passed on Thursday the Arms Bill 2013 under which firearms licences can only be issued to “permanent” residents of Sindh. 

The move comes after the apex court’s orders on the implementation of the Karachi violence case - on October 6, 2011, it had made a number of recommendations to the provincial government so that bloodshed could be curbed. They included cleansing the city of weapons and making amendments to the Arms Act, 1965. The apex court has fixed another hearing on the matter for February 25.

Moving the bill, law minister Ayaz Soomro said, “We have made this legislation on the Supreme Court’s directives, given the extortion incidents, terrorism and deteriorating law and order in Karachi.” In their speeches, most MPAs reiterated the need to deweaponise not only Karachi, but the rest of the province as well.

The new policy

Under the new law, the age limit for acquiring a firearms licence has been increased from 18 to 25 years. Another significant change is that possessing a weapon without a licence will now be treated as a non-bailable offence, contrary to the previous Arms Act 1965, under which it was a bailable offense.



While talking to The Express Tribune, law secretary Ghulam Nabi Shah said, “Under the new policy, the licence will only be issued to people who either have permanent residence certificates of the province or can prove that they belong to Sindh by other means. We will verify whether the applicant is a permanent resident or not.” He added that law enforcers arrest many people who possess illegal weapons but release them soon after. “But now, they [police] will be legally bound to refer the accused to a magistrate.”

Arms licences will not be issued to those people who have been convicted of any offence or possess more than one CNIC or passport. The punishment for possessing illegal weapons has been increased to 14 years, in addition to a hefty fine. Nobody is allowed to carry weapons outside their homes without having the licence on them. Any licence holder who provides others with their weapons to commit unlawful acts can be imprisoned for 10 years.

Hot and cold

Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Wasim Aftab has lauded the move, adding that his party has been advocating tighter checks in the process of issuing licences. “We welcome this decision and hope the government will implement it properly,” he told The Express Tribune.

But not everybody is happy. Bashir Jan, the general secretary of Awami National Party’s Sindh chapter, said the government should clarify the “permanent” residents clause. “We came from Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, but have been living in Karachi before Pakistan was created. We want to know whether we meet this particular criteria or not,” he said. “Our party has already endorsed the idea of deweaponising Karachi. But it must be applied to everyone.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 22^nd, 2013.