Govt decides to suspend licences for automatic weapons

Licence-holders can have such arms converted into semi-automatic weapons by Jan 15 or submit them and be compensated

The federal government has decided to suspend licences for automatic weapons, Express News reported.

The interior ministry has given two options to the licence-holders.

They can have such arms converted into semi-automatic weapons through the Pakistan Ordnance Factories or licensed arms dealers and have that verified by the district police office by by January 15, 2018.

The other option is to submit the weapons to the district magistrate, the deputy commissioner, the district coordination officer or the political agent, and receive Rs50,000 in compensation.



"Failure to comply with the options will entail the cancellation of the prohibited bore licence," a notification issued by the ministry read.

Notices have been issued to the authorities concerned including the Islamabad deputy commissioner, political agents and district coordination officers for this purpose.