Where weapons unite

The winding alleys and lanes of old Karachi conceal within them various markets and businesses that are not well-known.

The winding alleys and lanes of old Karachi, more specifically Saddar, conceal within them various markets and businesses that are not as well-known as the more commonly frequented bazaars of the area. While weaving your way past short, wide buildings with bricked walls and arched doorways, you can end up making all sorts of discoveries.

One of the places you could end up at is the Lucky Star Arms Street, a narrow street in the heart of Saddar where 45 shops, dealing in arms and ammunition have been in business for more than 30 years.

Big signboards, depicting pistols and guns, embellish the street as customers walk into the shops to buy not only all kinds of guns, but various weapons-related accessories.

“Guns are categorised as elite, mediocre and cheap in the local language,” said Mujtaba, a shopkeeper, “The choice of gun depends on how much money a person is willing to spend on it.”

“While Musharraf, in his book, expresses his love for the Glock, worth Rs3.5 million, many would prefer the elite Beretta that costs up to Rs12 million,” he added.

Kalashnikovs and TTs can cost between Rs6,000 and Rs24,000 a piece, while a Glock, Beretta, German Walter, HK, Smith or Wessex costs between Rs12 million and Rs35 million. The weapons are either made locally, in Peshawar and Darra Adam Khel, or imported from Italy, Austria, America, Turkey and China, among other countries.

“Since people usually buy weapons for safety reasons, they choose a pistol that is light and easy to carry” said a weapons dealer. “The best varieties, however, are the ones that the executives in the city carry. These can last for more than 20 years and have the capacity of firing more than 3,000 shots.”

While some people cast scared glances at the shops as they walk by the street warily, arms dealers, however, feel that the awe and fear that their business evokes among the people is overrated. They believe that the rules for dealing in a range of manual and semi-automatic guns are the same as they are for the business of selling cloth, or any other kind of trade that involves haggling over merchandise.

Waseem’s family has been in the weapons business for more than 120 years. He claims that they saw all there was to see since the times of the British and their arms ordinance that continues to form the basis of policies regarding arms dealings. This was followed by the policy formulated in Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s time, allowing people to purchase arms for self defence.

“Weapons started entering the country illegally during Ziaul Haq’s regime,” said Waseem, who believes that the greatest setback for the country’s arms dealers came in 1992 when Benazir Bhutto’s cabinet banned the possession of arms, shutting down the market for almost seven years.

“We used up all of our savings to support ourselves during that time; but never thought of relinquishing the business,” he reminisced.

The seven year ban ended in 1999 when Pervez Musharraf came into power, effectively reviving the arms dealings, said Waseem. “We heaved a sigh of relief when the market opened up again. It took two years for the arms market to expand and now it is steadily growing,” said Waseem, who was of the belief that people should be allowed to keep weapons as they have a right to protect themselves against criminals.

“Criminals should be forced to acknowledge their targets as their equals, instead of being allowed to intimidate them. Peshawar’s crime rate is zero because its residents carry arms,” he added.

Rafique, another shop owner in the area, believes that there are religious values attached to the trade of weapons.

“We sell weapons and ammunition because the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) also kept a weapon for self defence. Selling guns is not prohibited. Neither is it wrong. People kill people. Guns don’t,” said Rafique, who added that, “People with bad intentions will not buy licensed arms and get themselves registered with the police. And we only sell guns to the people who have acquired arms licenses from the home ministry.”

Lawyer Javed Burki was of the belief that carrying weapons is a trend that has traditional roots in our country. “As most of the population lives in an agricultural setup, they own weapons and carry them. This trend is a state policy and will always depend on the will of the regime,” he said, while explaining the differences between the weapons that can be legally obtained by the people and those which are prohibited.

“The Arms Ordinance 1965 restricts people from owning any automatics, explosives or ammunition operated by the armed forces, such as snipers or G3 rifles,” said Burki. “It is illegal to keep arms without licences and the state only permits you to purchase a weapon after a person provides a valid reason for it.”

However, as legal as the trade may be today, shopkeepers in the market operate in a discreet manner, keeping in mind the repercussions of making mistakes in a dangerous trade.

All weapons that come into the market are listed and registered with the government through proper security procedures, said Rafique.

A source, unwilling to be named, however, revealed that the arms dealers have “backdoor dealings” with police officials, adding that the weapons that are seized from criminals are sold to these shopkeepers “after a little tampering” so that they appear to be new.

Raheem, a shop keeper, hinted at conspiracies between the arms dealers and the law-enforcers, while referring to the latter as his “brothers in business”.

Meanwhile, Rahim, the proud owner of numerous guns, said that his weapons set him apart from other people.

“Every gun is unique and has a certain personality. Just like every individual has own his character,” Rahim enthused, claiming that possessing weapons of his choice makes him feel secure.

How to obtain a gun legally

Arms dealers narrated the procedure for obtaining an arms licence:

If you are interested in buying a gun for yourself, you need to visit the District Coordination Officer’s (DCO) headquarters in the Civic Centre.

The DCO will ask you to fill an application form, requesting the home ministry’s permission to obtain a gun.

It is up to the home minister’s discretion to allow you to keep a weapon or not. The home minister can issue as many licenses as he wishes, since Sindh has an open quota for the issuance of weapons licenses.

The process will cost you around Rs5,000 and is likely to take more than two months, since the DCO must check your criminal record, after which the verifications will be forwarded to the home minister.

If your request is approved, you will be issued a license, enabling you to visit an arms dealer and choosing one weapon.

To carry your weapon in public, however, you must obtain another approval letter from the home minister, citing a valid reason for carrying a weapon with you in public, as Section 144 of the arms law prohibits anyone from carrying weapons publicly.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2010.