The federal government has decided to issue arms licences only to those citizens who complete training for the use of firearms.
In this regard, it has been decided that a three-day training will be given to the aspirants for arms licence at the shooting range of Islamabad police and arms licences will be issued upon its successful completion.
According to the details, the federal government has decided that the training to use the firearms will be provided to the citizens who wish to obtain arms licence in the federal capital and only those who clear such training will be issued the arms licence.
Initially, three days of training on the use of the firearm and its maintenance etc will be given to the citizens who wish to obtain an arms licence. This training will be given by the Islamabad police in its shooting range and a separate fee will be charged to the candidate.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Islamabad Inspector General Police (IGP) Dr Akbar Nasir Khan said: “We first issue a learner’s driving licence and then the candidate is asked to get training to drive a vehicle and only that person is given a valid driving licence who knows how to drive a car, so it is beyond understanding to give an arms licence to an untrained person.”
The IGP went on to say that it was the reason why the Ministry of Interior decided to make it mandatory to get the training first to get an arms licence. “This will be a positive step for the society,” he said.
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Talking about the training fee, the IGP said: “It will be a nominal fee, but the important decision is that no licence will be issued to a person without training.”
He said everyone does not need to have a weapon; however, if a citizen carries a weapon for their protection, he must be trained. On the instructions of the Minister of Interior, the citizens who get weapons will be given training in handling weapons and only those people who are capable of using weapons will be given the licence to keep weapons, he added.
In July this year, the caretaker cabinet of Punjab formally approved a 2,000 per cent increase on all fees related to the issuance and renewal of individual and commercial firearm licences. The lump sum hike was the biggest increase in arms licence fees in any province in the country’s history.
Public and business circles expressed serious concern over the abnormal increase in fees and said that there was a fear of greater illegal arms possession in public and an increase in the black market arms trading. The record increase in fees would discourage the trend of legally owning firearms for personal protection and hunting, they said.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 12th, 2023.
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