Unabated proliferation of illegal arms
With street crime pervasive throughout Punjab, one would imagine that law enforcement would hit the sales and production of illegal weapons in the province with all guns blazing, however this does not seem to be the case.
According to records obtained by The Express Tribune, the circulation of illegal arms across multiples cities in Punjab has become an increasingly pertinent issue, with 8,057 illicit arms recovered in Lahore, 4,773 in Faisalabad, 4,537 in Gujranwala, 4,150 in Sargodha, 3,892 in Sheikhupura, 3,468 in Rawalpindi, 2,978 in Multan, 2,971 in Sahiwal, 2,548 in Dera Ghazi Khan, 2,517 in Gujrat and 2,142 in Bahawalpur. Furthermore, as far as Lahore is concerned, arms shops located alongside the Ravi Road and Multan Road are openly selling a variety of illicit arms without a licence to any person who shows up with a stack of cash, as per various reports.
In this regard, Ikram-ul-Haq, a local, opined that street crime had emerged as a serious threat in recent times and a major contributing factor was the quick availability of illegal weapons. “Unless the government takes action, illegal weapons will continue to circulate in the city and endanger our lives,” he remarked.
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Haq’s apprehensions were shared by Rana Shahid, a retired senior superintendent of the Punjab Police, who confirmed that illegal weapons were almost always used in incidents of theft, robbery, and banditry. “Illegal weapons are procured by criminals from unregistered arms manufacturing factories in tribal areas, which supply a range of weapons at cheap prices,” alerted Shahid, who further acknowledged that the problem was pervasive to such an extent that despite the surveillance of the law enforcement agencies, a large number of weapons continued to circulate in the province. When lethal weapons start becoming this accessible for all citizens, it is no surprise when they reach the reckless hands of underage teenagers. For instance, a few months ago, a routine case of one-wheeling and air firing involving two young boys on a motorbike, ended in tragedy, when the boy sitting at the back of the vehicle started firing in the air, only to realise shortly that a slip of his hand had fired a bullet through the head of his co-rider, resulting in his immediate death.
In this regard, while talking to The Express Tribune, a senior officer at the Punjab Home Department, on condition of anonymity, said, “to prevent illegal arms, we have made new Arms Rules under which the record of arms dealers has been computerised while stock is also being digitised. Not a single bullet will be sold to anyone without biometrics.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 26th, 2024.