KP government had passed legislation on issuance of arms licenses in the light of 18th Constitutional Amendment while the provincial governments of Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab were working over the draft of arms bill, senior officials told Business Recorder. A senior official of KP government said that Home Department of the province had issued 142,846 armed licenses of non-prohibited bore.
Under the KP Arm Act 2013, an applicant shall be granted a license if he is a citizen of Pakistan, attains the age of 21 years, possesses national identity card, is of sound mind and has no mental disorder, is not a fugitive from law, is not convicted by any court of law, is not bankrupt, is not a habitual criminal, is considered suitable by the local police in view of general conduct or previous record and he fulfils any other condition as government may notify from time to time.
However, under the law no verification would be required in respect of members of Parliament or Provincial Assembly of the provinces or persons who are in service of Pakistan serving in the province. A senior official of Ministry of Interior said that according to the proposed policy, arms licenses would only be issued to taxpayers and a person above 25 years of age after complete verification and prohibited bore would be issued only to those who were facing serious threats.
The revalidation of 352,843 old arms licenses issued across the country was under way and till now 15,496 applicants had approached National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) for revalidation of their licenses; as a result 150,618 computerised arms licenses had been issued, he said. He said original CNIC and original license was a prerequisite for revalidation. Under the revalidation process, NADRA was verifying the CNICs of applicants from its database as well as sending applicants' credentials to Ministry of Interior for cross-checking with law enforcement agencies, he said.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on May 10 announced that all arms licences issued by the federal government would be cancelled if those were not "revalidated" through the NADRA by December 31. A senior official of Sindh Home Department told Business Recorder that there was complete ban over issuance of arms licenses since September 2013. Sindh government had not yet passed any legislation but work was currently under way on the draft of the law regarding issuance of arms license, he said.
An official of Balochistan Home Department said the government had not yet passed new legislation regarding issuance of arm license but had issued around 4,000 arms licenses during the last two years. "Out of 4,000 arms licenses, 85 percent licenses have been issued to personnel of armed forces and police while 15 percent have been issued to ordinary citizens following complete verification," he said. Hanif Ahmad Hashmi, a senior official of Punjab Home Department said there was a complete ban over the issuance of new arms license. "Home Department Punjab is working at a new arms new law, which would soon be finalised," he said.