He said that according to Malik, following suspension of arms licenses of automatic weapons, the committee has received a lot of complaints and observations from parliamentarians and the public over the short notice issued by the Ministry of Interior.
During the last meeting, Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Interior, Rehman Malik asked the Ministry of Interior to suspend this notice/decision regarding suspension licenses of automatic weapons till it was discussed in parliament. He asked Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal to cancel the notice as he had received many complaints in this regard.
The Ministry of Interior had moved a summary to the federal cabinet following the maiden speech of Prime Minister Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi regarding cancellation of licenses of automatic weapons when he took oath on August 1 last year. The federal cabinet during its meeting in December 2017 approved the summary moved by the Ministry of Interior.
The Interior Minister issued a notification regarding suspension of licences of all automatic weapons that fall in the category of prohibited bore and has given the deadline of January 31, 2018 to all such licence holders with the option to (i) either get such weapons converted into non-automatic weapons through authorized armourers, arms manufactures or arms dealers and get it verified by the office of the concerned district police officer (DPO), deputy commissioner district coordination officer (DCO), district magistrate or political agency by 31st January 2018; or (ii) deposit the same with their concerned deputy commissioner, DCO, district magistrate or political agent at a compensation price of Rs 50,000 per automatic rifle and Rs 20,000 per automatic pistol or handgun.
Failure to comply with the above options will entail cancellation of said licenses after 31 January 2018. Law enforcement agencies and government organisations are exempt from the decision. At the same time, the Ministry lifted federal government's ban on the issuance of non-prohibited bore (NPB) arms licences after a period of more than four and half years.
"In exercise of the powers conferred under section 12 (1) (b), the Pakistan Arms Ordinance 1965, the federal government in the larger public interest, hereby, suspends all arms licences of automatic weapons within Prohibited Bore category issued by the Ministry of Interior with the exception of licenses issues to Law Enforcement Agencies and the Government Organisations," the notification states.