31 arms licences issued every month in Mohali district from 2017 to 2021

There was a slight decline in issuance of arms licences per month this year. According to the officials, a total of 130 arms licences were issued in the district from January 1 to July 31 while a total of 107 weapons were registered on these licences.

A senior police officer said they recovered the service pistol from the assailants and sent it to the head armourer to match with the record.(File/Representational Photo)

Written by: Jagdeep Singh Deep

3 min readMohaliNov 17, 2022 08:01 AM IST First published on: Nov 17, 2022 at 08:01 AM IST

With the possession of weapons becoming a status symbol and the gun culture becoming popular over the past few years, the period from 2017 to 2021 recorded more licences per month than the period between 2007 and 2017.

The Covid-19 restrictions, capping on keeping not more than two weapons could not affect the people’s love for getting arms licences.

According to officials, a total of 2,926 arms licences were issued in Mohali district from January 1, 2007, to December 31, 2017, and a total of 3,685 weapons were registered on these licences.

An officer requesting anonymity said that on average, 24 to 25 licences were issued in the time period under the SAD-BJP government in the state.

“At that time, a person can register three weapons on a licence. During that time, there was an increase in the gun culture,” the officer said.

The officer said that from January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2021, despite new rules and an increase in registration fees, the number of arms licences issued per month was higher than the past decade.

A total of 1,487 arms licences were issued and 826 weapons were registered in the district. The average of licences issued per month was around 31 licences which was higher than the period between 2007 and 2017.

“There was an increase in the average weapons licences, although there were Covid-19 restrictions and there was a capping on keeping not more than two weapons. With this, there must be a decline in the licences but the average of arms licences per month remained as it was till 2017,” the officer told The Indian Express.

However, the number of weapons registered in the four-year period has declined.

There was a slight decline in issuance of arms licences per month this year. According to the officials, a total of 130 arms licences were issued in the district from January 1 to July 31 this year while a total of 107 weapons were registered on these licences.

“This year, on average 18 arms licences were issued by the district administration, which is slightly lesser than the last 15 years. This year the model code of conduct was also in place till March due to the Assembly elections this year,” the officer added.

At present, a total of 7,014 licences have been issued in the district and a total of 8,607 weapons are registered.

The number of licences on which two weapons are registered is 1,653 while the number of weapons on which three or more than three weapons are registered is 196.

Asked whether the administration had seen any surge in the number of weapons in the recent years, the officer said that due to the capping of weapons and the Covid-19 restrictions last year, there was a slight decline in the number of applications.

“But people have not lost their love for the weapons. Strict norms like dope test were also introduced to get an arms licence issued but despite that, there is a significant increase in the number of weapons and licences. The Punjab government had this week ordered review of arms licences across the state,” said an officer.

Deputy Commissioner Amit Talwar said that Additional Deputy Commissioner had written to the police department to get the exact number of arms licence holders.