Gun culture behind state of lawlessness in UP

Sankar Sen

Ex-Director, National Police Academy

The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, has said that he is determined to crush the armed criminal gangs in the state and firmly control crime and disorder. The success achieved by him so far fails to inspire confidence. The recent shooting of an intrepid journalist at Ghaziabad in the presence of his daughters and the murderous attack on the police by the gang of Vikas Dubey, resulting in the death of eight cops, show that criminals are calling the shots. The problem has been compounded by the gun culture in UP and the proliferation of illegal arms and weapons.

Admittedly, the state has the largest number of legal gun holders in the country (1,27,794) but for every licensed firearm, there are six or seven unlicensed ones. According to a veteran police officer, who was once the Director General of the UP police, there are more firearms — both licensed and unlicensed ones — in Moradabad district of UP than in the whole of the United Kingdom and Japan. Both in Bihar and UP, the dacoits seize weapons from the licensed holders either by threatening them or on payment. The bulk of the ammunition used in country-made unlicensed weapons comes from the licence holders. The manufacture of ammunitions is a complex task requiring equipment not easily available.

At present, there is an increasing demand for guns in many areas of North India with Kanpur replacing Munger in Bihar as the gun capital. With little industrialisation in the vast neighbouring areas, guns have become a status symbol for the locals. Thus, a flourishing manufacturing industry has grown up and the clandestine operators manufacture small weapons as well as sophisticated arms like AK-47. The smugglers sell arms to the Maoists and local criminals and also have a nexus with international smugglers operating from Nepal and Myanmar. Only a few months ago, as many as 42 arms were stolen from a sealed firearms store in Bairampur in UP and it is feared that the stolen firearms are likely to enter the world of crime and add to the challenges already faced by the police.

To own a gun is a privilege under the Arms Act, 1959. This particular legislation and the Arms Rules, 1962, were derived from the Arms Act of 1876, enacted by the British rulers after the Mutiny of 1857. The object was to disarm a subject nation. In order to obtain a licence for owning a gun, a person has to prove that there 'exists a threat to life.'

Under the Act, licence is limited to possession of three firearms only. Though law abiding citizens are entitled to own guns, yet the advantage has been reaped by many dubious characters who have acquired a large number of sophisticated weapons.

The National Police Commission had recommended that licence holders must keep arms and weapons in safe custody to avoid their falling in the hands of unauthorised persons. Therefore, before issuing a licence, it should be ascertained if the applicant is in a position to keep the arms in safe and secure custody. The National Police Commission had also recommended that a person should not be permitted to possess more than one weapon and would be allowed to purchase a limited quantity of ammunition. Thus, annual inspection of guns by the police and licensing authorities has to be undertaken with greater zeal. Inspection of guns and ammunition within the jurisdiction is an important charge of the police station officers, but the work is very often neglected.

India’s gun laws are strict. Under the new Arms Act of 2016, prospective gun owners have to show that they have been trained and they must carry firearms in holders in a knocked-down condition. The government specifies gun-free zones across the country. The Arms Act Amendment Bill of 2019 proposes a jail term of 7-14 years and fine for acquisition and possession of illegal firearms. But stiff laws will not help unless there is vigorous enforcement of the Act, and this unfortunately has not happened so far. The problem of proliferation of illegal arms has further been compounded by the smuggling of illicit arms from Pakistan. In Pakistan, a large number of authorities can issue licences even for semi-automatic weapons. Hence, there is a thriving clandestine arms smuggling across the border. Many of the weapons smuggled across the border from Pakistan are made in Dera Ghazi Khan, a neighbouring town in Punjab, where arms manufacturing has become a cottage industry.

Though not always publicised, there is also a leakage of arms and ammunition from Army stores. Some years ago, in a case of theft of cannon balls from an important Army establishment, the officers of the crime branch of Odisha police, during investigation, found that arrangements and procedures for accounting, storage and checking of arms and ammunition were far from being adequate or satisfactory.

Thus, easy availability of guns always remains a big contributory factor behind the spike in crime and lawlessness. This is typically illustrated by the crime scene in America. In the US, the gun culture is very strong and has historical roots. There is a powerful gun lobby, viz, the National Rifle Association, which is vehemently opposed to any curbs on possession or acquisition of guns. There are around 249 million guns in America and about one-third of them are handguns, which are easy to conceal. On an average, each year, shootouts account for 50,000 deaths, including 12,000 murders. Research studies have also shown that household hand-guns procured for self-defence are more likely to kill family members than save their lives.

In the current scenario, in order to contain crime and lawlessness as well as maintain public order, it is imperative to have a strict gun controlling machinery. Democratic countries like Japan and the United Kingdom have very low crime and murder rates because both have adopted strict gun control laws. In Japan, particularly, possession of guns is a rare privilege. Consequently, the number of persons possessing arms is limited. Moreover, arms are mostly deposited in rifle clubs and cannot be moved out easily. This automatically restricts firearms available with the individuals. Except for military or law enforcement personnel, very few are allowed to possess handguns. According to Chris Nuttal, the former Director of Research Home Office in the UK, the argument of the gun lobby that it’s the people and not the guns that kill is not valid. Easy availability of guns — which escalates the risk of wounding or killing — only adds to the problem.

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