mundaire wrote:penpusher, while I am not a lawyer, or very conversant with legalese - I do believe that the original Arms Act, allows the government to make sweeping changes, by issuing a simple notification in the official gazette.
AFAIK Arms Rules of 1962 were brought into effect with such a notification, and were not tabled in the Parliament for debate and discussion...
Someone had pointed on the forum (I don't recall who and what post), that the restriction on imports of firearms and ammunition is in the Exim (Export Import) Policy. Would this Exim policy not need to be amended as well?
Cheers!
Abhijeet
P.S. For those simply looking for info on how and under what conditions can arms and/ or ammo be imported into India - please check out the following 'knowledge base' article:
Importing Arms & Ammo into India
Since there have been so many queries regarding this topic - I think it's about time we made it a permanent entry into the knowledge based (
Pl. NOTE: this article DOES NOT cover the import of airguns OR pellets, those will be dealt with under a separate article). OK so here goes -
Import of Firearms
As things stand today, there are ONLY TWO ways in which a firearm can be imported into India.
1. Under Transfer of Residence (TR) Rules
(a) You are
required to have owned the firearm in your country of residence for a minimum period of ONE YEAR on a VALID firearms permit,
prior to your return to India. For those living in the USA, this could either mean a CCW permit OR if your state of residence does not have a CCW policy, you should at the very minimum look at getting a firearm registration and also get a hunting permit of some sort. For those living in UK this would be a Shotgun Certificate Or a Firearm Certificate. Basically you need a piece of govt. paperwork in (your country of residence) acknowledging your LEGAL possession of the firearm.
(b) Each returning citizen is allowed to bring back ONLY ONE firearm - NO relaxations on this whatsoever. Considering the ridiculously steep prices of handguns in India, I would suggest you consider bringing back one of those.
(c) If you do not possess a valid Indian arms license on returning to India, the customs will confiscate the gun and give you a receipt for the same. Now you must go to your local licensing authority and apply for an arms license for the type of gun you have imported. Only once you have procured a valid license for the type of firearm you have imported, will the customs release the firearm and enter it on your license. You would also need to pay applicable duties to the customs.
(d) ALL FIREARMS imported under transfer of residence have a condition entered on the arms license, that they CANNOT be sold/ gifted/ or transferred to ANYONE else for the duration of the NATURAL LIFE of the original importer. So forget about bringing a gun back to gift to your dad/ uncle/ brother etc.
(e) While considering which firearm to import under TR rules, please STAY AWAY from Prohibited Bore (PB) calibres and firearms - since obtaining a license for them in India would be next to impossible. For what constitutes a PB calibre/ firearm, please see the relevant article under the Legal section of the "Knowledge Base" here.
2. By a "Renowned shot"
(a) Import permits are ONLY issued to civilians who have attained the status of "Renowned shooter", till last year it used to be limited only to the top 25 shooters in each event, subject to minimum 30 shooters competing in that particular event. If the number of shooters was less than 30, then 50% of the total participants were declared as "Renowned Shooters". Currently this status is awarded to any shooter who achieves the MQS (minimum qualifying score) at the National Shooting Championship Competition (NSCC).
(b) Renowned shooters do not have to pay any duty on the arms or ammunition that they import.
(c) This status is certified by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) which is under the Min. of Sports, and is valid only for 1 year. The renowned shot may ONLY import ONE (pre-approved target grade models of) firearms for the particular discipline in which he archived renowned shot status. He/ she may also apply for and be given permission for direct import of up 15,000 rounds of ammo for that class of firearm.
(d)There is an article on indianshooting.com covering this entire process.
Import of Ammunition
(a) Up to 50 rounds of ammo may be imported as part of baggage (by an Indian resident returning from overseas) PROVIDED that the person importing this ammunition holds a VALID Indian arms license to possess a firearm (for that calibre ammunition).
(b) There is of course going to be the airline to contend with, every airline has it's own set of rules regarding how much ammo can be checked in by a passenger and in what manner it has to be checked in, forms to be filled out etc. So check with your airline prior to making these arrangements.
(c) If in the country of departure you do not possess a valid permit to legally possess the type of ammunition you plan to purchase (& import into India) - then you would need to have the arms dealer "consign to the airline". Basically the dealer directly delivers the ammo to the airline, for this there will be a handling fee... firstly for a measly 50 rounds of ammo, most dealers will not bother taking this additional hassle, even if they do - the handling fee is likely to be substantially higher than the cost of 50 rounds of ammo!
More on ammo imports on the thread here -
http://indiansforguns.com/viewtopic.php?t=2532
(d) However as mentioned previously, people who are 'renowned shooters' may import ammunition (duty free), against a valid import permit.
Hope this helps clarify the legal situation - as on date.