Licensed gun holders are cops’ bane

With the rise in the number of cases where people with licenced guns have resorted to firing, the short-staffed Mumbai police have a new problem to grapple with.

The police have woken up to the fact that once a gun licence is issued to an applicant after duly checking his antecedents, it becomes difficult to monitor him and his gun.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Administration), Hemant Karkare pointed out that though a gun licence is issued after checking out on the antecedents of the applicant, the police cannot and don’t do much to keep a periodic watch on him or his weapon. “It is a weak link. What we do as matter of practice is to conduct a checking drive whenever the situation demands,” Karkare added.

Karkare said that monitoring the licence-holder or his gun was easier said than done. “If a person has procured the gun from another state, he is required to register it  in the  police station of the jurisdiction.

“But people hardly comply with this rule. The problem gets compounded when applicants whose licenses have been rejected or cancelled, manage to get them from another state,” he said.

The police have decided to be strict at the time of issuing a licence. “The crime branch has a concise data containing the names and other relevant details of criminals who had used a firearm to commit crime in the past. We will tally this data with the applications submitted for new licences. This will help us evaluate the applications better,” said Karkare.

DCP (Licensing), Vijaysingh Jadhav said, “We book the person who has used his licenced gun to commit crime under the sections of Indian Penal Code and Arms Act.

“The seized weapon is eligible to be used as evidence in  court. Then begins the process of cancelling the licence.” Jadhav said the IPC empowers the citizens to use the weapon for self defence.