It's not just in the US, gun violence is an Indian tragedy also

Guns N’ Roses come together in ecstatic fusion only  in rock music. Elsewhere, guns emit the smell of death and devastation. As I write, grief, horror and outrage continue to sweep across the world as details of the latest gun violence in the United States come out. The spotlight is firmly back on gun laws, one of the touchiest political issues in that country.

In the shootout at Newtown, Connecticut, an armed young man barged into an elementary school with which his mother was associated, and shot dead 26 people with his mother’s legally purchased guns. The victims of the massacre included 20 children between the ages of six and seven. The six adults who died in the shootout were women. Barely had one time to digest this act of senseless violence, that  another shootout has been reported. Last Saturday, a man opened fire at a hospital in Alabama, wounding a police officer and two employees, before being shot and killed by another officer.

The arguments, both for and against gun control in the US, are well-known. Within minutes of the news of the shootout breaking, the social media began to reverberate with the  familiar refrain:“Guns don’t kill; people do.”  Laila Lalami, a Moroccan American novelist and essayist, captured the desperation and helplessness of the others when she tweeted the “five Stages of gun Violence in America: 1. Shock. 2. Prayers. 3. Condolences. 4. Mourning. 5. Amnesia.”

The investigations into the case continue. So does the hugely polarized discourse over  mass shootings in the United States and the nation’s gun culture. But this is not only an American tragedy as some would like to believe. Today, gun violence  is an everywhere problem.

Last weekend, an 18-year-old B Tech first year student was shot dead allegedly by his 52-year-old jobless father on the outskirts of  Delhi. The father was angry at being harangued about his alcoholism and his joblessness. The man used a licensed  double-barrel gun to kill his son. In  Gurgaon, armed men recently barged  into a private hospital and shot at a  father and the son in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The reason:personal enmity.

Recent media reports have detailed numerous gun-related fatalities involving petty and personal disputes. India has more than  40 million civilian-owned firearms. The gun licensing regime in India (regulated by the Arms Act, 1959) is stringent but there is a  thriving illegal weapons market. Unlicensed firearms account for  86 to 92 per cent of reported firearm-related murders, depending on the year, according to a 2011 report of the India Armed Violence Assessment.

Illegal firearms is not the only problem. There are other emerging challenges. The Supreme Court has asked for  an explanation from the Centre about the norms for issuing gun licences to private security guards. At a time when  private security agencies are mushrooming all over the country, a regulatory framework against misuse of private security agencies is a must. But how many states are paying heed?

Of equal importance is the chorus of voices, within India, asserting  that this country needs more firearms given its low police-to-population ratio.

Will  individual ownership of guns spell greater  security?  This is no longer a question that only Americans have to deal with.

The National Association for Gun Rights India (NAGRI) rues that The Right to Keep & Bear Arms was enshrined as a Legal Right as per the Arms Act, 1959 but beginning in the early 1980s and continuing to date, several amendments have been made to the original Arms Act, 1959 & Arms Rules, 1962. This, according to NAGRI, has  left the “common citizen defenceless and at the mercy of all manner of criminals & anti-national elements”.

The Association argues that “this policy of creeping disarmament of law abiding citizens, prompted a group of public-spirited citizens to collect together in January 2010 to form NAGRI, with the goal of ensuring that every Indian citizen’s right to own & carry arms to protect themselves is upheld”.

The world responded to 9/11 by chanting “We are all Americans”. Today, as we express regret, sorrow, and condolence to the bereaved families in the US, it is time to also ask “What next?”. Gun violence is here, right in our own backyard as well.

The author is a Delhi-based writer