Sukhbir Badal urges Home ministry not to reduce permissible weapons on license from 3 to 1

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Thursday urged the Union Home Ministry not to reduce the number of firearms permissible on a license from three to one in Punjab keeping in view the special circumstances in the erstwhile trouble-torn state.

A press note from the SAD said, "Badal said the proposal to review the Arms Act, 1959 which was aimed at restricting the number of weapons which could be owned by a person should be reviewed. He said Punjab had passed through a period of terrorism during which people had acquired more than one weapon to protect themselves."

Badal said historically also the people of the state owned more weapons than their compatriots in other States being a border State which had witnessed a number of upheavals including wars. He said many farmers resided away from villages in 'dhanis' and they needed weapons as a safety precaution and had acquired the same. He said weapons were also used for crop protection in parts of the State, particularly the Kandi belt.

"The SAD President said any drastic reduction in permissibility to keep licensed weapons would cause a lot of inconvenience to the people and urged that the proposed amendment be reviewed," the press release added.