Punjab relaxes norms for shooters to procure weapons

To promote the sport of shooting in the state, the Punjab government on Sunday announced that it had relaxed norms for shooters to make it easy for them to get weapons for shooting events.

"The new norms notified by the government will enable shooters, who have made their mark in national and international shooting championships, to get their weapons used in shooting events entered on their arms licences," a Punjab government spokesman said on Sunday.

A number of professional shooters from Punjab have made their mark at the international and national levels, clinching individual gold, silver and bronze medal in Olympic, Commonwealth games and other shooting championships.

Some of the leading names included Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra, Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Heena Sidhu, Avneet Kaur and Ronjon Singh Sodhi.