ISLAMABAD: The capital administration on Wednesday lifted the ban imposed on arms licences and a standard operating procedure (SOP) was also prepared for the issuance of the licences.

A notification issued by the office of the district magistrate says non-prohibited bore licences will be issued after completion of all formalities and in light of the policy of the interior ministry and the SOPs issued by the district magistrate.

Non-prohibited bore weapons are also categorised and include non-automatic or semi-automatic shot guns and revolvers or pistols. The list is not exhaustive and a notification in this regard will be issued from time to time, the SOP says and that a separate counter will be reserved for the processing of arms licences in the Citizen Facilitation Centre of the ICT Administration Complex, G-11/4.

The government had banned the issuance of arms licences in June 2013 to invalidate illegally issued licences. It was also part of its de-weaponising policy.

Capital administration officials said licences will be issued after proper verification of the applicant, including from the Special Branch. About 100 licences will be issued a month and the process from submission to issuance will take two weeks.

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2018