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ONE of the biggest self-inflicted tragedies of Pakistan has been its generous and mindless distribution of weapon licences. This misguided benevolence has exacerbated crime and militancy besides promoting the mushroom growth of riverine dacoits, tribal militants, religious extremists and urban mafias. In violation of Article 256 of the Constitution, Pakistan is now believed to host more than 500 private armies, many equipped with automatic weapons, mortars, rocket launchers, and anti-aircraft guns.
For over two decades, citizens’ groups such as Citizens Against Weapons, have championed the cause of a peaceful and weapons-free Pakistan — a nation where people can live secure, lawful, and dignified lives, free from the menace of guns and private militias. Tragically, instead of heeding such calls for deweaponisation, successive governments chose the opposite path — actively encouraging the spread of firearms and legitimising private militias.
Nearly 70,000 prohibited-bore gun licences were issued to parliamentarians, while bans on non-prohibited bore arms were lifted and SROs issued to allow the president, prime minister, Speaker, governors, chief ministers, ministers, judges and senior bureaucrats to obtain prohibited bore arms licences. Following clashes with militant groups last month, the Punjab government announced a series of long-overdue and much-needed steps to curb the spread of firearms and associated militancy. These included an immediate ban on the issuance of new arms licences, a one-month deadline for the surrender of illegal weapons, mandatory registration of all licensed firearms and the possession of illegal arms as a non-bailable offence. While these measures are commendable, they fall short of addressing the deeper issues at the heart of Pakistan’s gun culture. It is therefore proposed that the federation and the provinces jointly adopt a coherent, nationwide deweaponisation policy built on the following principles.
The possession of arms must be declared the exclusive domain of the state, and no citizen, regardless of his/ her position or status, must be allowed to possess, carry or display any weapon — licensed or otherwise. In compliance with Article 256 of the Constitution, all private armies regardless of their size or patronage, should be completely disbanded. Likewise, a complete ban on the issuance of licences for all categories of weapons must be implemented for all territories of Pakistan. A widely advertised campaign should lay down the rules for the surrender of all illegal weapons and the re-registration of all licensed weapons in government-designated offices within a four-week deadline.
Gun licences are being issued with remarkable generosity.
In 2003, Brazil launched a nationwide gun buyback programme to curb the menace of soaring gun violence. It collected over 450,000 firearms in just six months. Australia, too, witnessed remarkable success through similar initiatives. There is no reason why Pakistan cannot adopt a similar policy. Such a scheme could be a game changer. Eliminating all quotas and special entitlements for gun licences granted to parliamentarians, ministers and government officials would greatly enhance public trust in the sincerity of the programme. Furthermore, carrying or the display of weapons, except by law-enforcement agencies, should be completely prohibited.
Numerous countries such as Japan, Australia, the UK, Vietnam, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore have taken drastic steps to eliminate weapons held by civilians. Their laws prohibit any gun licences for self-defence purposes. Pakistan, on the contrary, leveraged gun licences as an instrument of bribe and appeasement for anyone who was rich, influential or a party affiliate. Sadly, despite being among the largest victims of burgeoning violence and militancy, we failed to take any thoughtful or rational preventive steps.
As if in a contest to outdo one another, the provinces have been issuing prohibited and non-prohibited bore gun licences with remarkable generosity. Data obtained through the Right to Information laws reveals an alarming picture: a total of 117,479 prohibited-bore and 3,491,823 non-prohibited-bore licences were issued by the federal and provincial authorities. This does not include those whose data was lost, caught fire or never recorded.
The rich and the powerful are either disproportionately well protected by the state or have private armies of their own. This must end. A state weakened by its own indulgence in a ‘guns for all’ policy must finally decide between appeasement of a few versus ‘chaos for all’. Here is yet another opportunity to deweaponise, to heal, and to build a safer, more peaceful Pakistan.
The writer is an industrial engineer and a volunteer social activist.
Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2025
