SUKKUR, July 21: The federal government has lifted the ban on issuing of arms licences with immediate effect and necessary notification to this effect has been sent to all provincial governments, directing them to lift the ban on issuing the arms licences to the people for non-prohibited bore (NPB) weapons for self-protection and games.

The ban on issuing of arms licences was imposed in 1995 in Sindh whereas it was imposed in other three provinces since last three years.

The federal government has directed the provincial governments to issue 40 arms licences in big districts and 30 licences in small ones, per month.

The licences be issued on the recommendation of Nazimeen and DPOs after thorough verification of individuals, says the notification.

Under the general policy of issuing licences for shotguns, rifles, and revolver/pistols NPB bore, the provincial licensing authority can issue the licence for 12, 16 and 20 bore shotguns while for rifles they can issue the licences of bolt action rifles of all calibre’s, including the .22 bore semi-automatic rifle.

With regard to the handguns, including revolvers and pistols, the licensing authority can issue the licence of all calibres, including semi-automatic pistols.

The arms licence policy will remain in force for six months and be continuously monitored by the federal and provincial governments, after which, it may well be further relaxed, it is learnt.

The Sindh Arms and Ammunition Dealers Association, welcoming the announcement of the arms policy, has appealed to the Sindh government to remove unnecessary restrictions of movement of arms, purchase and sale of weapons from district to district in the province, and empower the respective DPOs in this regard so that they can provide facilities to the arms and ammunition dealers in the interior of Sindh, excluding Karachi.

The dealers of Karachi, the association says, have the facility to approach the Home Department when they want to obtain permission regarding the sale and purchase of weapons but the licence holders of the interior of Sindh have no such facility and face numerous difficulties to reach Karachi from the far-flung areas.