I RECENTLY came across a newspaper advertisement placed by the Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF), promoting the latest pistol POF-X at a special price of Rs145,000. There is no doubt that the POF has earned a reputation for manufacturing quality products for legitimate defence and law-enforcement purposes. My concern, however, is not with the quality of the firearm, but with the wisdom of publicly advertising handguns and incentivising the general public to buy them.

Pakistan is already struggling with rising levels of violence, intolerance, road rage, property disputes and communal tensions. Simultaneously, it is also suffering from widespread availability of millions of uncontrolled and illegal weapons. The state mechanisms for granting licences are discriminatory, discretionary, faulty and corrupt. The Punjab Home Minister, some years back, had to publicly admit the non-availability of records for 900,000 arms licences issued by the provincial government. In such an environment, advertisement of guns can only further promote the decadent culture of weapons being used as symbols of feudalism, status, power to subdue opponents.

Throughout the world, responsible societies seek to reduce the availability, visibility and glamorisation of weapons. Many countries do not issue gun licences at all. Rather than encouraging greater civilian demand for weapons, the esteemed POF could emphasise strict legal compliance, and the role of firearms solely for legitimate national defence and law enforcement.

The federal government should take every step within its means to limit the sale of any kind of weapons to security organisations and export purposes only.

Naeem Sadiq
Karachi

Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2026