CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government informed the legislative assembly on Saturday that arms licences of 813 persons in the state have been cancelled, and 89 people out of these have a criminal record.
According to the details shared in the House in response to a starred question by AAP MLA Inderjit Kaur Mann, there are 3.73 lakh arms licence-holders in Punjab, with Gurdaspur topping the list, followed by Bathinda and Patiala.
Max licences cancelled in Mohali and PathankotOf these, 40,789 licences have been issued in Gurdaspur district, 29,353 in Bathinda, 28,340 in Patiala, 26,656 in Moga, 23,201 in Amritsar Rural, and 21,432 in Ferozepur.
The highest number ofarms licences have been cancelled in Mohali (235), Pathankot (199), Ludhiana Rural (87) and Faridkot (84). Interestingly, all 27 arms licence holders in Ludhiana whose licences were cancelled have criminal records. Even in Pathankot, 17 people with arms licences have beenfound to have a criminal record.In November 2022, the government had banned the public display of firearms, including on social media, and songs allegedly promoting gun culture and violence.
This had been done against the backdrop of targeted killings in Amritsarand Faridkot.According to the order, the authorities were to review the arms licences within three months and no new licence was to be issued, barring special circumstances.Each person is allowed to own two-three firearms under a single licence.
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