The Arms Act, 1959 is an Act of the Parliament of India to consolidate and amend the law relating to arms and ammunition in order to curb illegal weapons and violence stemming from them. It replaced the Indian Arms Act, 1878. The Arms Act was passed in 1959.
Chapters
The act is divided into six chapters.
Chapter I: Parliamentary
:Provides a short title and definitions of terms used in the act
Chapter II: Acquisition, Possession, Manufacture, Sale, Import, Export, and Transport of Arms and Ammunition
: Explains rules and regulations around acquisition, possession, manufacture, sale, import, export and transport of arms and ammunition in India.
Chapter III: Provisions relating to licences
: Details how to procure license, rules around grant, refusal, fees for license.
Chapter IV: Powers and Procedure
: Provides details on the powers that the government officials have to enforce this act.
Chapter V: Offences and penalties
: Explains punishments associated with breaking rules related to this act.
: Deals with the other miscellaneous parts of the act such as exemptions.
Current affairs
The Act has undergone many changes since 1959, the most recent being in 2010 through an amendment for the Arms Act. There was also controversy around air guns to be included as part of this act which was rejected by the Supreme Court of India.
Previous legislation
The Indian Arms Act, 1878 was an act regulating the manufacture, sale, possession, and carry of firearms. Prior to the Indian First War Of Independence in 1857, there were few gun control laws in India. The act included the mandatory licensing to carry a weapon, but contained exclusions for some groups and persons, for instance "all persons of Kodava race". In a 1918 recruitment leaflet for World War I, Gandhi voiced disapproval of the act:
“Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest. If we want the Arms Act to be repealed, if we want to learn the use of arms, here is a golden opportunity. If the middle classes render voluntary help to Government in the hour of its trial, distrust will disappear, and the ban on possessing arms will be withdrawn.”
