Purposes of Lawful Firearms Ownership is for Target-shooting, protection of person or property and private security. Firearm ownership is not permitted for the purposes of collecting or for hunting of animals for sport or food.

1. An application “Form – A” for the grant of license shall be made to the licensing authority i.e S.D.M. (Sub-Divisional Magistrate ) of District. The fees for the grant of a fresh license depend on the type arms for which the license is being sought. They are highest for a handgun (pistol/ revolver) & repeating rifle (Rs. 100/-) and the lowest for a Muzzle loading gun (Rs. 10/-). License renewal fees are 50% of the application fee.

2. On receipt of an application, the licensing authority shall call for the report of the Officer in charge of the nearest police station on that application, and such Officer shall send his report within the prescribed time. Officer shall check for criminal record of applicant as well as the veracity of all information declared in the application..

3. The applicant must declare all addresses that he/ she has resided at during the last 5 years along with the time period and duration from-to for each address. A verification report will be requested from the relevant local Police Stations at all the addresses provided by you.

4. The Licensing Authority, after such inquiry, if any, as it may consider necessary, and after considering the report received as mentioned above, shall subject to the provisions of the Act, by order in writing either grant the license or refuse to grant the same.

Required Documents

Documents to be furnished along with the application form are proof of address and proof of date of birth – plus any other documents that the applicant wishes to submit in support of proving his/ her stated “NEED” for a gun.

Area of License Validity

Typically the licensing authority may issue a license of validity only in the particular district or the entire state. Licenses which are valid nationally (across all states) are issued in relatively few cases, and then too only upon furnishing valid reason/ need. I would suggest, one should first try and get a license which is valid in ones home state or even district, and then worry about extending the area of validity – better chances of success.

NOTE:-

This basically means that your application shall be sent for “verification” to your local Police Station (under whose jurisdiction your stated address is). They basically will check if you have a criminal record or not and the veracity of all information declared in the application. Persons with past criminal records are not eligible for arms licenses. In almost all cases a policeman will go to each of the addresses supplied and probably even ask your neighbours about your “moral character”. Another purpose of this verification is to check whether your stated “NEED” for a gun checks out.

The Arms Act-1959