Gun law in India
Indian law allows firearm possession on a may-issue basis. With approximately five civilian firearms per 100 people, India is the 120th civilly most armed country in the world.
History
Prior to the Indian Rebellion of 1857, there were few gun control laws in South Asia, including in British India. In 1878, the British colonial government passed the Indian Arms Act 1878, which regulated the manufacture, sale, possession and carry of firearms in India. The act included the mandatory requirement of licenses to carry firearms, but contained exclusions for a number of ethnic groups, including Europeans, Anglo-Indian people and the Kodava people.In 1907, amidst the rising Indian independence movement, the colonial government banned the possession of rifles chambered in calibres which corresponded to British military centerfire cartridges. This led to the replacement of the.303 with 8×50mmR Mannlicher, locally known as.315 Indian, demise of .375/303 hunting cartridge, which had to be replaced with .318, as well as to a rush by British rifle and ammunition makers to develop substitutes for now-banned popular big-game hunting rounds. .400 also gained some usage.
The right to bear arms was admitted as a fundamental right into 1931 Karachi Resolution that was drafted by Mahatma Gandhi, though this was ultimately rejected by the constituent assembly. There was also a level of debate of over admitting the right to bear arms into the constitution of India during its drafting. In a 1918 recruitment leaflet written by Gandhi during World War I, he voiced his disapproval of the Indian Arms Act, 1878:
“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 If we want the Arms Act to be repealed, if we want to learn the use of arms, here is a golden opportunity.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voluntary help to Government in the hour of its trial, distrust will disappear, and the ban on possessing arms will be withdrawn.”
In 1959, the Arms Act, 1959 was passed with new strict rules. It has been amended many times since, most recently in 2019.
Current law
Indian law divides firearm licenses into two types:- Prohibited Bore includes every type of ammo used by Special Forces, Police, Army, etc continuously in service.
- Non-Prohibited Bore includes every other type of Ammo that was that not used by Special Forces, Police, Army, etc continuously
Such SOPs were aimed at further ensuring a strict divide between 'license required' and 'license not required' firearms in the country.
Non-Prohibited Bore Licenses
The law states that a license can be issued to anyone who has a good reason without stipulating what constitutes a good reason. Typically, applicants wanting a license for self-defense purposes need to prove danger to their life. Article 14 states that authorities can deny a license for unspecified "public peace or for public safety" reasons. They are not obligated to give reason for refusal of an application if they deem it to be necessary. Firearm licenses must be renewed every five years. Approximately 50% of the applications for license are accepted. For example, of the 12.8 million inhabitants, between April 2015 and March 2016, authorities in Mumbai rejected 169 out of 342 firearm applications.Some local jurisdictions may have additional requirements for granting licenses. For example, in 2019 the commissioner of Firozpur district in Punjab ordered that every license applicant must plant at least 10 trees and take photos with them.
Air guns
Guns of caliber.177 are usually within the legal muzzle energy for air guns in India. Owning an air gun does not require a license. However air gun use causing serious physical harm or death is punished the same way as with higher caliber guns. As per the ISSF rules, sport shooters must hold a minimum permit by an authorized shooter training club or institute and the state rifle association and later by the NRAI. Sports shooters without permits from a club and the NRAI carrying air guns are subject to imprisonment.Carrying firearms
Open carry of firearms is allowed in India, subject to various conditions. According to, no person shall carry a firearm in a public place unless the firearm is carried in a holder designed, manufactured or adapted for the carrying of a firearm. A firearm contemplated in this rule must be completely covered and the person carrying the firearm must be able to exercise effective control over such firearm. Brandishing, discharging and blank-firing of firearms in public places and firearm free zones is strictly prohibited.Violation of this rule can lead to revocation of the license and seizure of the firearm in addition to the penalty specified under the Arms Act 1959.
Firearm possession
As of 2016, there are 3,369,444 firearm licenses active in India with 9,700,000 firearms registered to them. According to Small Arms Survey, there are 61,401,000 illegal firearms in India.The following is a breakdown of firearm licenses by state:
| State | Active firearm licenses |
| Uttar Pradesh | 1,277,914 |
| Jammu and Kashmir | 369,191 |
| Punjab | 359,249 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 247,130 |
| Haryana | 141,926 |
| Rajasthan | 133,968 |
| Karnataka | 113,631 |
| Maharashtra | 84,050 |
| Bihar | 82,585 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 77,069 |
| Uttarakhand | 64,770 |
| Gujarat | 60,784 |
| West Bengal | 60,525 |
| Delhi | 38,754 |
| Nagaland | 36,606 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 34,394 |
| Manipur | 26,836 |
| Tamil Nadu | 22,532 |
| Odisha | 20,588 |
| Assam | 19,283 |
| Meghalaya | 18,688 |
| Jharkhand | 17,654 |
| Mizoram | 15,895 |
| Kerala | 9,459 |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli | 125 |
| Daman and Diu | 125 |