New Delhi: Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday took up Arms Amendment Bill to discuss in the Lok Sabha which seeks to increase punishment for illegally making or selling prohibited arms and ammunition. Shah said that there were many infirmities in the existing law, which need to be addressed.
Moving the Arms (Amendment) Bill, 2019, Shah said that there was no much difference in punishment to those who possess AK 47 rifle and those caught with a country-made pistol.
The Bill seeks to amend Arms Act, 1959 “to effectively curb crimes committed by using illegal firearms.”
“The trans-border dimensions of illegal arms trafficking are causing a threat to internal security and to prevent the usage of illicit firearms so trafficked has also become a prime concern,” says the Bill.
The Bill also seeks to define new offences and prescribing punishment for them, such as for taking away firearms from police or armed forces, involvement in organised crime syndicate, illicit trafficking including smuggled firearms of foreign make or prohibited arms and ammunition, use of firearms in rash and negligent manner in celebratory gunfire endangering human life.
