Prime
Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi today directed Ministry of Interior to bring the
issue of regulation of arms licenses for the automatic weapons before the next
meeting of the Federal Cabinet.
The
decision was taken during a briefing held at Prime Minister Office on automatic
arms licenses with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in chair. Secretary
Interior briefed the Prime Minister about the overall situation regarding the
number of arms licenses issued by the federal as well as the provincial
governments. He also briefed the meeting on policy framework governing the
issuance of arms licenses.
The
meeting was informed that 19143 prohibited bore arms licenses were issued
during the period 2010-2012. During the interim period of 2013, a total of
25789 licenses were issued for the prohibited bore weapons. It was informed
that only 410 PB Arms licenses have been issued so far during the tenure of the
present government. Out of these 410 licenses, 400 were issued to WAPDA while
only 10 licenses were issued to the individuals.
The
meeting was informed that a deadline of 30 Dec 2017 has
been set for re-validation of all licenses after which all non-computerized
licenses issued by the Interior Ministry are liable to be cancelled. The
Prime Minister directed the Interior Ministry to work out a comprehensive
policy on issuance of arms licenses so as to make the process more convenient
and applicant friendly.
The
Prime Minister directed that the arms licenses should be linked with CNIC
database of NADRA.
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