The Arms Act, 1959 is an Act of the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the ...

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: Preliminary (Section 1 & 2) *: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 (Section 3 to 12) *: 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 (Section 13 to 18) *: Details how to procure license, rules around grant, refusal, fees for license. * Chapter IV: Powers and Procedure (Section 19 to 24B) *: Provides details on the powers that the government officials have to enforce this act. * Chapter V: Offences and penalties (Section 25 to 33) *: Explains punishments associated with breaking rules related to this act. * Chapter VI: Miscellaneous (Section 34 to 46) *: 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. Semi-automatic and automatic firearms are illegal to posses by civilians.

Previous legislation

The Indian Arms Act, 1878 was an act regulating the manufacture, sale, possession, and carry of firearms. Prior to the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

, there were few gun control laws in Colonial 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 ( Coorg) race". In a 1918 recruitment leaflet for

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

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.”

In '' The New Cambridge History of India: Science, Technology and Medicine in Colonial India'', historian

David Arnold David Arnold (born 23 January 1962) is a British film composer whose credits include scoring five James Bond films, as well as ''Stargate'' (1994), '' Independence Day'' (1996), ''Godzilla'' (1998) and the television series ''Little Britain'' ...

noted the effect of the British rule on weapons, mining and metallurgy in India:Arnold, 100-101

Stun Guns

Under Indian Arms Act, 1956 stun guns and

taser A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended t ...

s require licensing and are considered as ''prohibited arms'' under Section 25 (1A) of the Arms Act.

Edged weapons and bows

Edged weapons like swords,

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dagger A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or popular-use de ...

spear A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...

s and ranged weapons like

crossbow A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an elastic launching device consisting of a bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar fashion to the stock of a long fire ...

s and bow and arrows require license under the Arms Act. Open carrying of edged weapons and bows is illegal except for

Nihang The Nihang or Akali (lit. "the immortals") is an armed Sikh warrior order originating in the Indian subcontinent. Nihang are believed to have originated either from Fateh Singh and the attire he wore or from the "Akali" (lit. Army of the Immort ...

Sikhs after obtaining a license under the Arms Act, and the

Gurkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian subcontinent, Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Go ...

community is allowed to open carry

khukri The kukri () or khukuri ( ne, खुकुरी, ) is a type of machete with a distinct recurve in its blade. It serves multiple purposes as a melee weapon and also as a regular cutting tool throughout most of South Asia. The ''kukri'', ''khu ...

s and the Kodava community is allowed to carry swords, bows and even firearms without license but only within the Kodagu district. In 2004 the Ananda Marga sect have been allowed to carry

Trishula The ''trishula'' () is a trident, a divine symbol, commonly used as one of the principal symbols in Hinduism. In Nepal and Thailand, the term also often refers to a short-handled weapon which may be mounted on a ''daṇḍa'' " staff". Unli ...

s (

Trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other mari ...

) in their religious processions.

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mo ...

Muslims are allowed to carry swords and knives but only during

Muharram Muḥarram ( ar, ٱلْمُحَرَّم) (fully known as Muharram ul Haram) is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year when warfare is forbidden. It is held to be the second holiest month after ...

processions after obtaining permission from the respective local police department.https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/is-it-legal-to-carry-weapons-in-processions-explainer-1938954-2022-04-18

References

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India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...