New Delhi: The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the state of Uttar Pradesh are leading when it comes to licensed gun holders and also the number of gun licences issued in the country, Right to Information requests by The Wire have found.The state which has the most number of gun licence holders is Uttar Pradesh. It is followed by the UT of J&K and Punjab. The 10 states and UTs which saw the most number of gun licences issued in the period between 2016 and 2023 are Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Maharashtra, Manipur and Nagaland.In 2016, the states which had the highest number of gun licence holders were Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh. The case of J&KIn Jammu and Kashmir, a ban on the issue of gun licences was imposed on 2018. This was lifted in 2023.The ban was put in place following a gun license racket that came to light during investigations conducted by the Rajasthan Police’s Anti-Terror Squad (ATS). The investigation revealed the involvement of public officials, particularly some IAS officers. Despite this, the erstwhile state which the Union government made into a Union Territory in August 2019, is leading the country in the number of gun licences issued in the period between 2016 and 2023 – 1,30,914. Notably, with the ban in place, licences were only issued between 2016 to 2018 and then, from January 2023 till June 2023. The total number of gun licence holders in the UT now stands at 5,00,105, compared to the last available data from December 2016, which indicated 3,69,191 licence holders.In October 2020, the Deccan Herald had quoted official data and stated that 22,805 fresh arms licences had been issued across the country between 2018 and September 15, 2020, and 17,905 were issued in J&K, which accounted for 78.51% of the licences.This figure was in spite of the ban.The Wire has asked the Raj Bhavan at Jammu and Kashmir as to how it could explain the significant rise in the issue of gun licences in the UT, despite an almost five-year ban in place. This article will be update if we receive a response.In its RTI request to the Ministry of Home Affairs, The Wire had asked for year-wise data on the number of individuals holding licensed guns in each state of the country. It had also asked for a categorisation of gun licences, such as licences for self-defence, professional requirements, sports shooting, etc., and the number of licences issued in each category, state-wise.However, the response received only had data on gun licences issued in each state. It showed that as of June 20 this year, there were 37.7 lakh active gun licences across the country. This is over 4 lakhs more than the licences that were active in December 2016 – when data was last made publicly available.Notably, Jammu and Kashmir is the only Union Territory with a high number of gun license holders in the country, while Lakshadweep has zero licence holders.The following are the figures for gun licenses in other Union Territories:UT Gun licence holders in 2023Chandigarh6,794Delhi (not a UT but a NCT)40,195Ladakh492Andaman and Nicobar Islands304Puducherry295Daman and Diu177Dadra and Nagar Haveli129Lakshadweep0Uttar PradeshIn terms of the number of license holders, Jammu and Kashmir ranks second after Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh currently has 1,329,584 license holders. This number has also increased since the last available data, which reported 1,277,914 licence holders, resulting in a difference of 51,670.During Adityanath’s tenure, 51,670 licences were issued in Uttar Pradesh, as the issue of licenses was banned in UP as well until 2018. In October 2013, a bench of the Allahabad high court comprising Justice Abdul Mateen and Justice Sudhir Kumar Saxena issued the order after observing that the number of arms licences issued to individuals was five times greater than the number of arms possessed by the state police force.The bench discovered that the state had a police force of 213,000 personnel, equipped with 225,000 weapons, while the state government had issued 11.23 lakh arms licences, even after ban the number again increased to 1,277,914 in December 2016 while the court lifted the ban in November 2017.Currently, the state has 250,000 policemen and women and a total of 1,329,584 licences have been issued in the state.Sarwan Ram Darapuri, a former IPS who has served as the third-highest ranking police officer in Uttar Pradesh says that the high number of places like J&K and UP is alarming. “Bharatiya Janata Party governments always speak about the control they have on law and order situations. Then why the spike in gun licences?” he asked.According to National Crime Records Bureau’s latest data, UP reported 36,363 cases in 2021 under the Arms Act, 1959. Atique Ahmed, a gangster and former politician, was recently shot at, along with his brother while in police custody. In its aftermath, The Print had reported that gun-related violence in UP has increased since the BJP came to power in the state, reaching the highest level in India. NCRB data also reveals that UP ranks first in deaths due to accidental firing.Madhya PradeshPreviously, Madhya Pradesh had held the top spot in cases registered under the Arms Act, but it has now fallen to second place. Recently, former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh had accused Madhya Pradesh’s home minister Narottam Mishra of issuing gun licences in exchange for a bribe of Rs five lakhs.In an interview on The Lallantop, Mishra was asked about this allegation. “The process is transparent and if you have any evidence then show?” he countered.The RTI response received by The Wire shows that currently in MP, 282,675 people holds licences, which is a 35,545 hike over the figure of 247,130 available last, in 2016.NagalandDarapuri also points out how the case of Nagaland is significant. There, 44,473 individuals are authorised to carry weapons. He states, “In Nagaland, obtaining a licensed gun is easy, which explains the high number of state residents with gun licences. People from other states also get their licences approved through Nagaland.”In 2017, Times of India had also reported that one can obtain a weapons licence in Nagaland within a month.Although more licences were granted in Manipur, overall Nagaland has the highest number of active gun licences in the northeast. Speaking to The Wire, former Manipur police commissioner Raj Kumar Nimai also raised concerns surrounding the data. He said “Without pressure from authority, weapons can’t be issued in such large numbers.”PunjabFor Punjab’s rise Darapuri cited the fact that a “gun is a status symbol” for some in the state. Another reason could be that these states share borders with Pakistan and thus citizens might be worried about their safety, he said. “Though a citizen’s safety is the state’s responsibility,” he added.Compared to 2016 data, Bihar is the only state where the number of gun licences issued has dropped by 1,069, from 82,585 in December 2016 to 81,516 now.The southSouth India is a remarkable contrast from the north, its states having issued far fewer licences than the north.In Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, a total of 173,103 licences have been issued. If all of these states had been one, it would still come after J&K, UP, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh. Among these states, Karnataka leads with the highest number of gun licenses in the south – 120,719. Andhra Pradesh has the lowest number – 7,007 licences. Telangana has 9,810 gun licences, Tamil Nadu has 24,237, and Kerala, 11,330.Tamil Nadu being the seventh most populous state in the country still has 24,237 gun licences while Madhya Pradesh which is the sixth most populous state based on the 2011 Census has 282,675 gun licences – a difference of 258,438.
