Getting a gun licence and buying a piece is not easy anymore in Ernakulam, as the officials have decided to tighten the grip on issuing permission to buy one. The authorities have now decided to take each application through a tighter scrutiny.
The decision not to give licence like freebies was taken four years ago, after the infamous swamy Himaval Bhadrananda created a flutter at the Aluva police station with his licenced gun.
The authorities have since been looking seriously into the issue of awarding gun licence to the public.
The new move to tighten the scrutiny further was taken against the backdrop of the misuse of guns at different parts in the state. A lot of petitions have been rejected by the officials owing to security reasons.
The strict measures from the officials have also resulted in a significant drop in the number of gun holders in the district.
Ernakulam district has 2,322 gun holders now, while it was around 8,000 last year. The magisterial section that gives the licence, had 1,438 applications for firearms before it last year, while it has dropped to 981 now.
“Our duty is to scrutinize each and every application and issue the licence according to the Arms Act. We also conduct thorough investigations before issuing a licence.
A lot of cases are being rejected because they do not cite adequate reasons to justify the need for a weapon”, said an official.
Out of the 2,322 gun holders in the district, Muvattupuzha taluk has the most number. Statistics say Muvattupuzha has 519 gun holders now, while it was roughly 1,400 last year.
Kochi, Kanayannoor, Paravoor, Aluva, Kunnathunadu and Kothamangalam taluks have 230, 655, 71, 305, 316 and 226 firearms holders respectively.