Gun culture

Despite its critical and burgeoning challenges of militancy, Pakistan holds on to a gun licensing system based exclusively on missing records, fake documents, favoritism and appeasement. One can safely say that a majority of gun licenses issued in Pakistan have been issued without a single mandatory verification or test. Applicants are not required to undergo a training session, attend a shooting range class or pass a written test. Psychological tests, drug tests and rigorous background checks are unheard of. It seems that the only criteria to obtain a gun license is the social status of the person.In October 2020, the chief minister of Sindh, approved 218 gun licenses. Then, in November 2020, another 72 gun licenses for individuals he had no clue about.

Not to be left behind, the federal government, in August 2019, lifted the ban on the issuance of licenses of prohibited bore weapons for nine specific categories of individuals. For Pakistan to become a peaceful and humane society, it must put an end to this unethical and anti-democratic practice. How about issuing books instead of weapon licenses?

Naeem Sadiq

Karachi