Govt cuts non-prohibited-bore arms licences by over 90%, Senate panel told

Profit reported that the federal government has slashed issuance of non-prohibited-bore arms licences, with only 5,700 granted over the past 13 months, a drop of more than 90% under tighter eligibility rules. Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry told the Senate Standing Committee on Interior and Narcotics Control on Monday that annual issuance had previously exceeded 100,000 a year.

Applicants must now present a police character certificate and secure a recommendation from a parliamentarian, with each National Assembly constituency capped at five such recommendations monthly. Prohibited-bore licences stay restricted to entitled groups such as lawmakers, judges, military and police officers and national award recipients. Officials also told the committee that Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the former Fata have no current policy for business-category licences.

The Ministry of Interior is set to brief the committee on procedures for special cases. Chaudhry added that Afghan visa applications are subject to due diligence, with extensions decided individually, largely on humanitarian grounds for students and patients needing medical care.