KATHMANDU, Aug 19: The Maoist conflict may be over, but people´s insecurity levels have worsened if government records on issue of licenses for personal firearms mean anything.
Records show that people took out twice the number of gun licenses in Kathmandu in the last nine months than in comparable periods over the past seven years. The last nine months saw an unprecedented rise in crime -- kidnappings, extortion and assaults -- in Kathmandu. Self-defense and vigilantism seem to have become the obvious choice for those who can afford guns. [break]
District Administration Office (DAO) Kathmandu alone issued 70 licenses in the period for possession of personal guns, the highest ever for a nine-month period. Before this, DAO Kathmandu had been issuing 35 licenses a year on average since 2002.
"This is an indicator of the level of vulnerability felt by the denizens of the capital," said a DAO officer. Most of the licenses issued by DAO are for newly imported arms while the others relate to the sale and handover of guns from one person to another.
The number of licenses applied for and issued can be linked to the fluctuating security situation of the country.
When the country was witnessing a brutal insurgency that worsened the security situation in the capital though not as much as in rural Nepal, there was a surge in the number of people seeking legal possession of arms. From January 1999 to February 2002, Kathmandu DAO issued 1,389 licenses, the maximum so far for a three-year period.
This was when the Maoist insurgency was at its height and a state of emergency was declared in the country.
But the figure went down from February 2002 to October 2008 when only 250 licenses were issued. This period saw ceasefires, peace talks, the 12-point agreement, Janaandolan II and the beginning of the peace process, developments that instilled relative optimism in people´s minds.
34,314 licenses in total
According to the Arms Management Section at the Home Ministry, the number of persons holding licensed firearms in the nation is 34,314 as of the end of fiscal year 2065\66. According to Rudra Khadka, under-secretary of the ministry, most of the applications for legal arms are from within the capital valley and districts in the Tarai.
The choices in possession of legal arms in the capital and the Tarai are different.
In the Tarai, possession of ´stationary´ (to be stored in a designated location) license is preferred for coping with threats from looters and armed gangs and for family safety.
But the ´journey´ license, which permits mobility of the arms in a designated zone or throughout the country, is most sought-after in the capital.
"License holders in the capital are from high professional backgrounds and feel security threats basically during mobility hours," said an official.
Scores of businessmen, incumbent and former security officials and even some artistes in the capital took out licenses for legal arms in the last nine months.
A study of the records at DAO shows that the holders of legal arms in the capital seemed to prefer the 12-bore rifle which is lighter than .22 rifles and air guns. The government has been issuing licensing only for these three types of arms across the nation.
Though the government does not issue licenses for pistols as this is prohibited by the Arms and Ammunition Act 1971, there are still some people who have such weapons and were authorized to possess them through special decisions taken by governments in the past.
Most of the pistol licenses that are still being renewed include for those licensed by the then Royal Palace, sources say.
Most of the guns possessed legally in Nepal for personal safety are imported from Germany, Singapore and China, according to purchase specifications shown in the records. US-made guns are also popular.
Qualification for arms license
Those seeking to possess a gun license need to go through a long and meticulous process involving verifications by government agencies from top to bottom. Basically, the Chief District Officer (CDO) determines whether an applicant deserves a license.
After the CDO´s recommendation, the case reaches the Home Ministry and, if approved, it reaches the Department of Commerce that looks after the purchase of weapons. The license is finally issued by the concerned DAO.
An individual license holder can own up to three guns. But each new gun is issued only seven or more years after getting the previous gun. A family can possess up to six guns.
A Nepali national meeting standards like having a clean social image, a crime-free record and sound mental disposition can qualify provided the government deems the applicant is at adequate threat to deserve a weapon for self-defense. A misuse of legal arms could lead to a jail sentence of seven years.
Many licenses not renewed
Many licensed arms are now illegal as the owners failed to renew the licenses during the conflict period. The government seized weapons possessed legally in the Tarai during the conflict and kept them for more than five years. When they were returned to the owners, the license renewal period had already lapsed.
An arm license, as per the rules, has to be renewed every year and loses its validity for good if it is not renewed for five years. There is no provision in Arms and Ammunition Act to renew a gun license that has not been renewed for five years.
The problem of license invalidation exists chiefly in the Tarai where the local administrations took hold of legal arms for more than five years.
"The problem grew both because of the administration and the gun owners. The government had ruled that all legally held arms would be renewed free of charge. But the administration did not call the owners, most of them residing in conflict-stricken rural areas, for renewal," said an official at the Home Ministry. "Nor did the owners come themselves for renewal."
The capital also has many gun owners who have not bothered to renew their licenses even after five years. "They are illegal. The DAO is authorized to seize such arms but has not done so yet," says an officer at DAO Kathmandu.
According to under-secretary Khadka, the government is working to amend the regulations so that all such arms licenses could be renewed.