Licences for automatic weapons have been suspended by the federal government with immediate effect and the interior ministry has given two options to the licence-holders in a notification issued by the Ministry of Interior.
The first option is that existing licence holder can have their arms converted into semi-automatic weapons through the Pakistan Ordnance Factories or licensed arms dealers and have that verified by the district police office by January 15, 2018.
The other option is to submit the weapons to the district magistrate, the deputy commissioner, the district coordination officer or the political agent and receive Rs50,000 in compensation.
A notification issued by the ministry read, “Failure to comply with the options will entail the cancellation of the Prohibited Bore Licence.”
Notices have been issued to the concerned authorities including the Islamabad deputy commissioner, political agents and district coordination officers for this purpose.
