Punjab govt imposes ban on issuance of arms licences

[Naveed Yaseen]

LAHORE: The Punjab government has imposed a ban on issuance of new arms licences, sources in the Punjab Home Department told Daily Times on Friday. They said the authorities concerned did not properly advertise the ban, resulting in several citizens wasting their time in contacting the Home Department or the district coordination officer concerned. The ban was imposed on issuance of new non-prohibited bore arms licence last week. The already approved applications will remain pending as the authorities concerned are verifying and compiling the number of arms licences within each district. A senior official of the Home Department said the department had launched a campaign against bogus arms licences, adding all licences issued in the past were being verified by the department. He said Home Secretary Nadeem Hassan Asif had imposed the ban until the completion of the verification, adding it would take about 40 days. Sources said the department, on Chief Secretary Javed Mehmood’s directions, banned issuance of arms licences for district Kasur (the officer’s home town) one month ago. staff report

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