Licences of 99mm firearms cancelled

• Defence Secy. says out of 4700 licensed fire arms only 1000 with rightful owners
• Says majority of fire arms rented by organised crime groups

In a bid to limit access members of organised crimes has to firearms, licences of all 9mm firearms have been cancelled immediately, with fresh permits to be issued from 23 January Defence Secretary announced yesterday.

According to Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, 4700 licenses have been issued to 9mm pistols and revolvers but with no details on what basis the documents were issued. There are no records of who carries the firearms either, Fernando said speaking at a felicitation program held in Nalanda College yesterday.

“There are no files on the licenses issued. Some people have 14 to 15 pistol licenses issued under their names. So we will cancel all these licenses temporarily. Owners will have to bring the firearm to the Defence Ministry, subject it to be examined and obtain a proper license. Details will be taken of the person who carries the firearm by intelligence units,” he said.

Fernando revealed that according to information gathered only 1000 out of the 4700 licensed fire arms are in the possession of the name it is listed under, with majority being circulated among members of the underworld groups.

“According to one intelligence report, most of these firearms are with underworld groups, and those who own the license are paid about Rs. 50,000 by the users daily. This is a very dangerous trend,” he said. 

More military personnel to be implicated