First Firearm 'Difficult To Carry Due To Big Size' Not Ground To Seek License For Another Weapon: Rajasthan High Court

The Rajasthan High Court has refused to interfere with competent authority's order rejecting a man's application for a second gun license which was sought on the ground that the first licensed gun that he possessed, a 12 bore gun, was too heavy for him to carry. On the contrary, it was argued by the respondents that since the petitioner was already in possession of a gun license, there was no justification available for getting the second license to carry another firearm, merely on the ground that the first gun being big was difficult to carry. The Court compared the right to bear arms in India and the US and opined that in the US, the right to bear arms referred to people's right to self defence and it had a constitutional recognition under the 2nd amendment which empowered the US citizens to retaliate against any tyrannical threat. “One does not have a fundamental right to keep weapon and its possession nowadays is more for “showing off” as a “status symbol”, rather than for self defence, demonstrating that he is an influential person…Licence to hold an arm is to be granted where there is a necessity and not merely at the asking of an individual at his whims and fancies.” Accordingly, the Court rejected the petition filed by the petitioner ruling that he failed to make out a special case that his life was under serious threat and for that he needed to carry two different firearms.