ISLAMABAD – State Minister for Inteior Talal Chaudhary on Tuesday apprisedthe Senate that banning the issuance of licenses for automatic weapons wasthe government’s policy and it would be continued.
Winding up discussion on a motion regarding the Government’s policy ofbanning the issuance of licenses forautomatic weapons, the minister said it was a right step to purge thecountry of illegal weapons.
He said Pakistan was only country in the world where ordinary people weregiven licenses of automatic weapons.
The Prime Minister in his maiden speech also wished to ban issuing oflicenses for automatic weapons, he said.
He said the issue was also discussed thrice in the Cabinet meetings. It wasalso decided to change the automatic weaponswith semi automatic and the government was also ready to pay for theautomatic weapons.
The minister said courts have granted stay to only 104 individuals forkeeping automatic licensed weapons. However,the court has not suspended the Cabinet decision to ban issuing licensesfor automatic weapons.
The minister said the Standing Committee on interior has also recommendedfor not imposing ban on issuance of licenses forautomatic weapons but it could not be honored. – APP