Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh): People in Gwalior-Chambal divisions were seen standing in long queues in front of police sations on Tuesday morning. Not due to a criminal case but for deposition of their ‘status symbol’ - licensed guns in the police station.
After implementation of Model Code of Conduct in Madhya Pradesh on October 9, ahead of elections, strict checking is going on across the state and now all the firearm-lisence holders are instructed to deposit their guns also.
Reason Behind The Deposit
Assembly elections are near in Madhya Pradesh, hence instructions have been issued to deposit all the licensed weapons in the police stations, so that no incident of violence or disturbance can take place in the upcoming elections.
Gwalior-Chambal Infamous For Gun Culture
Guns and Pistols are recognized to be the ‘Pride’ and ‘status symbol’ for people in the Gwalior-Chambal region. Firearms are so important to the residents that they carry them on their shoulders on occasions and functions like weddings.
FP Photo
Number Of License Holders
There are more than one lakh licensed guns in Gwalior Chambal region, which is the highest in the entire Madhya Pradesh. Licensed guns are present in almost all the houses in the region.
Bhind has more than 31,000 arms licenses
Morena has more than 33,000 arms licenses
Where as, there are,
31000 arms licenses in Gwalior
27000 arms licenses in Datia
Numbers Tend Increase During Elections
The demand for a health license is always the highest in the districts of Gwalior Chambal region and this demand increases significantly during elections. In this phase, instead of electricity, water and roads, people linger around the officials to get an arms license.
The officials also promise to provide one for the sake of their vote banks.
Due to this, the number of arms licenses is increasing day by day in this area.
Causes Cases Of Murder
Licensed guns are present in almost all the houses in the region and whenever any argument erupts, people take their guns out and start to shoot heavily.
According to data, most of the bloodshed and murders take place in these regions through these lisenced-guns.
