CHENNAI: Acting on a case of realtor brandishing pistol at M G R Nagar recently, the police are likely to revoke his arms licence just as in the case of anyone involved in a criminal case.Rajesh Kannan of Om Sakthi Nagar, was arrested on Monday after he threatened two persons using his weapon during a verbal altercation. “Though he had a valid licence for the pistol, he had misused it. Revoking his arms licence is always considered even when the holder is involved in a petty crime. We will take it up on receiving a report from the investigating officer,” said a senior police official.Just one criminal case is enough to trigger licence cancellation. A police official recalled how a valid licence holder from Anna Nagar lost his licence four years ago after he threatened a person hailing from the neighbouring Karnataka over phone. “The Karnataka Police came down to Chennai to probe the case and we cancelled his licence,” the official said. Police sources said there were around 4,300 arms licence holders in the Greater Chennai region. Another 371 licences had been issued to sportspersons. Yet getting one is not that easy.One need to go through a stringent process under the Arms Act, 1959. “There should be a genuine threat perception for one to apply for the licence. Two weapons can be possessed using one licence. It could be a pistol, rifle or revolver, but it will be put down on paper. Weapons could cost anywhere between `75,000 to `1 lakh,” another cop said. When a person applies for licence, the police intelligence team and an inspector from the local station will first scrutinise the details — name, address, health, cases registered with the police, capability of holding a licence and the reason of threat for applying for a licence — of the applicant. A report is then sent to a senior cop. The CoP is the deciding authority. In the city, a fresh applicant is given a license for a year and a period of six months will be given to procure the weapon and one has to go through the same process to renew the licence, which will be given for three years subsequently. One can procure a weapon only from the four licensed shops in the city including one at Ellis Road, which has the right to buy from a licensee and sell to another. If it is not procured and produced for inspection within the given time, then the licence could be cancelled. “Strict rules are followed, else many incidents like the school shooting in the US would occur,” a police official said.
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