ISLAMABAD: State Minister for Interior Affairs Talal Chaudhary on Tuesday told the Senate that banning the issuance of licenses for automatic weapons was the government’s policy and it would continue.
Winding up the discussion on a motion regarding the government’s policy of banning the issuance of licenses for automatic weapons, the minister said that the ban would rid the country of illegal weapons.
He said that Pakistan was the only country in the world where ordinary people were given licenses of automatic weapons. Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, in his maiden speech, also wished to ban the issuance of licenses for automatic weapons, he added.
He further said that the issue was discussed thrice in the Cabinet meetings where it was decided that the automatic weapons would be changed with semi-automatic weapons and the government would bear the cost.
The minister said that court granted the stay to only 104 individuals for keeping automatic licensed weapons. The court did not suspend the Cabinet’s decision of banning the issuance of licenses for automatic weapons, he added.
