As gun shooting incidents in the country continue to claim lives, the authorities seem to be completely ignorant of the need for stringent arms control. On Sunday, a young man in Karachi was shot and killed over a scuffle that broke out reportedly after a road accident. The federal cabinet’s latest decision to lift the ban on the issuance of licences for non-prohibited bore weapons goes to show that the government has no intentions to carry out any de-weaponisation effort. In 2015, it was reported that official record of 3.5 million licenses issued in the KP province alone was missing. A Supreme Court suo moto proceedings in 2011 revealed that the then federal government had issued 1,202,470 licenses, while the Sindh government issued 400,000 licenses in the previous five years. A Sindh provincial minister had once publicly admitted to having issued 300,000 licenses to his supporters. As it stands right now, the process for issuance of arms license in the country was not in accordance with due process of law. More often than not, those who’re able to get gun licenses are usually the ones holding power or influence. These loopholes in arms license issuance process have existed for quit sometime and they need to fixed without any further delay if we are to truly establish the rule of law and maintain public order. In a country where cases of influential people resorting to murder on petty disputes and mob justice by religious extremists are frequent occurrences, the government ought to make immediate arrangements for a de-weaponisation campaign. It needs to be ensured that gun licenses are issued after a due process and no one can bypass procedures using political influence. The de-weaponisation campaign is also important to safeguard the gains made in military operations against terrorist outfits. PM Abbasi had in September stressed on the need for disarmament but his own cabinet colleagues expressed reservations over taking steps for the purpose. We urge the PM to put national interest first and make arrangements for formation of a plan against proliferation of arms in the country. * Published in Daily Times, December 8th 2017.