"Don't go to India because ..." Prejudices and Misconceptions Collected

.... buffalo leather, no doubt.

I met some middle-aged guys on a school reunion trip on a train to Hampi and one of them was wandering around with an AK-47. No hat, though. But they were drinking lots of whiskey.

scary. i am glad i've never seen anything like this in india.

that's very surprising because civilian AK-47 and all automatic rifles are completely banned. are you sure it was not a well made toy ?

The stat seemed funny, even though India has a large number of unlicenced/homemade arms.. so googled.

Wiki says India is way down the list on a 'guns per 100 residents' basis, in fact it is second from the bottom in a list of approx 50(?) countries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._gun_ownership


and that same Reuter's link does say, talking about India..

while telling us that the highest statistic was for the US, 90 guns per 100 people.

Civilian arsenal would be the total number of guns in the possession of all it's citizens. Off the top of my head: 4.2 guns per 100 residents. 1.21 billion population/100 resident sample size = 12.1 million x 4.2 guns = 50,000,820 million civilian guns floating around India.

I have doubts about that 4 per 100 figure as well. it might be true only if you restrict the survey to parts of UP and bihar. that's the problem with estimates.

That figure can't be true even if you include all the guns with various terrorist/rebel/separatist groups in India. Not possible!

Oh sure it could - albeit mostly unregistered ... don't forget Durra is only a hop-skippity-jump away.




http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...013102079.html

i am truly suprised. i would never have thought of india as a gun ownership country. we live and learn.

Could have been. Looked authentic and well-worn, though. I had a photo of it somewhere, but I'll be darned if I can find it now.

The MHA's current 'to do' list includes rolling out a national gun register.
(It does not however seem to include the much publicised visa / visitor tracking system).

AndyD 8-)#

Toys of the rich kids of Mumbai, Delhi, etc. You know... just in case the bar maid refuses to serve you.

Have to admit, I was a little disconcerted, on entering a Delhi restaurant, to see a sign on the door, "Guns and ammunition not allowed."

At this end of the country, the machete seems more popular than the gun.

I do not know how you come to that conclusion even now.

India has very strict gun control laws so very few people can have guns legally. authorities have to be convinced that there is a reasonable threat to life before a license is even considered. then there is the usual red tape that holds up things for years.
even then all automatic rifles like AK-47/INSAS are banned.only a very small number of hand gun types and one .22 sporting rifle is allowed. there is also a limit on the number of guns owned.

other than collectors who have inherited heritage guns and sports shooters, people usually do not get license for more than one gun.

criminals have no option but to go for illegal country made pistols. the terrorist movements get their own trickle of arms from outside the country. adding them all up the total at maximum is than 10 million in my opinion. for more than a billion Indians that is a drop in the ocean.
to compare, India has about 1% of the guns per people that US has.

there is a small movement for more relaxed gun laws but it has no realistic chance of succeeding. if anything the home ministry has recently decided to apply even stricter gun laws.

you will see evidence of this low gun penetration in society in the fact that the regular police does not carry firearms except for officers.

more delhi than mumbai, it's a bit of a status symbol of the high and mighty there.