Arms Act, 1959
CHAPTER I : PRELIMINARY
1. Short title, extent and commencement
(1)
This Act may be called the Arms Act, 1959.
(2)
It extends to the whole of India.
(3)
It shall come into force on such date1 as the Central Government may,
by notification in the official Gazette, appoint.
2. Definitions and interpretation-
(1)
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-
(a)
"acquisition" with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions,
includes hiring, borrowing, or accepting as a gift;
(b)
"ammunition" means ammunition for any firearm, and includes-
(i)
rockets, bombs, grenades, shells 2[and other missiles, ]
(ii)
articles designed for torpedo service and submarine mining,
(iii)
other articles containing, or designed or adapted to contain, explosive,
fulminating or fissionable material or noxious liquid, gas or other such
thing, whether capable of use with firearms or not,
(iv)
charges for firearms and accessories for such charges,
(v)
fuses and friction tubes,
(vi)
parts of, and machinery for manufacturing, ammunition, and
(vii)
such ingredients of ammunition as the Central Government may, by notification
in the Official Gazette, specify in this behalf;
(c)
"arms" means articles of any description designed or adapted
as weapons for offences or defence, and includes firearms, sharp-edged
and other deadly weapons, and parts of, and machinery for manufacturing
arms, but does not include articles designed solely for domestic or agricultural
uses such as a lathi or an ordinary walking stick and weapons incapable
of being used otherwise than as toys or of being converted into serviceable
weapons ;
3[(d)
"district magistrate" in relation to any area for which Commissioner
of Police has been appointed, means the Commissioner of Police thereof
and includes any such Deputy Commissioner of Police, exercising jurisdiction
over the whole or any part of such area, as may be specified by the State
Government in this behalf in relation to such area or parts;]
(e)
"firearms" means arms of any description designed or adapted
to discharge a projectile or projectiles of any kind by the action of
any explosive or other forms of energy, and includes,--
(i)
Artillery, hand-grenades, riot-pistols or weapons of any kind designed
or adapted for the discharge of any noxious liquid, gas or other such
things,
(ii)
accessories for any such firearms designed or adapted to diminish the
noise or flash caused by the firing thereof,
(iii)
parts of, and machinery for manufacturing, firearms, and
(iv)
carriages, platforms and appliances for mounting, transporting and serving
artillery;
(f)
" licensing authority" means an officer or authority empowered
to grant or renew licences under rules made under the Act, and includes,
the Government;
4[(ff)
"magistrate" means an Executive Magistrate under the Code of
Criminal Procedure 1973 (2 of 1974) ;]
(g)
"prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(h)
"prohibited ammunition" means any ammunition, containing, or
designed or adapted to contain, any noxious liquid, gas or other such
thing, and includes rockets, bombs, grenades, shells, 5[missiles] articles
designed for torpedo service and submarine mining and such other articles
as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette,
specify to be prohibited ammunition;
(i)
"prohibited arms" means-
(i)
firearms so designed or adapted that, if pressure is applied to the trigger,
missiles continue to be discharged until pressure is removed from the
trigger or the magazine containing the missiles is empty, or
(ii)
weapons of any description designed or adapted for the discharge or adapted
for the discharge of any noxious liquid, gas or other such thing,
and
includes artillery, anti-aircraft and anti-tank firearms and such other
arms as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette,
specify to be prohibited arms;
(j)"public
servant" has the same meaning as in section 21 of the Indian Penal
Code (45 of 1860) ;
(k)
"transfer" with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions,
includes letting on hire, lending, giving and parting with possession.
(2)
For the purposes of this Act, the length of the barrel of a firearm shall
be measured from the muzzle to the point at which the charge is exploded
on firing.
(3)
Any reference in the Act to any law which is not in force in any area
shall, in relation to that area, be construed as a reference to the corresponding
law, if any, in force in that area.
(4)
Any reference in this Act to any officer or authority shall, in relation
to any area in which there is no officer or authority with the same designation,
be construed as a reference to such officer or authority as may be specified
by the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette.
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