Thursday, 01 February 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The State sports minister Rekha Arya informed on Wednesday that those engaged in shooting sports in Uttarakhand would soon be granted gun licenses for sporting purposes to facilitate their practice. She said that she was quite aware of the obstacles that the shooting players faced in obtaining the weapons required for their practice.
“These players need to have their own firearms for shooting practice, but the process of obtaining an arms license is often protracted. The national and international level shooters have repeatedly expressed their concerns over no special exemption being provided for the players in the license-related orders issued by the State government. Even after the government issued instructions for providing such exemptions to the shooting athletes, things have not eased for them when it comes to obtaining arms licenses and purchasing firearms. This is unfair for those engaged in shooting sports,” she said and added that taking a serious view of this matter, she had written to the State home secretary and director general of police, urging them to formulate guidelines to ensure that arms licenses are granted to them within the designated time frame.
“This aims at removing the impediments being faced by the shooting athletes and to ensure that they come out triumphant in the national and international level shooting competitions,” Arya said.
