Firearms licence stuck? File an RTI to the DM

Arms licensing is deliberately strict. An applicant waits while the police verify antecedents and the licensing authority satisfies itself under the Act, and no law fixes a deadline for that wait. What the Arms Act does promise is a decision by order in writing — section 13(2) says the authority, after its inquiry, shall “by order in writing either grant the licence or refuse the same”. An application that simply sits in a drawer breaches even that. The RTI Act is the ordinary citizen's instrument for finding out which of the two is happening.

• Section 3, Arms Act 1959 — no acquisition or possession of firearms without a licence.
• Section 13 — application, inquiry, and a grant or refusal by order in writing. Section 13(3) even identifies licences the authority shall grant where the statutory conditions are met — for instance a smooth-bore gun of barrel not less than twenty inches for protection, sport or bona fide crop protection, or a point 22 rifle for a rifle-club member's target practice.
• Section 14 — “Refusal of licences”: the grounds on which the authority shall refuse, notwithstanding section 13.
• Section 15 and the Arms Amendment Act 2019 — licences are now normally valid for five years; before the 2019 amendment the period was three.
• Renewal timing — the MHA arms licensing portal's guidance says a renewal application should be filed at least 60 days before expiry.

Bores are split administratively into non-prohibited bore, the ordinary citizen's category, and prohibited bore, heavily restricted. Most self-defence and crop-protection applications are NPB.

The Ministry of Home Affairs runs the arms licensing system at ndal-alis.gov.in — the National Database of Arms Licences — with an online apply-and-track facility for states that have adopted it, while licences themselves are granted and renewed by the District Magistrates and other licensing authorities. If your state is on the portal, download or screenshot the acknowledgement with its application number before doing anything else: that number is what makes your RTI precise.

Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak, a retired government doctor, applied for an NPB licence after a break-in at his clinic. For fourteen months the answer at every counter was “police verification pending”. He filed a short RTI to the DM's office: current status, the date the police verification report was received, the date it was sent, and the name and designation of the officer holding the file. Within a month the written reply showed the verification report had reached the DM's office months earlier and the file was awaiting signature. The licence followed within weeks of that disclosure.

The RTI did not and cannot order the DM to grant a licence. It converted “pending” into a dated paper trail, and a dated paper trail is hard to ignore.

To:
The Public Information Officer,
Office of the District Magistrate, [district]

Subject: Application under section 6, RTI Act 2005 —
arms licence application status

Sir/Madam,

In respect of my arms licence application
No. [NUMBER] dated [DATE], NPB, kindly provide:

1. Current status and stage of processing as on the
   date of this reply.
2. Date the application was sent for police
   verification, and date the verification report
   was received back.
3. Date of the medical or safe-custody verification,
   if any, and its outcome.
4. Each objection or deficiency recorded on the
   file, and how it was disposed of.
5. Name, designation and office of the officer with
   whom the file is presently lying, and since when.
6. The norms or timeline, if any, notified for
   disposal of such applications, and the reason
   for delay beyond them.

Application fee of Rs. 10 paid by [IPO / court fee
stamp / online, as per state rules].

Yours faithfully,
[Name, address, phone, email]

Check the exact fee and mode for your state at RTI fees by state before filing.

• Day 30, no reply — first appeal to the First Appellate Authority within 30 days, section 19(1); the FAA must decide within 30 days, extendable to 45.
• Unhelpful reply or adverse FAA order — second appeal to the State Information Commission within 90 days, section 19(3).
• Refusal of the licence itself — section 13(2) entitles you to the written refusal order; ask for a certified copy if it was never handed over, then represent against it or challenge it.

The Arms Act fixes no deadline for deciding applications, so “still pending” can run for months without anyone breaking a written rule. The RTI Act supplies the only enforceable clock in the process: a 30-day duty to tell you where your file stands.

Non-prohibited-bore weapons — most common smooth-bore guns and many .22 firearms — are what ordinary citizens apply for. Prohibited-bore weapons are heavily restricted categories. Applying in the wrong category is a common reason for silent rejection.

At least 60 days before expiry, per the guidance on the MHA arms licensing portal. Licences are now valid five years at a stretch after the Arms Amendment Act 2019.

The DM's office is the custodian of your application and cannot deflect the RTI; if a record sits with the police, section 6(3) of the RTI Act obliges the PIO to transfer that part of the request, not to return it unanswered.

• Passport police verification stuck? File one RTI
• Caste certificate stuck? File one RTI
• Encumbrance certificate stuck? Make the Sub-Registrar answer
• File RTI online — 12 steps
• The RTI Playbook book — the complete drafting and appeals guide.

Last reviewed: 26 August 2026.