- (I) In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires:-(1)"Act" means the Arms Act, 1959 (54 of 1959);(2)"air weapon" means a device that discharges a projectile from a barrel under the pressure of compressed air or other gas but that does not employ an explosive charge to do so;(3)"antique small arm" means [firearm which has been in existence for not less than one hundred years;] [Substituted 'firearms manufactured before 1899' by Notification No. G.S.R. 108(E), dated 12.2.2020 (w.e.f. 15.7.2016).](4)"appellate authority" means the appellate authority referred to in rule 105;(5)"authority" or "officer" means, except where otherwise specifically provided in these rules, the district magistrate or such other officer as may, from time to time, be notified in the Official Gazette by the Central Government;(6)"automatic" means a small arm or light weapon that, after each discharge, automatically performs all the steps necessary to prepare the weapon to fire again; and that will continue to fire for as long as the trigger (or other activating device) remains depressed (assuming that ammunition remains and jamming does not occur) and an automatic weapon uses a portion of the energy from a firing cartridge to extract the spent cartridge case from the firing chamber and eject it from the weapon, recock the firing mechanism and load a new round of ammunition from the weapon's feed-device or magazine into the firing chamber and if the trigger or other activating device remains depressed, the firing pin is automatically released to begin a new firing cycle;(7)"blank cartridge" means a cartridge without a bullet or any other projectile;(8)"blank firing firearms" means firearms capable of firing a blank cartridge;(9)"bullet" means the conical head of the cartridge normally made of lead or copper that is expelled out of barrel or cylinder by means of explosive charge or compressed air or other gas;(10)"caliber" means the internal diameter or bore of the barrel of a firearm measured in inches or millimeters or geometric circumference;(11)"carry" means to bear a small arm, upon, about or in the proximity of one's person;(12)"cartridge" means a complete object consisting of a cartridge case, primer, propellant, bullet or any single or multiple projectile;(13)"chartered accountant" means a chartered accountant as defined in clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 (38 of 1949) who holds a valid certificate of practice under sub-section (1) of section 6 of that Act;(14)"company" has the same meaning as assigned to it in the Explanation under section 33 of the Act;(15)"conversion" of firearm refers to a permanent change of caliber or bore of a firearm and includes replacement or relining or reboring of a barrel having an integral or separate chamber, replacement of cylinder and/or barrel or related parts and change in configuration of action or mechanism of a firearm but does not include converting a permissible category firearm into a restricted or prohibited category firearm;(16)"configured for military use" means firearms and ammunition (other than small arms and light weapons) manufactured and configured according to specifications set by the Department of Defense Production, Ministry of Defense;(17)"curio" means a small arm manufactured at least fifty years prior to the current date or certified by the curator of a Government regulated museum or that derives at least half of its monetary value from the fact that it is novel, rare, bizarre, or associated with some historical figure, period, or event and includes an antique small arm;(18)"deactivation" means to render a small arm or light weapon incapable of expelling or launching a shot, bullet, missile or other projectile by the action of an explosive, and which cannot be readily restored to its original capability, and that has been certified and marked as deactivated by an accredited gunsmith or a competent State authority.Explanation. - Deactivation requires that all pressure-bearing components of a small arm or light weapon be permanently altered in such a way so as to render the weapon unusable and includes modifications to the barrel, bolt, cylinder, slide, firing pin and receiver or frame;(19)"dealer" means a person who, by way of trade or business, buys, sells, tests (other than proof-test), exports, imports or transfers or keeps for sale, or test (other than proof-test) arms or ammunition and includes the Sports Authority of India (SAI), the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) and the State Rifle Associations affiliated to NRAI or directly affiliated units of NRAI;(20)"dedicated sports person" means a person who actively participates in sports-shooting and who is a member of an accredited sports shooting organization;(21)"electronic disabling device" means an electronic device capable of firing electrode projectiles propelled by compressed gas, which stays connected to the main unit or device by a conductive wire, and causes temporary neuro-muscular incapacitation of the target;(21A)[ "existing manufacturer" means any manufacturer holding manufacturing licence under the Arms Rules, 1962 in Form IX or under the Industrial Development (Regulation) Act, 1951 or rules framed thereunder on the date of notification of these rules;] [Inserted by Notification No. G.S.R. 1342(E), dated 27.10.2017 (w.e.f 15.7.2016).](22)"Government arms" means a firearm or other weapon which is the property of Government; and "Government ammunition" means ammunition manufactured in any Government factory or prepared for and supplied to Government other than such ammunition as may be released by Government for civilian use;(23)"gunsmith" means any person who performs work of minor or major repairs of firearms and subject to grant of prior permission of the licensing authority, may alter the caliber or barrel length of a firearm or perform such other work as may be specified by the licensing authority;(24)"handgun" means a small arm with a short stock at an angle to and extending below the line of the barrel, that is designed to be held and fired with one hand and includes pistols and revolvers;(25)"in-transit" means the conveyance through India to another country of firearms or ammunition that have been imported;(26)"firearm replica" means an object designed to resemble a firearm which has an appearance that is so realistic as to make it indistinguishable, for all practical purposes, from a real firearm and which has been rendered innocuous;(27)"Form" means a Form as set out in Schedule III of these rules;(28)"light weapon" means any man-portable weapon designed for use by two or three persons serving as a crew (although some may be carried and used by a single person) that expels or launches, is designed to expel or launch, or may be readily converted to expel or launch a shot, bullet or projectile by the action of an explosive and includes, inter alia, heavy machine guns, hand-held under barrel and mounted grenade launchers, portable anti-aircraft guns, recoilless rifles, portable launchers of antitank missile and rocket systems, portable launchers of anti-aircraft missile systems, and mortars of a caliber of less than 100 millimeters, as well as their parts, components and ammunition;(29)"main firearm component" means the barrel, frame or receiver, slide, bolt or breech-block of a firearm;(30)"manufacturer" means a person, who manufactures, sells, tests (other than proof-test), exports, imports or transfers or keeps for sale, or test (other than proof-test) firearms, their parts, components or ammunition or arms other than firearms;(31)"manufacturing" means making, producing or assembling: -(i)a complete firearm;(ii)a pressure-bearing part or component of a firearm (e.g. barrel, slide, cylinder, bolt, breech lock, firing pin, etc.);(iii)ammunition for firearm; or(iv)an arm other than a firearm, and includes -(i)reactivating a deactivated firearm; and(ii)substantially modifying the function of a firearm (e.g. conversion to fully automatic), but does not include -(i)repair, restoration, maintenance or cosmetic enhancement or alteration of a firearm; nor(ii)the non-commercial reloading of ammunition;(32)"marking" means application of permanent inscriptions on firearms, ammunition and ammunition packaging to permit their identification;(33)"muzzle energy" means the kinetic energy of a projectile as it is expelled from the muzzle of a firearm and expressed in joules or foot-pounds;(34)"NDAL" means National Database of Arms Licenses;(35)"paintball" means a projectile (spherical gelatin capsule) that primarily consists of non-toxic water soluble substances and dye designed to mark a person or an object;(36)"paintball marker or paintball gun" means a device capable of firing paint-balls by use of an expanding gas or compressed air, whether operated mechanically or electro-pneumatically;(37)"parts and components" mean any element or replacement element specifically designed for a firearm and essential to its operation and includes barrel, frame or receiver, slide or cylinder, bolt or breech block, and any device designed or adapted to diminish the sound caused by firing;(38)"pistol" means a handgun with a chamber as an integral part of, or permanently aligned with, the barrel;(39)"port" includes a seaport, an airport and a land port;(40)"rimless" means a cartridge where the rim has the same diameter as the base of the case and used in firearms that feed from a box magazine;(41)"rimmed cartridge" means where the rim has a significantly larger diameter than the base of the cartridge with the rim serving to hold the cartridge at the proper depth in the chamber;(42)"revolver" means a handgun with a breech-loading, chambered cylinder so arranged that the cocking of the hammer or depression of the trigger rotates the cylinder and brings the next cartridge in line with the barrel for firing;(43)"repair" of firearm may be minor or major -'minor repair' includes -(i)cleaning and carrying out re-finishing, fixing slings, recoil pads, installation of pre-fabricated stock, general accessories, preservative packaging and ensuring accuracy or safe working of the firearm and its components;(ii)fabricating or replacing or working on old, damaged, worn-out, eroded, shot-out part of a firearm (excluding barrels or receivers or frames or breech bodies or bolts) for the purpose of repair and safe functioning;(iii)making and replacing stocks, grips (butt stock) and other parts;(iv)ensuring accuracy or safe working of the firearm by means of carrying out work on complete barreled action, fabricating, fitting or adjusting optics, sights, other components, etc., including test firing;(v)making and installing accessories and tuning fabricated parts.'major repair' requires extensive primary and secondary machining operations of critical parts and includes -(i)working on critical parts including fabrication of components like barrels and actions (re-boring or re-chambering or replacing or remaking barrels, re-machining of receivers or frames, bolts, slides, cylinders, breech, etc. and other components) for the purpose of repair or conversion;(ii)shortening, conversion, working on triggers, safeties and general safety testing of firearms and devices including firing or testing of firearms repaired or converted.(44)"responsible person" means in the case of a company, the person nominated in an application for an arms license by a company;(45)"rifle" means a small arm designed to expel, through the action of an explosive, a single projectile through a rifled barrel, while supported against the shoulder and held with both hands;(46)"Schedule" means a Schedule appended to these rules;(47)"selective fire" means capability of a small arm or light weapon that can be adjusted to fire in two or more of the following ways:(i)semi-automatic (i.e. one shot per depression of the trigger);(ii)multi-shot burst (i.e. a set number of shots per depression of the trigger); or(iii)automatic (i.e. continuous fire while the trigger is depressed)(48)"self-loading" means semi-automatic;(49)"semi-automatic" means a small arm or light weapon that, after each discharge, automatically performs all of the steps necessary to prepare the weapon to fire again, but that requires a separate depression of the trigger to fire each round of ammunition;(50)"shotgun" means a small arm designed to expel, through the action of an explosive, shot or a single projectile through a smooth-bored barrel, while supported against the shoulder and held with both hands;(51)"small arm" means any man-portable lethal weapon designed for individual use (of caliber up to 12.7 mm) that expels or launches, is designed to expel or launch, or may be readily converted to expel or launch a shot, bullet or projectile by the action of an explosive and includes inter alia, revolvers and self-loading pistols, rifles and carbines, sub-machine guns, assault rifles and light machine guns, as well as their parts, components and ammunition but does not include antique small arms and firearm replica.Note: - Shotguns, sporting rifles and muzzle loading black powder firearms, though of caliber of more than 12.7 mm are also covered under small arms;(52)"sport-shooting" means competitive and recreational sports that involve tests of proficiency (accuracy and speed) using permissible category of firearms, ammunition and targets;(53)"section" means a section of the Act;(54)"trade transfer" means sale or transfer of arms or ammunition between a manufacturer and a dealer or between a dealer and another dealer during the normal course of the business and includes a sale or transfer on consignment basis;(55)"unloaded" means that any propellant, projectile or cartridge which can be discharged from the firearm is not contained in the breech-block or firing chamber of the firearm nor in the cartridge, magazine or cylinder attached to or inserted into the firearm;(56)"use of a firearm" includes displaying, aiming and firing as well as manipulating the working parts of a firearm but does not include cleaning or maintenance;(57)"UIN" means Unique Identification Number generated in NDAL for a licensee under these rules.(II)Words and expressions used but not defined in these rules shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Act.
