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India. 2010 ‘National Marking Practices.’ National Report of India on its Implementation of the International Instrument to Enable States to Identify and Trace, In a Timely and Reliable Manner, Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons (and the UNPoA); Chapter 1, p. 2. New York, NY: Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations. 31 January

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National Marking Practices

All small arms produced/manufactured in India are uniquely marked. This applies to arms that are produced for private/personal use and those which are used by armed forces, police or Para-military forces. The Arms Act (1959) provides (Section 8) that arms which do not bear specified identification marks may not be sold or transferred. Further, under Arms Act (1959), any person found in possession of a weapon without identifications marks would be presumed to have removed/obliterated the marks unless proven otherwise.

The SALW produced by Indian ordnance factories are marked by stamping/engraving or laser marking to indicate the type/nomenclature of the weapon, 'IN' for India for country of origin, registration number, manufacturer/ factory of origin and the year of manufacture on one or more of the vital and critical components of a small arm - the body, the chamber, the cylinder, the breech block and the barrel - during the final stages of production. A record of each and every weapon manufactured by the factory is kept along with the information on the concerned dealer/indenter to show receipts, disposal, balance of stock in hand, the daily sales of Arms and Ammunition of different categories and provide such other information as may be required. Allotment of these registration numbers for the armed forces/police and para-military forces is done centrally and a record is maintained of these registration numbers along with the indent. This provides for a double check on the records.

Private sector manufacturers of firearms such as single, double barrel guns and air rifles/pistols are required by law to get every firearm stamped to show: the maker's name and registered trademark; the serial number of the weapons as entered in his register and the year of stamping; and proof-mark (Arms Rules (1959) Section 25). The parts of the weapons to be marked are also specified under these provisions. In order to implement the international instrument on marking and tracing of SALW, suitable instructions have now been given by the Government of India to the States to ensure that the country of origin ie word 'IN' is suitably marked on all arms manufactured by the private sector arms manufacturers.

Further if an imported firearm kept for sale by a dealer does not bear the manufacturer's name, the concerned importer is required to engrave appropriate Identification marks (identifying the importer), as allotted by the Government under these provisions (Section 25, Arms Rules (1962).

ID: Q1666

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