Gwalior: Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior-Chambal region, long considered bandit country, seems to be giving up its infatuation for firearms.
Possessing and brandishing arms is a sign of social status in cities in the region, including Gwalior, Morena and Bhind among others.
Together, Gwalior, Bhind and Morena outnumber other districts in number of licensed firearms with Gwalior having 28,000 licensed gun holders, Bhind 23,300 and Morena 27,000. But this number is now declining.
In Gwalior, around 250 have surrendered their licences while 1500 licence holders have chosen not to get their licences renewed this year. Similarly, in Bhind around 60 have surrendered their licenses while 1400 chose not to renew their licences. In Morena, only a dozen came forward to district administration for surrendering their licence while 3,000 did not renew their gun licences this year.
Bhind and Morena together see issuance of 100 new licences every year while in Gwalior, the number is 350. However, this time there have been no fresh gun license application to the district administration.
Besides, Gwalior, Bhind and Morena; other cities in the region have also seen people surrendering their gun licences.
An officer from the Gwalior collectorate on anonymity said that a surge in licence fee by 50-70% is behind the trend.
A gun dealer from Bhind who did not wish to be named claimed that tech-savvy young generation no longer wish to display a gun but wishes to invest in smartphones and other devises.
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