When happiness isn’t a warm gun anymore

Some half a century ago, Kolkata was the largest centre for gun retailing in the country with about 12 shops dotting the central business district; but no more.

With nine-odd ones surviving today, gun-retailing is now dying a slow death in the city. Strictures over issuance of licences and lack of buyers, say gun-dealers, have only harmed the trade. According to them, the trade hub has now shifted to Uttar Pradesh, Kanpur and Lucknow - followed by Madhya Pradesh (Indore and Ujjain), Rajasthan and Punjab being major draws.

“Despite being a traditional market, Kolkata ranks much lower than these States in terms of sales,” said Abhiir Daw, Partner, Nursing Chandra Daw & Co. (NC Daw, set up in 1835, is one of the legacy gun-sellers in the city.)

Most of NC Daw’s customers are returning ones, coming mostly from North Indian States like Punjab or Eastern ones like Bihar. They come back because of the goodwill that this shop has built. Or, they may be purchasers of second hand weapons; one of the mainstays of the Kolkata market. Some, however, come for repairing their arms.

The other section of customers consists of sports enthusiasts, i.e. those who have taken up shooting as a sport.

Apart, from city-based dealers, the Gun and Shell Factory Cossipore, Ishapore Rifle Factory and Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) sell firearms (mostly pistols and rifles). Ishapore Rifle Factory chose not to comment on the trend.

A senior official at Gun and Shell Factory, Cossipore – which sells the 0.32 inch pistol – maintained that West Bengal and Kolkata hardly account for any substantial sales.

“Out of every 100 pistol sold annually, barely one is sold in Kolkata, or in the State,” the official, adds.

The poor condition is well reflected in the legacy gun shops most of which are over 100-years old. In the last five to six decades neither has a new gun dealer come up; nor have they got clearances from the city police. Each of these stores have a turnover of not more than ₹1.5 crore, annually, sources say.

Interestingly, two shops – RB Rawda and Manton – downed shutters some years back. Arms dealers of the city did good business during the British Raj. The heydays started changing post Independence. But even then, patronage from Maharajas and zamindars continued with their hunting sorties. All that changed over time with the introduction of new laws and gun control regulations.

Ashesh Biswas, DC, Reserve Force, Kolkata Police, admits that the number of transit licences (issued to those from other States when they come to Kolkata for buying firearms) is far higher than licences being issued in the city or State. A maximum of 12 licences are issued annually here; while the number of “transit licences” are as high as 150.

“Of the 12-odd firearm licences issued every year, eight or so will be for sports (shooting); while the remaining are for individual security purposes,” Biswas told BusinessLine .

COMMENT NOW