New rules allow shooters to carry more ammunition on flights

CHENNAI:  It’s a common problem for shooters whenever they have to board a flight. Paperwork is always a hassle. From license to letters from National Rifle Association of India to Director General of Civil Aviation. It’s endless and always stressing. Just last month there were issues regarding number of cartridges allowed on flight involving shooter Manu Bhaker.

In a big development for shooters, the civil aviation ministry has made modifications to its Aircraft Security rules exclusively for shooters. Earlier, the ammunition rules were the same for every citizen. An initiative of the sports ministry, this will help all shooters across the country. 

“If a sportsperson is travelling by air in domestic sectors to participate in some shooting event and/or training purpose within India for which he/she is required to carry more than one licensed firearms and/or more than 50 cartridge, such sportsperson may be allowed by the concerned aircraft operator to carry the number of licensed firearm and/or ammunition in his hold baggage...” the civil aviation ministry circular noted.

The shooters should be “bonafide for the carriage of arms and ammunitions on the basis of written document issued by the President and Secretary of the sports club sponsoring him/her for the shooting event and/or training purpose,” the circular added “It’s a very good decision as there will be less paperwork. Whenever we travel for competition or training, we usually carry more than 50 cartridges and accordingly we have separate paperwork to deal with,” Gagan Narang told this daily.

“Shooting is an individual sport, so we are always stressed when we travel because we need so many papers and permissions for our arms and ammunitions. With this decision, there will be less stress. We can focus on our training. I must thank the sports and civil aviation ministries for taking up the issue.”
Considering how the sport is gaining popularity in the country, especially after those four medals at the Olympics, Narang also felt that this change could benefit many youngsters.

“Earlier, there were a few hundred shooters and even their travel was not too much. But now, wi­th more and more youngsters taking up the sport, there are thousands. Simultaneously, competitions too have increased so have the number of academies. So, travel is more frequent too,” the veteran said.

As stated by Narang, the shooters earlier had to get a special permit if they wanted to carry more than one weapon or more than 50 cartridges. The other option was travel by road or take a train, which was not practical if a shooter had to cover long distance for nationals or other competitions. “For professional shooters, 50 cartridges mean good enough number for just warm-up. We use somewhere around 200 rounds of ammunition every day. We can carry more  cartridges.”