Sri Lanka Air Rifles and Gun Control: Arrogant Ignorance on Display

 Flag of the Democratic socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon)

Sri Lanka has some of the most restrictive laws against firearm ownership and use in the world. The government recently demanded all legal firearms be turned in, except for those issued to farmers by the Ministry of Agriculture. No one is allowed to legally own a firearm without government permission. Government permission to own firearms is arbitrary and subjective.  The recent demand, by the government, for all legal owners to turn in their guns, has largely been ignored. From srilanamirror.com:

As of now, it has been reported that nearly 50 firearms have been returned. However, around 1,650 firearm licenses have been issued by the Ministry for various reasons.

The Ministry emphasized that all firearms and ammunition must be returned before the specified date, and legal action will be taken against those who fail to comply, as per the Firearms Ordinance Act No. 33 of 1916.

The deadline for turning in the legal firearms was extended from November 7, to November 21, 2024. This correspondent has been unable to determine if further extensions were implemented.

The population of Sri Lanka is about 24 million people. There are about 1,650 non agricultural firearms licenses in the country. The Small Arms Survey estimates there are 35,000 legal firearms. It appears most firearms licenses are issued to farmers to protect their crops.  The Small Arms Survey estimates there are 14 illegal firearms for every legal firearm (about half a million illegal firearms, many made in small shops for the black market).

Much of the food in the country is produced by small farmers on basic subsistence farms. In 2019, the Sri Lanka government instituted disastrous policies, forbidding the use of modern fertilizers and pesticides. Hunger and famine resulted. In 2022, the Prime Minister was forced to resign amidst violent protests.  In 2023, the Secretary of Agriculture attempted to aid farmers by subsidizing the procurement of air rifles to help control and discourage the numerous animal and birds pests who were raiding and destroying farmers’ crops.

An article railing against the policy was published in The Morning in Sri Lanka. The level of ignorance and arrogance is astounding. This is about ordinary air rifles, which in most countries, even countries with extreme restrictions on firearms, are not regulated. Air rifles are not regulated in Sri Lanka. The article was published on October 29, 2023, about a year ago.

Farmers cannot be trusted with air rifles.  From themorning.lk:

He noted that it was difficult to guarantee safety regarding guns, especially in rural areas: “Distributing weapons to farmers will create massive socioeconomic issues within the community. Farmers are not trained to handle guns. They are farmers. Secondly, in their houses, there is no safe place to keep the gun. There are high levels of domestic violence in our society and these guns can be used to harm spouses.” 

Quoted in the article from a member of a farmer federation:

“Providing air rifles is not a solution to the problem of crop damage by wild animals. The real solution would be to fulfil the basic necessities of the wild animals. It is pointless to provide these weapons to farmers. Moreover, there is a risk that people will use these weapons for other purposes,” Karunaratne cautioned. 

He further noted that the matter required an approach that would ensure that the needs of wild animals were met. 

In response, the Minister of Agriculture seems a beacon of sanity. Perhaps he is the reason farmers’ firearms were exempted from the general confiscation order. From the Minister of Agriculture: 

Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Amaraweera said: “The rifles were given on a concessionary basis where we contributed half the funds. We have given these farmers the necessary training to handle these weapons.”

Addressing the State oversight in existence for these weapons, the Minister noted that they did not constitute a significant concern for there to be a monitoring mechanism: “These are not lethal weapons,” he said, adding: “These are available in stores. Air rifles do not require licences. Anyone can buy an air rifle in the country, you only need the money. This is akin to a toy, since animals and humans cannot be killed with air rifles.”

Many people who want a disarmed population suffer from a surprising combination of arrogance and ignorance. In Australia, the arms legislation passed in 1996, made it harder to legally own a slingshot than to own a bolt action .30-06 or a double barreled shotgun.

Analysis:

Arrogance and ignorance are a recipe for disaster. Those with this combination are useful tools for those who desire to keep a population disarmed for political purposes. Strong gun controls seem to be correlated with corrupt and authoritarian/totalitarian governments who do not trust their people.

©2024 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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