Let me repeat:

The Oberoi Group employs many plainclothes security officers in its hotels, but these are unarmed, Oberoi said. Obtaining a license for even a single officer to carry a gun is extremely difficult in India, which has tight gun control laws.

Obtaining a license for even a single officer to carry a gun is extremely difficult in India, which has tight gun control laws.

Well, if the laws had been a little tighter, no doubt the jihadis wouldn't have been able to get guns either. More laws is the answer people! Not more guns...

Owl_Eagle

“When the stock market crashed,
Franklin Roosevelt got on the television
and didn’t just talk about
the princes of greed, he said,
‘Look, here’s what happened.’"
-Slow Joe Biden

No wonder.

Sheesh

This horrible attack underscores the need, at least here in the U.S., for all citizens over the age of 21 and not convicted of a felony, to have concealed carry priviliges w/o government licensing. The terrorists would certainly have killed a few but they would have all died within minutes, not days.

I was in Guatemala a couple years ago and the hotel security guards all carried ugly little pump shotguns.

Because it's a cash economy there are armed guards everywhere.

I watched a Coca Cola delivery truck pull up to a little bodega. A uniformed armed guard got out first and positioned himself so he could cover the driver as he entered and exited the store.

I had dinner in a very nice steak house in Antigua and at the end of the meal the waiter cleared the table and asked whether I cared for dessert of coffee. He had a three foot long cattle prod swinging from his belt. Apparently he had been working the door earlier.

I felt safer in Guatemala than almost anywhere else that I've traveled.

WOW!

You mean NOT having a gun and being able to defend yourself doesn't STOP terrorists from having guns and murdering YOU!

WOW, what a concept!

Terrorists and murders aren't honorable people!!!

Imagine how many lives could have been saved if people could have defended themselves.

Well, another way to look at it is if we had locked the cockpit doors and given the pilots guns before 9/11 — as I might point out Al Gore's airline safety commission recommended in 1996, there would have been no 9/11 and the horrors that brought to America.

Ponder this ...
“It isn't that Liberals are ignorant. It's just that they know so much that isn't so.” - Ronald Reagan

America may have invented Liberals, but we do not have an air tight franchise on the UN style thinking they foster.

Had armed guards been allowed, hundreds of people might be alive today. The terrorists chose targets they were certain would bring about no resistance from their victims. That is why they met with such success. It takes no great courage to kill people who lack the means to fight back.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

It’s surprising this has not happened already. The private citizen in India is not allowed to protect himself thus he is slaughtered at will.....

The Oberoi Group employs many plainclothes security officers in its hotels, but these are unarmed, Oberoi said.

that is bonehead stupid. Even Rosie O’donnell would hire armed guards

Even in this country, you can’t expect the guy next to you to have a gun just because of the 2nd amendment (I’m in favor of doing more to promote guns like in Switzerland)...but at least you’d expect the security guards to have guns!

Had armed guards been allowed, hundreds of people might be alive today.

...armed AND TRAINED guards...

Somebody needs to slap this right down in front of the dims every time a new gun-restricting law is proposed.

Don’t forget the armed air marshals.

yeah, we would have avoided 9/11 and 2 wars.

Like with the current financial meltdown caused by the CRA and it’s followons, Liberals will be the death of America.

Cops DID carry guns but didn’t use them. I guess those gun control laws ARE tight; gnat tight.

“”Well, another way to look at it is if we had locked the cockpit doors and given the pilots guns before 9/11 — as I might point out Al Gore’s airline safety commission recommended in 1996,””

Wasn’t legislation introduced to handle this and Gore broke the tie in the Senate and it was defeated with his help?

Hotels, restaurants put strict security in place

2 Dec 2008, 2123 hrs IST, Himanshi Dhawan, TNN

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Hotels_restaurants_put_strict_security_in_place/articleshow/3785506.cms

NEW DELHI: The Mumbai terror attack that targeted the country's premium hotels has the hospitality industry on edge. In a bid to combat security
concerns - the kind of which the hotel industry is facing for the first time - hotels and restaurants are beefing up security.

Not only will all visitors be frisked, but managements are considering having armed personnel on different floors of the hotel besides the entrance.

With the tourism industry staring at a bleak future, hotels are struggling to bring back customers. “We have asked all our members to increase security and use the help of outside agencies to frisk everyone without exception. We need these security measures,” Rajindera Kumar, Federation of Hotels and Restaurants Association of India (FHRAI) vice-president, said.

FHRAI - the largest association of hotels and restaurants - has over 3,500 members. Amongst the measures that hotel chains are putting in place include physical checking of all vehicles and a three-pronged strategy at the main porch (frisking and clearing by metal detector for all visitors and X-ray scanning of all baggage).

Barricades will be set up at the entrance of the hotel and managements are likely to look at higher presence of private security personnel.

“We need a back-up security system,” Kumar said, adding that 20-25 people deployed near the entrance were not enough deterrence. “We are advising our members to consider armed security on each floor,” he said.

The federation has also asked hotel staff to remain vigilant and alert at all times and asked members to limit the number of entry and exits to the property.

Incidentally, reports suggest that some of the terrorists who attacked the Taj had checked into the hotel as guests and carried large quantities of arms and ammunition in the guise of baggage. Sources said that it was major lapse on the part of the housekeeping staff that they did not notice anything out of the ordinary.

Those within the hospitality industry said that many of the changes were not desirable and would create problems. “We are trying to sell a fantasy to the visitor. We want him or her to feel at home but we have no choice,” he said.

http://www.abhijeetsingh.com/arms/india/stats/

INDIA

Governance: Federal republic

FIREARMS OWNERSHIP
Percentage of Households with Firearms: Not known

Estimated Number of Firearms: There are an estimated 40 million firearms in India, the majority of which are illicit. India accounts for the majority of small arms in South Asia, which has an estimated 75 million firearms (63 million of which are in civilian possession). (3)

Types of Legal Firearms:

Relevant law - Arms Act, 1959 & Arms Rules, 1962.

Prohibited Bores

Prohibited Bores - Arms Rules, 1962 - Schedule I - categories I(b) and I(c).
MHA - sole licensing authority - w.e.f 8.8.1987.
Applications to be made through the local licensing authorities/State/U.T. Governments.
Non Prohibited Bores

Non-Prohibited Bores - Arms Rules, 1962 - Schedule I - category III.
District Magistrate/Collector - licensing authority - license for the whole State or part thereof.
All India or part license - granted by the State/U.T. Governments only.
Renewing authority - DM/Collector.
Applications in Form-A - available in the Collectorates/DM’s offices.

Purposes of Lawful Firearms Ownership: Target-shooting, protection of person or property and private security. Firearm ownership is not permitted for the purposes of collecting or for hunting of game for sport or food. (2)

DOMESTIC FIREARM LEGISLATION (2)
India’s domestic policy on small arms and light weapons is regulated under the Arms Act (1959) and Arms Rules (1962). Due to the gravity of the problem of the proliferation of illicit SALW (Small Arms Light Weapons) and their misuse in terrorist activities, India has, since 1987, withdrawn substantially the license issuing powers of State and District authorities - who may not, now, issue licenses for prohibited bore weapons. Since 1987, their powers have been limited to issuing licences for non-prohibited bore weapons and these licenses are valid for a limited geographical area. Licenses for possession of prohibited bore weapons may only be issued, under special conditions, by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. (4)

Licensing Requirements: All firearm owners must be licensed. Applicants must provide information regarding:

their date of birth;
the availability of a safe place to store the firearm and ammunition;
the purpose for which they require a firearm;
any previous criminal record or prohibition to possess a firearm. However, if the report of the police officer is not sent within the prescribed time limit (3 months), the licensing authority may grant the licence. (2)
The applicant must present photographic identification and pay the prescribed fee for that firearm. (2) Under the existing law, all civilians are required to get their weapon /s inspected once a year by a competent authority - this is also recorded in the licence. (4)

The licensing authority may also refuse the licence for which he will record the reasons. The licensing authority may refuse to grant the licence if the applicant:

is of unsound mind;
is below the age of 16;
is deemed by the licensing authority to be a threat to the security of the public peace;
has been sentenced on conviction of any offence involving violence to imprisonment for any term at any time during a period of 5 years after the expiration of the sentence;
has been ordered to execute a bond for keeping the peace or for good behaviour at any time during the term of the bond. (2) (6)
The licensing authorities maintain list of firearm owners and the firearms held by them. No centralised database is maintained about firearm ownership and the identification of firearm. Every police station maintains a register of the licence holders in its jurisdiction, with the name of the licensee, description of weapon and its purpose. This list is updated from time to time. The licences are renewed after the prescribed period mentioned in the license or 3 years, whichever is earlier. Any police officer or other officer specially empowered on this behalf by the Central Government can demand the production of licence from the person carrying firearms or ammunition. The licensee is required to inform the licensing authorities of any change of place of residence. (2)

Registration Requirements: All small arms manufactured in India are uniquely marked by stamping to indicate the registration number, manufacturer/factory of origin and the year of manufacture on one or more of the critical components of a small arm - the body, the breech block and the barrel - during the final stages of production. This applies to arms that are produced for private/personal use and those which are used by armed forces, police or paramilitary forces. 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. A record of each and every weapon manufactured by the factory is kept along with the information on the concerned dealer. Arms which do not bear specified identification marks may not be sold or transferred. Further, any person found in possession of a weapon without identification marks would be presumed to have removed/obliterated the marks unless proven otherwise. (4)

Training Requirements: No training certification is required. However, some state governments do require such a certificate from professional bodies. (2)

Storage Requirements: The firearm must be stored in the safe place described by the owner in his or her licence application. There is no regulation regarding safety in domestic custody by the owner except the initial assurance of availability of safe place to keep arms in his application for grant of licence. (2)

Penalties: Penalties for violations of firearm laws include:

Imprisonment varying from six months to life with or without fine.
Minimum imprisonment with a fine (prescribed in most of the cases of contraventions).
The death penalty (prescribed when someone has used prohibited firearms and prohibited ammunition or has contravened licensing conditions in any act leading to death). (2)
For the following infractions, punishment is the payment of a fine in addition to imprisonment for no less than three years and no more than seven years:

manufacturing, selling, transferring, converting, repairing, testing or possessing any arms or ammunition contravened by the Arms Act ;
shortens the barrel of a firearm or converts an imitation firearm into a firearm that contravenes the Arms Act ;
brings into, or takes out of, India, any arms or ammunition of any class or description in contravention of the Act . (6)

Village Defence Committee of Kashmiri Women
By - Kavita Suri

Kavita Suri is a journalist having 10 years' professional experience in journalism (both print and electronic). Presently working for The Statesman, one of the oldest English dailies of India as its Senior Staff Correspondent based in Jammu and Kashmir, she has worked with various newspapers starting from The Kashmir Times, The Tribune etc. She covers the entire state, travels to the Line of Control, International Border and other conflict areas in all the three regions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh of the troubled State. Kavita was also recently invited to United States for three weeks by the US state department on "US International Visitors Exchange Program". She has made many documentaries and films for Doordarshan's satellite Kashmir Channel and Jammu and Srinagar DDKs. As women have suffered badly in the strife-torn state due to ongoing conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, gender issues are very close to her heart. Her 'Echoes from the Mountains' would keep our readers updated about all these issues of the mountainous state and its surrounding areas.

Years of terrorism have spoiled the raw beauty of the valley of Kashmir. But the women in the valley have now decided to set things right in their own way. SAWF member, Kavita Suri brings you the tale of these courageous women through her 'Echoes From the Mountains'.

For the past one and a half decade of terrorism, the Kashmiri women faced the burnt and remained its worst victim. But not any longer. Incredible but it is true. The women of border district of Poonch-Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir have picked up guns against terrorists and thus are protecting themselves from the militants and saving their honour and dignity.

This all women brigade - the first women Village Defence Committee (VDC) has been set up in the twin villages of Marah and Kulali bordering district Poonch. The scene is very different there as compared to other villages. One would find women with guns standing on the rooftops guarding their homes. The VDC members including women get together from cluster of houses and lay ambushes on routes of ingress to that cluster in order to save any civilian killings.

"Having suffered much on the hands of terrorists, a turning point came when in village Katha in this border district on 26 June last year, militants killed twelve women and children. Many incidents of sexual assaults and torture of many women and young girls were also reported. Thus, the women folk of the area who had been "mute sufferers of terrorism" made up their mind to fight against the terrorists. They showed their willingness to get weapons and training from the security forces to protect themselves and their children from militants' excesses," informed Major General G.D.Bakshi who heads the counter-insurgency Romeo Force in Rajouri.

This all-women VDC organizes security on its own for any civil gathering or a national or political event, keeps track of any strange and unauthorized person entering the village and keeps a check on his activities. Besides women, the children and old persons too, have shown willingness to use weapons against militants due to security at home.

The excesses of foreign terrorists on civilians and sexual assault on local women have forced the local population including women and children to pick up gun against them. Terrorists are forcing many locals to work as porters without any payment, committing rape on women and minor girls, utilizing the money, assets and resources of locals for their own use.

"Thus, a strong need was being felt to provide these innocent civilians with some type of self-defence which lead to generation of the idea of a fourth force multiplier," he added.

Village Defence Committee of Marah is just not simple organization but is a new force to reckon with. The VDC Marah now has become a role model for others. It has emerged as local force including trained women and children.

The Village Defence Committees were set up in Jammu and Kashmir in mid-nineties following a number of massacres of the innocent villagers in far flung villages of the troubled region. As the police or army pickets were far off from the civilian areas in these inaccessible villages resulting which the terrorists made these people as their soft targets, the concept of VDCs emerged wherein the civilians were imparted training for self defence and thus repulse terrorist-attack. The state police provided them weapons.

Till now, the VDC members were men in arms doing their routine work and had some defense power against terrorists. During day most of them remain outside their homes to earn livelihood, leaving female and children besides the old persons. But now, women have also joined the men in these VDC. To repulse any attack, the VDC women wing has been constituted.

"The VDC is organized in an infantry company pattern and to give them a sense of pride and belongingness the platoons and sections have been named after the local mohallas and this has worked wonders," said an army officer posted in the area adding presently there are four platoons and twelve sections and one section of women wing.

The training of VDC members is organized at a regular basis at security force company posts and the members are given weapon training which include firing, basic handling and cleaning of weapon, tactical training including minor tactics, battle craft and field craft drills to including stalking, crawling, fire and move.

http://www.sawf.org/newedit/edit02212005/kashmir.asp

Arms for Manipur villagers to keep insurgents at bay

May 4th, 2008 - 6:10 pm ICT by admin -

Imphal, May 4 (IANS) Authorities in Manipur, one of northeast India’s worst insurgency-hit states, have decided to arm villagers with weapons to enable them protect themselves from militants and control rebel activities, officials said Sunday. “The state cabinet has decided to train up to 500 villagers in the districts of Thoubal and Imphal West and provide them weapons after local residents rose in revolt against excesses committed by armed militants who have been killing civilians and extorting cash,” said Manipur Irrigation and Flood Control Minister N. Biren.

A militant group March 24 killed three people - two teenaged girls and a boy - at Heirok village, and later killed another man at Chajing. Following these incidents, villagers rose in revolt and pressed the government to give them weapons.

To start with, 300 men from Heirok and 200 from Chajing villages would be recruited, given a month’s training on handling weapons and will be provided with .303 rifles. They will also be paid a monthly consolidated salary of Rs.3,000 each.

The new force, whose personnel shall be called ’special police officers’, would be in place from the middle of June.

Manipur, bordering Myanmar, has over two dozen active rebel groups pushing demands ranging from secession from India to maximum autonomy.

No insurgent group from Manipur is engaged in peace talks with the Indian government so far, although around six rag-tag Kuki ethnic rebel outfits are on a ceasefire with the authorities.

The decision to provide weapons to civilians has drawn criticism from civil society and rights groups.

“The move will encourage bloodshed in Manipur among people of the same ethnic origin,” said a statement by the United Committee Manipur (UCM), a civil society combine.

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/arms-for-manipur-villagers-to-keep-insurgents-at-bay_10044996.html

Now if we can just convince terrorists not to carry guns we’ll all be safe .../s/off