News Desk
ISLAMABAD/NAYPYIDAW: Myanmar’s military regime will allow civilians who are “loyal to the state” to apply for licences to carry weapons, according to media reports.
The generals, who grabbed power from the elected government two years ago, planned to allow citizens over the age of 18 to be licensed to carry different types of guns and ammunition, local media reported. Public servants and retired military personnel would also be allowed to possess weaponry.
The February 2021 coup plunged the Southeast Asian nation into a crisis that some United Nations experts have characterised as a civil war.
Ever since the military takeover, armed resistance groups have appeared in multiple parts of the country, sometimes training and fighting alongside ethnic armed organisations that have been fighting the military for decades. New shadowy pro-military militias have also emerged.
The 15-page leaked document on gun licensing has been attributed to the military administration’s home ministry and underlines the conditions under which civilians will be permitted to keep firearms.
Gun-carrying citizens to be required to take part in security duties
Recipients of gun permits must be “loyal to the nation, of good moral character” and not involved in “disturbing state security”. Permit holders must also participate – when ordered by local authorities – in “security, law enforcement, and stability” and “crime prevention measures,” the document says.
An estimated 31,022 people in total – including both civilians and combatants – have been killed during the two-year conflict, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED). Moreover, around 1.2 million people have been displaced in the strife, and over 70,000 have left the country, according to the UN, which has accused the junta of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
