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Reuters | , Posted by Shobhit Gupta
military rule Myanmar Civilians “loyal to the country” will be allowed to apply for a permit to carry firearms, according to media reports and an unconfirmed government document.
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Leaked documents purportedly from the Home Office were reviewed by Reuters and other media outlets. It sets the standard for those seeking a firearms license.
Experts worry that allowing civilians to carry guns will strengthen the power of groups pro-junta and will only exacerbate the violence and near-daily clashes between the military and armed resistance that have raged across the country.
The conditions laid out in the documents include an age threshold of 18 and the apparent need for firearms for security purposes, as well as loyalty requirements.
Reuters could not immediately verify the 15-page document, nor was it clear when such a law would take effect. Calls to a military spokesman for comment went unanswered.
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The document stipulates that members of counter-insurgency agencies, duly organized militias and those discharged from the military are allowed to carry pistols, rifles and submachine guns as long as they hold such permits.
It added that the junta will have the right to import and sell firearms and ammunition licensed by the Defense Ministry.
After five years of tense power-sharing under the quasi-civilian political system established by the military, the Southeast Asian country’s top generals led a coup in February 2021.
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Some 19,000 people died last year as the military’s crackdown on protests led many to take up arms against the junta, according to Acled, a US-based conflict-monitoring group.
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Some 1.2 million people have been displaced by the conflict and more than 70,000 have left the country, according to the United Nations, which has accused the military of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
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