A government audit has uncovered major irregularities in the computerization of weapon licenses in Pakistan, revealing thousands of suspicious records. The Suspicious Weapon Licenses issue emerged after auditors found that significantly more licenses were computerized than were officially issued by the Ministry of Interior.
According to the audit report, investigators identified 9,291 additional suspicious weapon licenses during the review. The report stated that while the Ministry of Interior had officially issued 36,497 prohibited-bore weapon licenses, the national database contained 44,250 computerized records.
The audit also found that more than 186,000 weapon licenses had been computerized, and 10,464 of them were later declared fake. In addition, there was a discrepancy of 7,753 prohibited-bore licenses, raising further concerns about the accuracy of official records.
Officials acknowledged the serious irregularities after reviewing the audit findings. The administration accepted the audit objection and admitted that there were significant problems in the computerized weapon licensing system.
Authorities have now called for a full investigation into the computerization process to determine how the discrepancies occurred and who was responsible. The Suspicious Weapon Licenses case has raised fresh concerns about oversight, record management, and security within Pakistan’s weapon licensing system.