India Produces First Handgun Marketed To Woman
Published: January 13th, 2014
Indian Ordnance Factories, a government owned arms manufacturer, is marketing a new revolver called The Nirbheek and named after a rape victim. The revolver is based on the Webley design (along with all IOF’s revolvers) and is chambered in .32 S&W. The frame is made from titanium and it weighs 500 grams.
The price: about $2000! That is about twice the average per capita income of India.
Thanks to Mark and WhaeOil for the tip.
I founded TFB in 2007 and over 10 years worked tirelessly, with the help of my team, to build it up into the largest gun blog online. I retired as Editor in Chief in 2017. During my decade at TFB I was fortunate to work with the most amazing talented writers and genuinely good people!
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Interesting discussion.. Gun ownership in india is a real pain! Almost not worth the trouble! But of course it is definitely a status symbol and thats probably what makes it worthwhile. Some facts pointed out here are not exactly correct. .32 is definitely not the biggest calibre allowed for civillians. Whats allowed and not allowed for civillians depends entirely on what the army and police are using. If the army or police are using it then its called a 'prohibited bore' (actually restricted bore) and not allowed for civillian use. (This law is inherited from British rule era) The following are the calibres that are commonly used by the army and police : 7.62, 5.56, 9x19, .38 s&w, 45, 410. Although .45 and .410 are no longer used by the military or police, the government has just not bothered to 'unrestrict' them. All other calibers are perfectly legal! In theory one can own a desert eagle .44 magnum or .357 magnum if he can afford it, (I've heard of a desert eagle .44 magnum selling for about $ 40,000/-) Then of course there is a big question of practicality since the government has practically banned imports of arms and ammunition since 1980! A few gun dealers are allowed to import a restricted amount of ammo which depreciates yearly! Private individuals are allowed to import a maximum of 50 rounds as personal baggage provided they have a firearms licence. Most of the time their local licencing authority (depends from state to state and district to district) does not allow them to buy or more than 5-25 rounds in a year! The few modern firearms that get in the open market are those that are legally imported through Transfer of residence, Sports quota, Customs department auctions and government auctions of smuggled firearms etc. Most of such modern imports are usually cornered by officials, politicians and gun dealers and resold at an exceptionally high premium) I could go on and on but I guess by now most readers would have gotten the drift! In India the majority of people who own firearms are thus either VIP's and the very rich. The ones who need it the least!
...and knowing the wood-headed bureaucracy as they are here, menfolk will probably
be prohibited from procuring such a weapon. Anyone applying for one will
probably have to provide irrefutable documented proof of ones gender in
triplicate, duly attested by a gazzetted officer.... gender quota
system in firearms as well .... :)