Nasir Ahmed: The last of the gun sellers

In 1952, 14-year-old Nasir Ahmed was a student of class nine at Dhaka's Armanitola Government High School. 

One day, during a vacation in his hometown in Pirajpur's Mathbaria, the teenager took a double-barrel gun and went to a nearby char of the Baleshwar River to hunt. His cousin accompanied him.    

"The char had many snipes (a bird species living in marshes). I pulled the trigger and with my first shot, I killed eight of them," said Nasir, now 84, while sitting at his gun shop called 'Shikar and Shikari' in Paltan.   

Guns were not new to Nasir even at that age. His grandfather Moiz Uddin Ahmed and his father Nuzum Uddin Ahmed possessed guns and would go hunting on a regular basis. His uncles and sister-in-law also liked hunting. Nasir would often accompany his father and uncles on hunting trips. 

"At that time, my father would go hunting in the Sundarbans twice a month for a fee of Tk10," said Nasir. His father was allowed to hunt four deers a month as long as they were not female deer.   

Nasir's love for guns eventually made him quit his job as a country coordinator at the International Union Against Tuberculosis and set up a gun shop in Dhaka in 1980. 

"I set up the shop only to get the chance to see different types of arms and meet people. The clientele are usually very sophisticated people," he said. 

As there was no restriction on hunting in the past, gun business was good during the British as well as the Pakistan period. Buying guns or possessing them was also unrestricted. 

However, after the Liberation War in 1971, the government imposed a ban on import of guns and ammunition by the private sector. In the wake of the government's decision, a second-hand gun market emerged. 

Soon the Bangladesh Arms Dealers Association (now Bangladesh Arms Dealers and Importers Association) was established and the trade body sat with the government to allow gun import through Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB). TCB imported the guns and sold them to dealers. 

"Not everyone in a village was allowed to possess guns. Those who did were well respected and others would help them in hunting. In the past, hunting was a symbol of power and prestige," said Nasir.   

The government has since introduced provisions that discourage the possession of arms.        

With the enactment of the Wildlife (Conservation and Security) Act 2012, the sale of firearms decreased further. Nasir said that the sale of legal firearms fell after 2016 when the government attached the condition of an income tax of Tk15 lakh to get a firearms licence.  

"You cannot buy arms even if you have the money to buy anything else in the market. You must have a licence," he said, adding, "we are in trouble because the government is discouraging the public to buy firearms."  

"People have to submit the arms before elections, they have to pay a high tax, they are often checked by law enforcement officials, hunting is prohibited. Licence renewal fees have increased. As a result, many gun owners have surrendered their arms," said Nasir Ahmed. 

However, the rich and upper class still buy guns. In the past, customers would buy conventional arms like double-barrel and single-barrel guns. These days, they buy shotguns for security purposes. 

Revolvers used to be popular but now people prefer pistols over them, because after firing, the empty shell ejects automatically from a pistol and it is comparatively lighter. 

Nasir Ahmed said pistol calibres (diameter of the barrel in inches) can be .22, .25, .32 and .38. Civilians can buy .22, .25 and .32 calibre pistols. .32 calibre pistols are the most popular. .38 calibre pistols are only used by service people. 

Nasir, who is also the president of the Bangladesh Arms Dealers and Importers Association, said he does not know how many guns are sold monthly or annually. He does not know the market size of legal arms. 

However, a 2021 police data showed there are 44,000 legal arms in the country.  

Nasir believes time has come for him to shut down the arms business; there simply is no sale. 

"You cannot sell ammunition because hunting is banned. You cannot move with guns. What will you do with them?" he said.

Although some arms are imported from the US, Czechoslovakia, Spain and France, most of them are imported from Turkey, for being comparatively cheaper. 

One of the most expensive pistols Nasir sells is the German Mauser pistol whose price is around Tk3.5 lakh. Italian Beretta and Czechoslovakia's CZ pistols are also expensive. The Turkish Tisas pistol costs Tk1,15,000. 

There are eight importers in the country and 84 gun shops. Nasir said those who are importing are making some profit, but the dealers are not. 

In October 2022, he sold three pistols whose price ranges from Tk1.5 lakh to Tk2 lakh. "This business will not survive. In the near future, it will be closed," he said.