Rusty,
Here's what I know, nothing "official", just based on what I've seen. More about India here than Nepal since I've spent more time there.
As you noted, firearms aren't easily available, so for the most part, edged and impact weapons are the tools of choice. Your average rampaging mob bent on destroying the neighboring community's house-of-worship, community gathering, etc. is usually armed with a variety of lathis (cane sticks/staffs), pry-bars, tulwars (swords), knives & cleavers (kitchen/meat-shop variety), hockey sticks (field-hockey, not ice-hockey!), spears, tridents, assorted rocks, molotov cocktails; and if it's a rural mob, then you'll see farm implements galore - hoe, shovels, spades, etc. It's quite a sight to see these mobs go about their business - like something out of a painting of the French Revolution, peasants storming the Bastille!
Conversely, riot-control police are armed with lathis (usually 4-5ft approx), cane/bamboo shields, helmets, padded jackets - that's about it. Second line has tear-gas, firearms (Lee-Enfield SMLE - Mark III & IV mostly). Usually some tear gas, a lathi-charge or two is enough to break up most mobs. If not, there's firing above their heads, then at the crowd, if that still doesn't do the trick then it's time to make that all-too-often call to the nearest military post. Martial-law is declared in that part of town, the army rumbles into town, civil authority hands over, flag-march is conducted, which is normally enough to drive home the message. If that's stil not enough, well ... it's time for some serious shooting then ...
The common home-defense weapon is your local variety of edged weapon - khukuri, tulwar, choora, dao, etc. as well as lathis and hockey-sticks. As for concealed carry of knives, I don't know the exact rules, but we always made it a point to hide our folders in the vicinity of police, especially the big-city cops - they usually confiscated it on one pretext or the other, and you had to bribe them on top of that to make sure they didn't cart you off to jail too!
Of course, in the rural areas and the woods, no one looks twice at someone carrying the local variety blade.
As for firearms among the common citizen, there's not a lot. Licenses are heavily regulated and actively discouraged. Parts of the country have a lot more firearms than others. Punjab is a prime example - the large-scale extremist movement there since the early 80s saw a proliferation of firearms. By the late 80s, with the local population tiring of the movement, the government started actively arming the citizens themselves - training wasn't a problem as practically all families have at least a few members in the military or police. This ensured that in the event of govt. forces not being on the scene, the citizens themselves could carry the fight against the extremists/terrorists - and they did so with a vigor. By the early 90s, the extremist movement had practically died down. With the Punjab Police "upgrading" to FN FALs and AKs, their old Lee-Enfields (both SMLE .303 and Ishapore 7.62/.308)were the most common rifles given to these citizens, as well as WWII era stens.
In central India, too, firearms are a common sight. This region saw widespread dacoit/bandit activities during the 60s and 70s. Common firearm there is the 12-gauge shotgun, followed by the Lee-Enfield. Quite a few shotguns are locally-made - some, I understand are of pretty decent quality too. I've also seen quite a few ancient muzzle-loaders being casually carried by folks out in the woods there. In fact, even in the Himalayas, it's not uncommon to come upon an old fellow carting an even older muzzle-loader, though they make a bit of a sensation when they come into town to sell their game!
Then there are the illegal home-made "pipe-gun"/disposable variety, notorious for their untrustworthiness, but available with a bit of questioning among the "right" quarters. Thus, the bad-guys, be they your neighborhood robber, mafia hit-man, revolutionary cadre, etc. aren't lacking in firearms if they need one - these may not be pretty, but they are available. The common folks are the ones who usually end up at a disadvantage in this regard.
Ex-servicemen didn't get any break in this regard too, unless in special cases like in Punjab during the troubles, you were as restricted in owning firearms as other citizens.
I'm pretty sure this is the same case in Nepal.
- Sonam
[This message has been edited by gtkguy (edited 04 August 1999).]
[This message has been edited by gtkguy (edited 04 August 1999).]
