PART 1 | 1. This Act is the Arms and Explosives Act 1913. |
2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —“arms” means —| (a) | firearms, air-guns, air-pistols, stun guns, electronic dart guns, automatic guns, automatic pistols, guns or any other kind of gun from which any shot, bullet or other missile can be discharged or noxious fumes or noxious substance can be emitted, and any component part of any such arms; | | (b) | bayonets, swords, daggers, spears and spearheads; and | | (c) | such weapon, accessory, or other article or thing, as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, specify to be arms for the purposes of this Act or any part thereof; |
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| “authorised military device” means any explosive manufactured solely for lawful military or police purposes, including but not limited to a shell, bomb, projectile, mine, missile, rocket, shaped charge, grenade or perforater; |
“authorised military or police personnel” means —| (a) | any member of the Singapore Armed Forces; | | (b) | any member of the Singapore Police Force; or | | (c) | any person who performs military functions for the Ministry of Defence or the Singapore Armed Forces; |
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| “authorised person” means any auxiliary police force established under the Police Force Act 2004 and which is authorised by the Licensing Officer to accept the deposit of guns, arms or explosives under section 19(1) or the deposit of explosive precursors under section 21B(1); |
| “body corporate” includes a limited liability partnership; |
| “book” includes any record, register, document or other record of information, however compiled, recorded or stored, whether in written or printed form or on microfilm or in any other electronic form or otherwise; |
| “carriage” includes any carriage, wagon, cart, truck or other vehicle used for the conveyance of goods or passengers by land, in whatever manner the same is propelled or moved; |
| “deal in” includes repair, sell, keep or expose for sale; |
“detection agent” means any of the substances specified in the First Schedule and which —| (a) | is intended to be used to enhance the detectability of explosives by vapour detection means; | | (b) | is introduced into a plastic explosive during its manufacture in such a manner as to achieve homogeneous distribution in the finished product; and | | (c) | is present in the plastic explosive in such concentration no less than that specified in the fourth column of that Schedule; |
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“electronic dart gun” means a portable device which —| (a) | is powered by electricity and, when switched on, is capable of expelling or projecting a projectile; and | | (b) | upon coming in contact with a person or an animal, is capable of inflicting injury or an electric shock by a high voltage, low amperage charge to such person or animal; |
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“explosive” —| (a) | means gunpowder, nitro-glycerine, dynamite, gun-cotton, blasting powder, fulminate of mercury or of other metals, coloured fires and every other substance, whether similar to those abovementioned or not, used or manufactured with a view to producing a practical effect by explosion or a pyrotechnic effect; | | (b) | includes fog signals, fireworks, fuses, rockets, percussion-caps, detonators, cartridges and ammunition of all descriptions, and every adaptation or preparation of an explosive as above defined; and | | (c) | includes sand crackers, and any substance declared to be deemed an explosive by notification under section 10(1)(a); |
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| “explosive precursor” means any substance specified in the Second Schedule; |
| “gun” includes howitzers, mortars, quick-firing and machine‑guns, and other guns of a similar nature; |
| “high explosives” includes, but is not limited to, cyclotetramethylenetetranitramine (HMX), pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) and cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX); |
| “licensed dealer” means a person licensed under this Act to manufacture or deal in guns or arms; |
| “Licensing Officer” means the person appointed by the Minister under section 4 and includes an Assistant Licensing Officer; |
| “limited liability partnership” has the meaning given by section 4(1) of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005; |
“manufacture” —| (a) | in relation to an explosive, includes the preparation of any component part of the explosive, the admixture or other treatment of the same, and the breaking up or unmaking of any explosive, the process of remaking or making fit for use any damaged explosive, and the process of remaking, altering or repairing any explosive; and | | (b) | in relation to an explosive precursor, means any process of producing the explosive precursor, and includes the refining or remaking of any substance to become an explosive precursor; |
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| “master” includes every person having command or charge of a vessel other than a pilot of a vessel; |
| “pilot-in-command” means the pilot designated by the operator or the owner of an aircraft as being in command and charged with the safe conduct of a flight; |
“plastic explosive” means any explosive which —| (a) | is formulated with one or more high explosives which in their pure form have vapour pressure of less than 10-4 Pa at a temperature of 25°C; | | (b) | is formulated with a binder material; and | | (c) | is, when mixed, malleable or flexible at normal room temperature; |
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| “Port Master” has the meaning given by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore Act 1996; |
| “premises” includes messuages, houses, buildings, lands, tenements, easements and hereditaments of any tenure, whether open or closed, whether built or not, whether public or private, and whether maintained under statutory authority or not; |
| “railway administration” means any person or body of persons responsible for the regulation of traffic on any railway; |
| “stun gun” means a portable device which is powered by electricity and from which any electric current, discharge, impulse, wave or beam can be emitted and if directed at a person or an animal, can incapacitate temporarily, injure or kill the person or animal; |
| “unmarked plastic explosive” means any plastic explosive that does not contain a detection agent; |
| “vessel” includes any steam or sailing ship, junk, boat, sampan or any kind of craft used for the conveyance of persons or things by water. [24/2004; 3/2005; 5/2007] |
| (2) A person is deemed to export an article from Singapore to a particular country, territory or place if the person takes or sends the article out of Singapore with the intention that it is to ultimately reach that country, territory or place, either directly or indirectly. |
| (3) A person is deemed to have imported an article into Singapore who, whether as owner, consignee, agent or broker, is in possession of or in any way entitled to the custody or control of the article. |
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| Exemptions from operation of this Act |
3.—(1) Subject to subsection (3), nothing in this Act applies to —| (a) | the manufacture, possession, use, storage, sale, transport, importation or exportation, in accordance with the provisions of any rules made under this Act, of any explosive or explosive precursor by order of the Government; | | (b) | the manufacture, dealing in, possession, importation or exportation, in accordance with the provisions of any rules made under this Act, of any article by order of the Government; | | (c) | any of the following persons or their equipment while in the course of their duty or employment:| (i) | members of the Singapore Armed Forces and of any visiting forces lawfully present in Singapore; | | (ii) | members of any naval, military or air volunteer forces established under any written law; | | (iii) | members of any additional forces established under any written law providing for compulsory service in the defence of Singapore; | | (iv) | members of the Singapore Police Force or any other police force on duty in Singapore; | | (v) | members of the Special Constabulary or any Auxiliary Police Force created under the Police Force Act 2004, and any additional constables and peace officers; | | (vi) | dog-shooters employed by the Government; |
| | (d) | any vessel belonging to or in the service of the Government or of any foreign government; | | (e) | any hulk or magazine for the storage or deposit of explosives, or explosive precursors, of the Government or the government of any Commonwealth country; | | (f) | such articles as form part of the ordinary armament of any vessel or as are required for the service of any vessel or the personal use of the crew or the passengers thereof; | | (g) | the importation, exportation and possession, in accordance with such conditions as may be prescribed in rules made under this Act, of such arms and ammunition, forming part of the equipment of aircraft or carried therein for the personal use of passengers or crew, as may be permitted by such rules; or | | (h) | the possession in the course of his or her duty of arms, explosives or explosive precursors by any person employed by the Government, such possession being specially authorised by the head of his or her department. [24/2004; 5/2007] |
| (2) In any proceedings under this Act, proof of these facts is to rest with the person alleging them. |
(3) Sections 5 to 8 and any rules made under section 8 also apply to —| (a) | the Government; | | (b) | any other person mentioned in subsection (1); | | (c) | the articles mentioned in subsection (1)(f); and | | (d) | the arms and ammunition mentioned in subsection (1)(g). |
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| Appointment of Licensing Officer |
4.—(1) The Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint a Licensing Officer and such number of Assistant Licensing Officers as the Minister considers necessary for the purposes of this Act.| (2) The Licensing Officer may issue licences under this Act to any approved person on payment of the prescribed fee and any other prescribed charges. |
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