Statute Details
- Title: Guns, Explosives and Weapons Control (Religious Use of Weapons — Class Licence) Order 2025
- Act Code: GEWCA2021-S367-2025
- Legislation Type: Subsidiary legislation (SL)
- Authorising Act: Guns, Explosives and Weapons Control Act 2021
- Power Used: Section 56 of the Guns, Explosives and Weapons Control Act 2021
- Enacting Minister: Minister for Home Affairs (Order made by Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs)
- Order Number: SL 367/2025
- Date Made: 26 May 2025
- Commencement: 1 July 2025
- Status / Version: Current version as at 27 Mar 2026
- Parts: Part 1 (Preliminary); Part 2 (Religious Practitioner); Part 3 (Funerary Rites and Religious Services)
- Key Sections (from extract): Section 2 (Definitions); Section 3 (Application); Sections 4–10 (Class licences and conditions)
What Is This Legislation About?
The Guns, Explosives and Weapons Control (Religious Use of Weapons — Class Licence) Order 2025 (“the Order”) creates a regulatory pathway for certain religious uses of specified weapons in Singapore. In practical terms, it allows eligible religious practitioners and participants to carry out defined activities involving particular weapons—without committing an offence under the Guns, Explosives and Weapons Control Act 2021 (“the Act”)—provided that strict conditions are met.
The Order sits within a broader statutory framework that generally prohibits the possession, use, and handling of weapons. However, Parliament has authorised the Minister to make class licences that carve out limited, controlled exceptions for specific circumstances. This Order is one such exception: it is designed to accommodate religious practice while maintaining public safety and preventing serious injury.
Two features are central to understanding the Order. First, it is limited to “defined weapons” that are modified to reduce lethality—specifically, “blunted” daggers and swords. Second, it is tightly scoped to religious contexts: religious practitioners, funeral events, funerary memorial events, and religious services, each with defined boundaries and exclusions.
What Are the Key Provisions?
1. Citation, commencement, and purpose-built definitions (Part 1)
Section 1 provides the Order’s citation and commencement: it comes into operation on 1 July 2025. This matters for compliance planning—activities involving the relevant weapons after that date must be assessed against the Order’s conditions.
Section 2 is the interpretive engine. It defines terms that determine who can rely on the class licence and what activities are covered. Several definitions are particularly important:
- “Blunted” means the cutting edges and points of the weapon are modified to be blunt and not capable of causing serious injury or death. This is a safety threshold.
- “Dagger” is defined as a kirpan or kris.
- “Defined weapon” means a blunted dagger or blunted sword.
- “Sword” excludes certain items (machete, parang, bayonet). This prevents the Order from being used to justify broader weapon categories.
- “Conducting” includes volunteering or assisting in the conduct of a funeral event, funerary memorial event, or religious service—expanding the set of persons who may be treated as “conducting” rather than only those who lead.
- “Funeral event” covers funeral, funeral wake, or funeral procession held before or during burial or cremation.
- “Funerary memorial event” is a commemorative ritual held after the funeral event, within or outside a place of worship, and with a specific purpose (commemoration/honour). It excludes ceremonies for public holidays.
- “Place of worship” is defined with both functional and planning-control limitations: it must be consecrated/dedicated or regularly used for religious services, and its use must not breach planning control under the Planning Act 1998. It also excludes an individual’s home and excludes common property of subdivided buildings used for residential purposes.
- “Religious service” is defined broadly as a ceremony/rite/observance/worship/sermon/service based wholly on religious belief, opinion, or affiliation, but it excludes specific categories (including funeral events and funerary memorial events involving religious service, teaching gatherings, and instruction/training to become a member of a religious order or minister of religion).
2. Application and interaction with the Act (Section 3)
Section 3 sets the boundaries for who can rely on the Order.
First, Section 3(1) states that the Order does not extend to an individual who is exempt by or under sections 87 or 88 of the Act. In other words, if a person already falls under a separate exemption regime, this Order does not apply to them (or at least not in the way contemplated by the Order).
Second, Section 3(2) provides that the application of paragraphs 4, 6 or 8 to an individual is subject to section 66(1) and (2)(c) of the Act. Although the extract does not reproduce section 66, this cross-reference is legally significant: it signals that even where the Order appears to grant a class licence, the Act may impose additional eligibility or compliance requirements (for example, conditions relating to authorisation, suitability, or restrictions on regulated activities). Practitioners should therefore treat the Order as operating within the Act’s overall compliance architecture, not as a standalone permission.
3. Class licence for religious practitioners (Section 4) and conditions (Section 5)
Part 2 introduces the class licence for religious practitioners. While the extract does not reproduce the full text of Sections 4 and 5, the structure is clear: Section 4 creates the class licence, and Section 5 sets the conditions that must be satisfied for the class licence to apply.
From the definitions in Part 1, it is reasonable to infer that the class licence is intended to permit a religious practitioner to carry or use a defined weapon (i.e., a blunted dagger or blunted sword) in the course of religious practice. However, the legal practitioner’s task is to verify the exact conditions in Sections 5 (and any related provisions in the full text), because class licences typically require compliance with safety, storage, transport, and conduct-related limitations.
In practice, Section 5 is likely to address matters such as: the circumstances in which the weapon may be carried or displayed; whether it must be blunted to a specified standard; whether it must be used only in religious rites; and whether the practitioner must comply with any reporting, supervision, or handling requirements. The key point is that the class licence is not a blanket exemption; it is conditional authorisation.
4. Class licences for funerary rites and religious services (Sections 6–10)
Part 3 extends the class licence concept to specific religious contexts beyond the practitioner—namely, conducting funeral events or religious services, and taking part in those events or services.
Sections 6 and 7 relate to conducting a funeral event or religious service (and the conditions for doing so). Sections 8 and 9 relate to taking part in a funeral event (and the conditions). Section 10 provides an important clarification: personal religious belief is not material for paragraph 8. This indicates that the eligibility to rely on the class licence for “taking part” does not depend on the individual’s subjective belief. Instead, the determining factor is likely the person’s role or participation in the event as defined by the Order.
For practitioners advising religious organisations, this is a critical risk-management point. If a person participates in a funeral event under the defined role, the Order’s protection should not be defeated merely because that person’s personal belief differs from the religious belief underlying the rite. That said, the class licence will still depend on satisfying the objective conditions in Sections 8 and 9.
How Is This Legislation Structured?
The Order is organised into three parts:
Part 1 (Preliminary) contains the citation and commencement (Section 1), definitions (Section 2), and the application provisions (Section 3). This part controls interpretation and sets the legal boundaries for when the class licence framework can be invoked.
Part 2 (Religious Practitioner) contains the class licence for religious practitioners (Section 4) and the conditions attached to that class licence (Section 5). This is the core authorisation for individuals who perform religious functions.
Part 3 (Funerary Rites and Religious Services) contains class licences for (i) conducting funeral events or religious services (Sections 6 and 7), (ii) taking part in funeral events (Sections 8 and 9), and (iii) a clarification about personal religious belief not being relevant for the “taking part” provision (Section 10). This part addresses participation and role-based eligibility in specific religious settings.
Who Does This Legislation Apply To?
The Order applies to individuals and activities that fall within the defined religious contexts and roles. Specifically, it covers (i) religious practitioners who meet the conditions for the class licence, and (ii) individuals who conduct or take part in defined funeral events, funerary memorial events, and religious services, subject to the relevant conditions.
However, the Order does not apply to individuals who are exempt under sections 87 or 88 of the Act. Additionally, even where the Order grants a class licence, the cross-reference in Section 3(2) indicates that compliance with section 66(1) and (2)(c) of the Act is required for paragraphs 4, 6, or 8 to apply. Practitioners should therefore assess eligibility under both the Order and the Act, rather than treating the Order as a complete permission.
Why Is This Legislation Important?
This Order is important because it operationalises a balance between religious accommodation and weapon safety regulation. Singapore’s weapons control regime is designed to prevent serious harm. By limiting the permitted weapons to blunted daggers and swords and by confining use to defined religious settings, the Order reduces the risk that religious practice could be used as a pathway to carry or use more dangerous weapons.
For lawyers advising religious organisations, funeral committees, or religious practitioners, the Order provides a structured compliance framework. It allows planning for events—such as funerals, wakes, processions, and religious services—while clarifying who may participate and in what capacity. The inclusion of “conducting” as including volunteering or assisting is also practically significant: it broadens the set of persons whose involvement can be covered, reducing uncertainty about whether non-leading participants are protected.
Finally, Section 10’s statement that personal religious belief is not material for the “taking part” provision helps prevent disputes based on subjective belief. This reduces evidential burdens and focuses the analysis on role and event classification. Nevertheless, because class licences are conditional, practitioners must still scrutinise the conditions in Sections 5, 7, and 9 (not reproduced in the extract) and ensure that the weapon is within the “defined weapon” category and that the event takes place within a “place of worship” as legally defined.
Related Legislation
- Guns, Explosives and Weapons Control Act 2021 (including sections 56, 66, 87, 88, and the general offences and licensing framework)
- Planning Act 1998 (relevant to the definition of “place of worship” and planning-control compliance)
- Timeline (legislation versioning and amendments tracking for SL 367/2025)
Source Documents
This article provides an overview of the Guns, Explosives and Weapons Control (Religious Use of Weapons — Class Licence) Order 2025 for legal research and educational purposes. It does not constitute legal advice. Readers should consult the official text for authoritative provisions.