‘159 Thousand Crimes Committed with Unregistered Firearms in the Last 10 Years’

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Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Ankara MP Murat Emir has submitted a parliamentary inquiry, requesting that the reasons for the increasing individual armament in Turkey be investigated, the rates of casualties, injuries and disablement caused by uncontrolled individual armament be identified, the necessary precautions be taken and preventive policies be introduced by the Parliament.

Underlining that individual armament has been gradually increasing in Turkey and almost not a single day passes without a murder committed by firearms, Emir has shared the findings of a study conducted by the Small Arms Survey, a company specialized in individual armament and gun violence.

Emir has stated that 85 percent of over one billion firearms in the world are owned by ordinary people, 13 percent of them in military armouries and only two percent of them are owned and used by security forces.

"Individual armament is a structural and social problem in Turkey and experts have been raising concerns over a major increase in the number of unregistered firearms", Emir has stated further in his parliamentary inquiry.

250 thousand gun licences granted in last 2.5 years

Referring to a report released by the Directorate General of Security in 2017, CHP MP Emir has stated that 250 thousand gun licenses have been granted over the last two and a half years. He has also underlined that over the last 10 years, 25 thousand crimes have been committed with registered firearms and 159 thousand crimes by unregistered ones in Turkey.

No actions or sanctions are taken against the calls to armament made on social media, Emir has emphasized further.

In his parliamentary inquiry, Emir has shared the following information:

* The number of armed violence incidents was 2 thousand 175 in Turkey in 2015. This number increased to 3 thousand 679 in 2018. Moreover, the number of injuries and deaths caused by gun violence has increased by 69 percent in the last four years. While the Marmara Region ranks first in incidents of armed violence, the Middle Anatolia ranks first in their increase.

* When compared with 2015, the number of armed violence incidents in Marmara has increased from 558 to one thousand 32 in 2018, marking a 88-percent increase. In Middle Anatolia, where this increase is measured as 128 percent, this figure has increased from 283 to 646.

Request for a commission to be established

Underlining that the rate of unregistered firearms in Turkey is 85 percent, CHP Ankara MP Emir has requested that a Parliamentary Investigation Commission be established to investigate the reasons for increasing individual armament in Turkey, identify the rates of casualties, injuries and disablement caused by uncontrolled individual armament, take the necessary precautions and introduce preventive policies. (HA/SD)