The loss of the 23-day long life struggle of a ten-year-old boy who was hit by a tired bullet in northeastern Gebze last month, has once again brought the alarming individual armament rate in Turkey’s agenda.
After the brain dead of Musa Ilter was announced on Monday, experts reiterated their warnings about individual armament rates in the country of 85 million people, which is estimated to have 25 million guns.
Ayhan Akca, an executive board member of Turkey’s Hope Foundation (Umut Vakfı), a non-profit organization carrying out studies for the prevention of individual armament, said this goal could only be achieved by increasing penal measures.
“In a country where an average of 15 people are killed by guns per day, legal arrangements should be made to reduce the rate of individual armament,” Akca told Birgun newspaper.
In a previous interview with the Voice of America Turkish, Akca also said that almost 90 percent of those 25 million guns were not registered weapons.
Gun violence in Turkey has surged by 74.7 percent between 2015 and 2021, according to a February report by Hope Foundation. Armed violence incidents saw an increase of 12.5 percent in 2021, compared to the previous year, the report showed.
Source:gerceknews
