Interior Ministry destroys 5,000 confiscated weapons

The Kurdistan Region’s Interior Ministry destroyed 5,000 firearms on Tuesday. The arms had been confiscated during police raids over the past two years. 

The ministry has so many of these arms they have to be “dismantled in stages,” Lt. Col. Nali told Rudaw. They plan to destroy 5,000 more on Wednesday. 

The guns are mainly Turkish-made pistols, AK-47s, and pellet guns. 

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is cracking down on illegal gun ownership. On Sunday, the Interior Ministry announced a six-month grace period for people to register their firearms and give up their heavy weapons. 

The KRG introduced a new gun registration system four years ago. Sami Jalal, chief of staff at the Interior Ministry, said that no registered gun owners have committed crimes. 

“Fourteen thousand people have been granted permission and none of them committed crimes,” he said. 

Gun owners must be over 18, have no criminal record, and should not have a physical disability. 

Provincial governors can issue permits for pistols, but only the Ministry of Interior can give authorization for someone to own heavier weapons like the AK-47.