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Feb 10, 2024. Posted by Balkan
Periscope - Hellas
One out of
every two Turkish adult men and one out of every three houses own a gun,
according to the Umut Foundation which carries out studies for the prevention
of individual armament.
The Umut (Hope) Foundation Board Member Dr. Ayhan Akcan has stated that half of Turkish adult men own a gun.
Akcan told
Demirören News Agency that there are approximately four million licensed guns
in Turkey.
“There are
nine times that amount of illegal weapons. It is thought that there are close
to 36 million weapons unregistered (in Turkey). This means one out of two adult
men, one out of three households. There is also an increase in gun-related
crimes,” Akcan said.
He said
while guns were used in 50 percent of murder cases 10 years ago, this figure
increased to 85 percent today. “20 percent of them are used in domestic
violence (today).”
“In Turkey,
nearly 5,000 people are killed with guns in a year. We find that both
gun-related crimes and the number of gun acquisitions increase by 3.5 percent
every year,” Akcan said.
As a
solution, Akcan offered to limit the number of weapon acquisitions, which “is
currently infinite.”
“95 percent
of gun-owners are men, two-thirds are under the age of 40. Most importantly, 70
percent of the owners say they carry a gun as a deterrent. This also poses a
significant risk. In other words, the gun invites violence. If you have a gun,
you are five times more likely to be killed,” Akcan added.
The
foundation carries out studies for the prevention of individual armament, according to
Turkish media
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