Government and tribes discuss gun control in Basra

BASRA– The National Committee on Regulating and Controlling Weapons discussed with Basra tribal leaders and dignitaries measures to restrict weapons possession and the process of firearms registration to “curb the proliferation of weapons and enhance security in Iraq”.

In a seminar at the police headquarters in Basra, Ziad Al-Qaisi, the spokesperson for the committee, told 964media that the committee’s strategy is to create a weapons database, that will include weapons held by government institutions and ministries; and light weapons registered to citizens in accordance with the law. Kalashnikovs or AK47, pistols, or hunting rifles are regarded as light weapons.

He also said that earlier this year, the Ministry of Interior has launched an initiative to buyback medium-sized weapons and will continue until the end of 2024. The ministry also setup an online platform, UR, to register firearms for all citizens. “So far 4,000 weapons registered across Iraq to date,” he added.

Muqdad Meery, spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior, had previously announced that the government has allocated up to one billion dinars (around $750,000) to each governorate as an initial payment, with two billion designated for the capital.

He added that the buyback programme payments range from 3 million IQD ($2,289) to a maximum of 5.9 million IQD ($4,501) when turning a weapon in.

He also said that 697 offices for weapon registration have been established in all governorates except for the Kurdistan Region.

The Committee spokesperson stressed that “significant cooperation” with tribal leaders across Iraq is taking place “to ensure the success of this initiative.”

Sheikh Faiz Al-Saad from the Saad tribe in Basra, told 964media that he supports the initiative “which aims to regulate weapon possession and ensure it is under state control, thereby curbing the spread of unregulated firearms”. He said that he will relay these recommendations to the tribal councils “to promote the culture of weapon registration, contributing to Basra’s security and reducing law violations by certain groups and tribes.”

According to the Small Arms Survey, by 2017, civilians in Iraq possessed approximately 7.6 million firearms, including handguns, rifles, and shotguns. The monitoring group believes this number has since increased.

Decades of conflict and violence in Iraq have resulted in many people and armed groups owning weapons without government licenses.