Gun Ownership in Turkey

In 21th century, Turkey has been struggling with many problems about economy, politics,
military etc. It is clear that Turkey is having hard times especially in these years. Diplomatic
problems with other countries especially with Russia, The Kurdish problem, unnecessary politic
fights and economic problems in most of the areas of Turkey make it hard to live and breathe
here. Many people die every year because of different reasons and many of those reasons are not
natural. Natural death is hard to see in Turkey nowadays. Fights, blood vengeance, rape, suicide
are very popular and Turkey is unfortunately remembered with those events mostly. There is a
high percentage of crime but punishments are not disincentive. It makes people become more
interested to those crimes. Even some people use their guns to kill innocent people. Turkey has
seen different kind of deaths because of the different firearms recently. Bombs were exploded,
children were killed by guns. Lots of people passed away because of guns. As we live in a
technology age, it is impossible to destroy all of the guns. Many countries see them as the best
security method including Turkey. If it is only used save innocent lives or stop wars etc., people
may believe or say that guns are necessary to protect the community but it does not work that
way. Like all other benefits of technology, guns also have their evil sides. It is correct that
destroying the guns is impossible but we can still take measure at least to decrease the risks that
they bring. Making it hard to reach may be a temporal solution. Therefore, governments try to
focus on keeping people away from having guns. For these reasons, Gun Ownership should not
be legalized in Turkey.
Firstly, it should not be legal as it will cause more innocent people to die. It is common
that innocent people die in Turkey and legalization of guns will make it even worse. Because
there are many reasons for doing it. People can be killed because of their nationality, their

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thoughts or beliefs and legalization will only cause this to increase. Security problems are also
widely seen in Turkey and it is another aspect that Gun Ownership will cause blood because
people can take advantage of this security flaw and get away from it freely. Then, all of these
reasons will cause a damaged generation. Many children will grow without knowing their
parents. A lot of people will lose their relatives. Illegal Gun Ownership may decrease this painful
effect for citizens and open a window for them saying that a peaceful future is near.
Besides that, critic politic problems in Turkey will be even harder to resolve because of
gun ownership. Politic fights may occur more often when citizens have a right to have guns in
their pocket and it does not create a peaceful atmosphere. Citizens should not be judged or killed
with guns because of what they believe. Therefore, it is certain that we will see less death in this
way and politic deaths will increase as an effect of Gun Ownership if this system is not applied.
Lastly, many citizens in Turkey do not have the sense that guns are actually a way of
protection. Guns are a good way of self-protection according to many sources but it is not an
issue for Turkey. Turkey citizens mostly see guns as a symbol of violence. Therefore, guns are
risky to have in Turkey for self-protection. It may cause people to hurt and even kill themselves
or kill someone else with momentary anger. This effect seems that people actually do not protect
themselves with guns but they can easily destroy their life in a second. People do not buy their
guns for protection. It is only a way of killing their enemies for many people in Turkey.
Domestic violence also appears with gun use in Turkey. There is an article in Hrriyet about gun
use and their effects. Article says that According to Asst. Prof. Mehmet Yumru every year 3000
people are killed with guns in Turkey. Risk of death increases 12.5 per cent when families have
guns in their homes. He also says that 40 per cent of domestic violence incidents include
guns. This is a high rate and it is possible to lower it with laws. A different article from Ntv

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explains that Statistics show that 113.816 incident occurred in Turkey in one year. 1515 of them
include licensed guns and the number of unlicensed guns is 2372. Article also says that
Licensed gun owners mostly get involved in crime by injuring other people. Number of this
incident is 418. 118 people used it for suicide and 142 licensed gun owners murdered in one
year Those numbers could be the best way that show the bad face of guns both licensed and
unlicensed. Another article in t24 says that Licensed or unlicensed usage of guns increased 10
percent in the previous ten years in Turkey. Half of the murders occur with guns and 12.000
people injure every year approximately because of this reason. Those rates are totally wrong for
Turkey. Article in t24 also offers a law about gun ownership. Many missing points are seen in
legal legislation although it is known that violence and crimes allied with guns. First target
should be the disarmament instead of controlling the arming. Only security guards should carry
guns or have guns. Pshycihians should not be the only authority that decide the usage of guns.
This law would be a good way to stop murders including guns and it would absolutely change
the future of Turkey in a positive way.
Consequently, Gun Ownership is a really big issue for Turkey. It does not matter if it is
licensed. Gun is always a bad thing for our country. Living a life with guns everywhere means a
doubtful life for our community. Many people are too busy with dealing politic problems in
Turkey. Giving them a legal weapon is not a decent solution to stop people from being killed or
being accused by their own beliefs.
If we care about our own life or future, the best way is to completely stop gun usage. We
can dream about a peaceful universe without violence and guns. People should understand that it
is possible. Everyone wants a happy life with their family and without having pains. Guns can be
seen as one of the largest obstacle beyond it. To keep this system working, all people should

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aware of that. People killing people is one of the biggest mistakes of our life and it is true that
there are many people in many parts of our world who dreams about a life without murder. Thus,
we should see guns as the first handicap that keeps it away from being real. We will stop it
eventually because we can do it if we truly want.
Works Cited
Arsiv.ntv.com.tr. Web.
Hurriyet.com.tr. Web.
T24.com.tr. Web