Critical warning from Attorney Çağla Gül Bulut on unlicensed firearm sales: 'They are even sold online, operations could be conducted'

As individual armament increases rapidly, psychological and physical violence linked to the use of unlicensed firearms has also risen. In this regard, action was taken in November, and it was decreed that amendments be made to Law No. 6136 on Firearms, Knives, and Other Tools. Attorney Çağla Gül Bulut, in her statement to 12punto, expressed that while the regulation is positive, it is not sufficient, and explained that the primary action should be directed toward the sale of unlicensed firearms.

“VIOLENCE CASES WITH UNLICENSED FIREARMS HAVE INCREASED”

Stating that citizens can easily access personal armaments, Attorney Bulut explained the reason for the legal changes as follows:

“Due to the current crisis the country is in, people can attack, commit violence, or even kill others with unlicensed firearms for the slightest reason and without cause. Therefore, especially recently, both personal armament has increased, the use of unlicensed firearms has increased, and when we look at violence cases, it has been observed that these incidents are mostly committed with unlicensed firearms, and these are evident in the statistics. This regulation came as a result of these events, taking place in November. The underlying reason for this is to prevent the rising number of violence cases.”

“PRISON SENTENCES ARE NO LONGER JUST IN THEORY”

Explaining the details of the law, Attorney Bulut stated that the regulation is a deterrent and said, “With the change made in the law, criminal sanctions have been increased. While the sentence was previously 1 to 3 years, there is now a prison sentence of 2 to 4 years. Unfortunately, because there is a culture of impunity in our country, there were cases where some crimes did not result in actual prison time. However, we see that with the increase in these criminal sanctions to act as a deterrent, people are being referred for arrest, and those who use unlicensed firearms are entering prisons. In other words, we see that the 2 to 4-year prison sentence provided by the law is not remaining in theory but is being implemented in practice. It passed the TBMM as a positive piece of legislation; perhaps even stricter sanctions could be considered,” she said.

“UNLICENSED FIREARMS CAN EVEN BE OBTAINED ONLINE”

Highlighting that access to unlicensed firearms is very easy, Attorney Bulut said, “People can even obtain unlicensed firearms online. Therefore, there is a need for work on how to prevent this. The procurement of unlicensed firearms must be prevented because after someone takes a life or causes physical or psychological harm, unfortunately, the sentence they receive is not something that satisfies the public. That is why we always say that measures should be taken before crimes occur,” she said, expressing what needs to be done primarily.

“AN OPERATION COULD ALSO BE CONDUCTED FOR UNLICENSED FIREARM SALES”

Stating that criminal sanctions alone are not enough, Attorney Bulut indicated that there might be further regulations regarding the law on unlicensed firearm sales in the coming days, adding, “As much as we observe this, the TBMM and the relevant ministries can easily observe it as well. Especially regarding access to these weapons via the internet, there could be filtering on the internet or monitoring of this issue by experts in informatics. Because not only using but also possessing an unlicensed firearm is a crime. Therefore, perhaps an operation could be conducted for all of this, and this operation could set a precedent as it would be a deterrent for those selling these weapons,” she stated.

“CRIMINALS MAY REOFFEND”

Stating that the current regulation corresponds to less actual time served according to the Law on Execution of Sentences, Attorney Bulut concluded her words by calling for regulations regarding the sale of unlicensed firearms:

"When you give a sentence of 2 to 4 years, when calculating the time served, according to the Law on Execution of Sentences, this person will not serve 4 years; they will serve less. Afterward, they might say, ‘I already served this many months and got out, then I got a weapon again,’ and they may get involved in crime again. The priority is to prevent the crime before it happens. That is why it is essential to carry out work on this, and let us make a call on this issue here."

News Source : Beste Çelik