PRESS RELEASE : SHOCKING: The sub-commission report published without making any changes!

SHOCKING:  The sub-commission report published without making any changes!

In the negotiations realized in 09.12.2009 in Domestic Affairs Commission related to the Draft Law on Gun it is decided to form a sub-commission and the draft law was forwarded to the sub-commission. In 18.03.2010 the sub-commission has completed his works and presented his report to Domestic Affairs Commission. But in the sub commission meeting dated 21.04.2010, realized for the evaluation of the Gun Manufacturers and Retailers Association’s (SÜSASD) requests, one more time changes were realized on the draft law. These changes include provisions getting even behind the first form of the draft law and the amendments stated in the sub-commission report dated 18.03.2010. In our Description and Propositions article that we took under consideration following this change, we present dangers that each of the law enforcements might cause and we requested the re-negotiation of the changes by taking under consideration our propositions. According to the news that we got today, the Sub Commission wrote his report by keeping the draft law change dated 21.04.2010 as it is.
 
The goal shouldn’t only be to adjust to European Union. The special circumstances of our country must be taken under consideration. In our country in the last twenty years, the armament rate increased for ten times. One of ten people owns a gun. The report published by the sub-commission includes amendments getting behind of the first draft law which was only containing the limitation of gun access for civilians with more than one article.
 
Even though Tevfik Ziyaeddin Akbulut, the president of the Domestic Affairs Commission, made a declaration to Yavuz Donat from Sabah Newspaper and said “I learned the situation afterwards… You wrote it too… I intervened some objects immediately… The committee report for gun license is removed… This can not be done… I added that again. The draft law enacted without any changes made on it in the sub-commission, has really surprised us. We are getting trouble the concept of leaving aside the reaction of the public opinion, public health and behaving with commercial concerns. We would like to repeat the question asked by the Head of Fight Against Cancer Department, A. Murat Tuncer, “The cigarettes are killing people. How the people manufacturing products to kill people, can sleep peacefully at night? “In case this draft law will be accepted as it is, Will you be able to sleep peacefully at night, the commission members who facilitated the “murder”?

For detailed information       : 0212 337 29 00;  vakif@umut.org.tr

EXPLANATION and SUGGESTIONS of Umut Foundation regarding the
Draft Law on Guns/Firearms accepted by Internal Affairs Subcommittee

Draft Law on Guns/Firearms had been prepared with an understanding based on the determination of the crime, not preventing it before it is committed. Such approach is facilitating the individual armament rather than individual disarmament and tends to trace the offense by licensing the unlicensed guns.

 In this context, it is contrary to the opinion of EU Harmonization Commission that says “when taking the conditions of our country into the consideration, it is required to restrict the individual possession of the guns.” Despite the opinion of the Internal Affairs Minister as mentioned in the Internal Affairs Committee “...we are adapting a strategy that takes the prevention of the offense as a basis and accepts the struggle as a whole. Such understanding expresses the studies aiming to prevent the offense before it is committed, in other words comprehensive and organized studies directed to solve the root problem. In struggling with the offense, our priority is to develop mechanisms that will prevent the offenses.”, we can see that the principle of making individual armament difficult was abandoned.

When we compare the "Draft Law on Guns/Firearms" adopted by the Internal Affairs Subcommittee and the suggestions of the Umut Foundation Examination Commission, the picture is as follows: 

1)      “Gift gun” concept defined in Article 2 is legalizing individual armament. While the ones having the power to present are determined in the article, the individuals to whom these can be presented is not limited and the regulation was expanded. Gift gun concept should be opened to negotiation and must be excluded from the scope of the law.

2)      Pepper spray is taken into the scope of the Law by Article 3. However the amount of the pepper spray should be determined.Due to the principle of legality principle, amount of it should be mentioned in the law but not in the regulation..

Blank firing guns are also being regulated under the same article. However, it is suggested to include all provisions of the legal regulation on blank firing guns to this law and its related regulations.

3)       5. In paragraph (f) of the article, giving permission for the import of the parts to the individuals for the guns they own is exposed to the abuse. Therefore, said regulation giving import right to the individuals should be taken out from the scope.

4)      In Article 6, advertisement and promotion of the rifles are made free. Hidden ads are not forbidden. It is allowed to make the advertisement and promotion of all guns through fairs, trade-shows and printed materials. Principally, no restricting regulation is made on the advertising and promotion. No gun or ammunition should be advertised or promoted in the press and broadcasts through “obvious and/or hidden methods”; moreover, their introduction, marketing and advertisement should not be made through any media and method.

5)      As per Article 6/3 of the Draft, sales of air guns, blank firing guns and pepper spray to the people above 18 is allowed. Age limit should be 21.

6)      In Article 7/2: “Temporary License” provision which gives the right to acquire a gun until obtaining a true license must be excluded since it is facilitating the acquisition of the guns.

7)      In Article 7/4 (a): Lower age limit for gun license should be 25. Lower age limit for the guns in the first category, pepper sprays, air guns and blank firing guns should be accepted as 21.  Being based on the high extent of the rate of crime in terms of criminology and statistical data on the deaths and wounding by firearms in our country, the lower age limit for gun license should be 25.  Rate of suicides by firearms resulted with death is significantly high between the ages of 15-25. Risk continues up to 35. Deaths with firearms reach to the peak point between the ages 25-30.

8)      Article 7/5 and 6: In terms of preventing individual armament, it is suggested to combine the abovementioned paragraphs 5 and 6 and they must be read as follows “Gun licenses to those who were sentenced imprisonment more than 1 year or to those sentenced to supervised liberty should not be given under any circumstances even the periods mentioned in the 53rd article of Turkish Criminal Code will expire, by act of grace, by deletion of the record from criminal record, by return of the prohibited rights and by a successful controlled freedom. Regulation should be made depending on the punishment not on the offense. For example, immigrant smuggling and human trafficking are gross misconducts even they are not mentioned in the draft law. Therefore, the ones who committed such gross misconducts should not be able to take license when the regulation shall be made on the basis of the punishment.

9)      The individuals who committed the crimes other than the ones set out in article 174, 213 and 220 (smuggling, voluntary manslaughter and terror crimes) of Turkish Criminal Law may receive license from the commission mentioned in paragraph 14 of the same article even they are punished. Such commission implementation is bringing a feature that increases the armament depending on the initiative. Therefore paragraph 14 should be entirely excluded.

10)   Furthermore in Article 7/15, permission of acquiring almost 1 gun should be given.

11) Article 8/5: No gun can be delivered to anyone for “keeping” purpose. If there is such a requirement, it must be kept by security units.

12) Article 7/11: The individuals may only receive new rounds only when they bring the empty cartridge cases. 

13) Article 11: As per the principle of legality, it should be determined in the law which public officials may bear guns. Unlimited right of carrying guns to the retired people is contrary to the approach of individual disarmament and public security. In this context, right of carrying gun may only be given to the public officials who are under risk due to the nature of their service. Regarding the individuals who will be granted with the right of bearing guns, condition of being under life-critical conditions in terms of their duty or profession must be applied. Right of possession or bearing guns should not be given to the public officials, members of Local Authority Administration Services, judges and public prosecutors who are retired, resigned or assigned to various duties and subparagraph (ç) of paragraph 3 of Article 11 setting out this should be entirely excluded from the draft law.

14) Article 11/5: Places where firearms shall not be carried should be set out in the following two paragraphs:

“Firearms should not be carried at public entertainment places where alcoholic drinks are consumed such as bars, night clubs, wedding salons, discotheques and taverns or at outdoor ceremonies open to public such as weddings, henna nights, engagements, circumcisions. Firearms should not be carried in the traffic.”

11. The term “closed” in Article 5, paragraph j should be excluded.

15) Article 11/5 (i): In places open to public such as shopping centers, entertainment places, managers should be able to decided individually to prevent carrying guns at these areas and therefore in order not to facilitate possessing guns in places open to public, the term “by the decision of the manager, places owned by private individuals and open to the public should be included.

16) Article 11/6: Except the individuals in charge of ensuring the security in the court houses, prohibitions for entering the building with gun must be applied for everyone equally. There should not be any exception except for the responsible and assigned ones who are given the task of ensuring security of a place; state of non-carrying guns must be applied to every person equally.

17) Article 11/10: In this article, the permission of bearing only one gun and transporting it from somewhere to another should be arranged.

18)   Article 12: Gun licenses including carrying permissions must be valid for 2 years as of the date they are issued.

19) Article 12/3: Principals related to validity and renewal of possession licenses must be identical with the ones for “carrying”. Possession licenses must also be subject to two years validity and the conditions of the possessor must continuously be reassessed at regular intervals.

20) Article 12/4: Carrying or possession licenses within the frame of principals stated in the regulations for guns with protective aims may be given to those under ‘serious risk of life’, evidenced with concrete findings, from among retired public officers who were entitled carrying guns when on duty, on condition that this should be marked on their IDs.

21) Article 13/3: Including the ones descended, in the transfer of more than three guns among the ones acquired without duty, as per the principle of equality, duty must be received according to the license type of the transferee.

22) Article 17/2: In case the amounts of the guns or munitions that are in question to the offense are low, the punishments to be given are decreased to the one fourth of it in terms of deterrence.

23) Article 17/8: In case the offense of entering the places where guns are forbidden with guns shall be committed more than once, the gun should be confiscated and the license must be cancelled.

24) Article 17/15: In case an offense is committed during ceremonies open to public such as weddings, henna nights, engagements, in the traffic or entertainment places where alcoholic drinks are consumed, the punishment to be given shall be increased by half. Punishment of bearing guns in the traffic should be included in this article.

25)   Article 18/6: The term “ones carrying more than one guns being contrary to the procedure mentioned in paragraph ten of Article 11” should remain.. It should not be more than two.

26) Article 19/4:It is contrary to the principle of equality that the policemen who are allowed to possess personal guns by the Directorate General of Security, have priority in possessing the guns in nature of pistols from a price half of their determined values and encourages individual armament.

Issues that are not set out in the Draft Law on Guns/Firearms but should be found in the sail law or the related regulation are as follows:

1)       Central database, gun carrying or possession license with an electronic chip and Turkish Republic ID number

2)      Certified obligatory training prior to the licensing, 

3)      Automatic cancellation system after licensing arising from criminal and health condition,

4)       Reference system in licensing procedure such as spouse, family doctor and lawyer info,

5)      Determining the obligation for arm case and supervisions during licensing,

6)      Determining waiting time to process the application in licensing,

7)      Limiting the number of arms that can be possessed...