ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Erbil security forces (Asayish) warned on Friday that any display of firearms, including the distribution of guns to voters, during the election campaign is against the law and will result in legal consequences.
“Weapons Law will be applied on any individual or party that distributes arms during the election campaign,” said Erbil Asayish in a statement late Friday, with the electoral campaign approaching.
Article 15 of the Kurdistan Region’s Weapons Law, passed in 2022, stipulates that “any individual, who does not own a license, carries, sells, repairs or gives out a gun will be jailed for one to three years and fined two million to five million dinars ($1,527 - $3,817).”
In June, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani set October 20 as the date for the parliamentary elections, two years after its originally scheduled date. The election campaign is expected to start on September 20.
In the 2018 legislative elections, some candidates distributed guns to voters. Asayish stated on Friday that they will legally challenge those who distribute weapons.
Despite the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) efforts to regulate and reduce violent incidents, deadly shootings remain a major issue in the Region.
Last year, the KRG’s deadline for gun owners to register their weapons expired.
“July 21 has been confirmed as the final chance for gun owners to register their firearms,” Hemin Mirany, chief of staff to the interior ministry, was cited in a KRG statement as saying.
“It is necessary for citizens to regard this campaign as a positive measure to protect their own safety. Gun owners need to register their arms, and not use them to resolve social problems. They must choose dialogue and law over guns and violence,” he added.
