Turkey has approximately 2.5 million registered guns, while an estimated 5.5 million guns are believed to be owned without licenses. The number of individuals with access to a firearm in their family home is estimated at 40 million. Nearly 280,000 vehicles on Turkey's roads have a gun stored in the glove box. Nearly 3,000 people yearly -- eight every day -- are killed by gun violence. Eighty percent of the guns in the country are kept in easily accessible areas, such as a holster, a glove box or a drawer. One out of every 20 people killed in gun violence is a child.

    Yesterday, Sept. 28, was marked by Turkey's gun control groups as "Individual Disarmament Day." The Umut Foundation, a gun control advocacy group, held a protest against individual ownership of firearms in a silent rally in İstanbul's Taksim Square.

    In the protest, named "March of the Silent Shoes," shoes that previously belonged to individuals who were lost to firearms violence were placed next to carnations on a red carpet laid on the ground to emphasize the extent of the problem in Turkey. Families of gun violence victims and activists also participated in yesterday's rally.

    Umut Foundation President Nazire Dedeman said in a speech that personal ownership of firearms was a growing problem both in Turkey and in the world, emphasizing that gun violence was the second most frequent cause of death in Turkey after traffic accidents. "If there is a gun somewhere, it will most certainly be shot at some point. If more than 3,000 individuals are killed by firearms every year in a certain country, then there is a problem there," she said.

Dedeman called on authorities and the public to do their part to find a solution to the problem. Şişli Mayor Mustafa Sarıgül also spoke at the protest, emphasizing that guns are not an answer.

According to data from the National Police Department, there were 427,295 reports of criminal activity in the year 2007. A total of 12,992 of these crimes involved guns, with only 1,949 of these being licensed. In the first three months of 2008, 3,381 firearms were used in crimes throughout Turkey, with more than 80 percent these being unlicensed guns.

The problem with gun violence in Turkey is that most Turks like to use guns in celebrations, such as weddings, football game victories or similar joyful occasions. For example, at least 23 people around Turkey were wounded by stray bullets from shots fired into the air in celebration of Turkey's win over Croatia in the Euro 2008 quarterfinals in June. Shots fired at weddings or after football games take an estimated 700 lives every year in Turkey.

Legislation in Turkey

The Umut Foundation, established in 1993 in memory of four children whom two families lost to gun violence, leads the gun control advocacy movement in Turkey. The group aims to pressure the government and create awareness among the public to reduce gun ownership.

The Umut Foundation calls for serious changes in gun control laws. First, they want authorities to take the problem seriously as a first step to preventing more losses to gun violence. The foundation charges that Turkey's legislation on firearms is outdated and inadequate. They want Turkey's current legislation on firearms to be amended to make gun ownership more difficult, improved procedures on gun destruction in the event of crimes and introduce stricter laws on gun control in public areas, such as in traffic or entertainment venues.

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