The National Permanent Committee for Regulating and Controlling Weapons in Iraq announced today, Thursday, the mechanism and pricing for purchasing medium weapons from citizens, following the allowance for the registration and possession of only light weapons.
Committee spokesperson, Brigadier General Ziad Muhaireb al-Qaisi, stated in an interview with "Baghdad Today" that "the amount the committee will pay for purchasing medium weapons from citizens ranges between 3 million to 5 million and 900 thousand Iraqi dinars."
He pointed out that "two committees have been formed for this purpose, the first tasked with evaluating and inspecting the weapons, and another committee to pay the checks and amounts."
He noted that "the weapons will be assessed as poor, medium, or good," and mentioned the opening of 697 centers for inquiries, as well as opening two offices in each police command in the provinces to purchase weapons, with the possibility of increasing the number of offices based on the province and the citizens' turnout.
The purchase of medium weapons represents the second step in the strategy to control weapons under state authority and organize them, following the first step of opening registration for light weapons for citizens and allowing the possession of one registered light weapon per household only, which can be kept at home but not carried. The current initiative targets only medium weapons, while the mechanism for handling heavy weapons remains unspecified for the future.
The Cabinet had previously allocated 15 billion dinars for purchasing weapons from citizens. If an average of 4 million Iraqi dinars is paid for each medium weapon, it would indicate that the allocated funds would be sufficient to purchase approximately 4,000 medium weapons, whereas the number of weapons in the hands of citizens in Iraq is estimated to be over 7 million.
Medium weapons include items such as the "PKC" and RPG launchers and equivalents.
