ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi authorities registered 8,731 privately owned firearms over the past week, the Security Media Cell (SMC) announced Saturday, as a year-end deadline for registering personal weapons approaches.
The Permanent National Committee for Regulating and Confining Weapons to the State, operating under the interior ministry’s Agency for Police Affairs, “registered 8,731 firearms during the past week alone, in accordance with approved legal and procedural frameworks,” SMC head Saad Maan said in a statement.
Maan also reported that security forces had confiscated a cumulative total of 1,191,441 weapons through judicial procedures and security operations, along with 11,191,363 rounds of ammunition, 201,809 rockets and bombs, and 18,180 explosive items. He did not specify the period covered by the figures.
Iraq has long struggled with the proliferation of firearms, which have contributed to criminal violence and tribal disputes. The Geneva-based Small Arms Survey estimated that Iraqi civilians possessed approximately 7.6 million firearms in 2017, including both legally and illegally held weapons.
Successive Iraqi governments have sought to curb their proliferation and tighten regulations on private gun ownership. The current registration campaign, launched in 2024, allows citizens to register personal firearms with the authorities and obtain licenses.
The interior ministry has extended the registration deadline to December 31, 2026, after which owners of unregistered firearms could face legal consequences.
“These figures and statistics confirm that we are moving forward with steady steps toward clearing cities of unlicensed weapons and ending any armed manifestations outside the framework of the state,” Maan said, adding that the measures aim to provide a safe and stable environment for citizens.
He said the campaign reflected the government's commitment to restricting weapons to official military and security institutions.
The announcement comes as Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi pushes to bring weapons under state control, a key commitment of his government since taking office in May.
In an interview with the state-run Iraqi Media Network (IMN) earlier this month, Zaidi said that “by June 30, 2027, no weapons will remain outside the framework of the state.”
While the registration campaign focuses on privately owned firearms, the government's separate effort to bring weapons held by armed factions under state control has faced resistance from several pro-Iran groups.
Armed factions operating under the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) umbrella, including Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba, have pushed back against the government's disarmament plans and timetable.
