Gun violence in the United States continues to make headlines around the world, but Iraq’s Kurdistan Region is having its own struggle with the issue. In June, a law student at Erbil’s Soran University fatally shot a dean after being expelled for poor grades.  

This was not the first shooting in the region this year. The Kurdish news outlet Rudaw reported that in April, military police shot and killed a civilian. Days after the law school shooting, a man entered a couple’s house in Erbil and killed both of them. On July 21, a gunfight broke out during a kidnapping attempt in front of a police station in Erbil, the Kurdish news outlet NRT reported. 

One Kurdistan Regional Government official (KRG) said that the government loses legitimacy when it does not have a monopoly on violence. Hemin Merani, from the KRG Interior Ministry, told Al-Monitor, “When guns and hard power are widespread and is not only under the control of the government, it puts a big question mark on the state and the legitimacy of the government.” 

The KRG is rolling out a comprehensive plan to manage private gun ownership in response to the deadly shootings, and is reporting some success so far. But some observers believe implementing gun control will be difficult due to high rates of gun ownership in Kurdish society, as well as political divisions and a lack of trust in state institutions.