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With an estimated 10,000 stolen weapons and thousands of unlicensed others out on the streets, gun control has become mission impossible. The images of January 28 are still fresh in our minds, with plenty of videos and photos as reminders. Police stations broken into and thousands of weapons stolen. The nights of uncertainty, with residents on patrol to defend their neighborhoods from armed thieves. In the months following, we’ve seen pictures of guns, rifles and knives confiscated by the Interior Ministry through arrests and amnesty programs. But it’s not nearly enough. In September, Interior Minister Mansour Essawy told state-run daily Al-Ahram that the state is still trying to recover almost 10,000 stolen guns from the black market, thugs and other criminals. This is in addition to thousands of unlicensed guns in the hands of otherwise law-abiding people who felt they had to arm themselves for protection when the police disappeared from the streets. The surging demand, especially in the black market, has swelled the ranks of new and inexperienced gun owners, many of whom receive no instruction on gun safety or even basic weapon handling. Despite the Ministry of Interior requiring gun safety courses as part of the licensing process, even legal gun owners rarely get proper training about the lethal tools they are bringing into their homes. The result is many tragic deaths and injuries at the hands of people mishandling their own weapons. Of course I have seen a great difference in demand, everyone is now running to get licenses to carry a gun or a rifle, says Mohamed Fathalla, who owns several gun shops across Cairo and Alexandria and is considered the nations biggest legal weapons dealer. The state [the country is in] makes everyone scared. Fathalla estimates that since the revolution the demand for licensed firearms has almost doubled, and he estimates that the black market for weapons has increased tenfold. The gun manufacturers are benefitting from the state of panic. Fathalla notes that weapons producer Helwan Factory, the biggest local weapon manufacturer selling to civilians, has upped its prices 500 percent, with handguns that once cost LE 4,000 now selling for LE 20,000. And the buyer would consent to the price anyway, Fathalla adds. He fears for his safety and will purchase whatever he finds. The demand is so high that legal supply simply cannot cover it, says Fathalla. Buyers will simply resort to black markets. The Ministry of Interior has launched a number of initiatives to control unlicensed weapons on the market. June saw the start of a two-month gun amnesty whereby citizens could turn in unlicensed guns without being questioned or prosecuted. (Possession of an unlicensed weapon normally carries a three-month to six-year jail term.) The ministry has since extended the amnesty period indefinitely, announcing that citizens who hand in their weapons will be able apply for a license to legally purchase guns. According to Interior Ministry figures, thus far only 5,000 of the 15,000 weapons stolen from police stations have been recovered. This means that 10,000 stolen firearms are still out on the street, to say nothing of other weapons smuggled or stolen from different sources. Neither does it take into account the thousands of unlicensed weapons owned and sold before January 25.With security risks still relatively high (Essawy himself has acknowledged that 6,513 escaped convicts have yet to be arrested, and some areas have not seen a full return of police to their streets), it would be unfeasible to ask people to give back their goods anytime soon particularly the criminals in possession of stolen guns. Smoke screen Many argue that if gun possession is widespread anyway, a policy that focuses simply on limiting firearm possession will prove futile. Many experts in the industry believe the solution is to instead promote and approve more gun licenses, increase the number of weapons training outlets and enforce safety training requirements. Fathalla says that the only way for people to defend themselves now is to own weapons, so the state needs to allow for more licenses. He explains that every licensed gun can be tracked by the government, which keeps a database of a weapons serial number, ownership, history and origin details. This means any weapon, no matter how old, can be traced to its owner, who is accountable for it. Fathalla adds that government inspectors periodically review a gun shops records to make sure they are complying with the law. Even before the revolution, it had become increasingly hard to get a license. In the past, the rule was to check to see if there were any reasons not to allow for the license, and if not the license would be approved, says Fathalla. Now it is the opposite, they are looking for enough reasons to approve the application. But why should a millionaire be allowed to carry a weapon to protect his money or land and the less fortunate [be turned down] and left to defend himself against current insecurities? Although the Ministry of Interior has received thousands of applications for gun licenses since the revolution, it hasn’t been approving many. Three of the people interviewed for this article had been waiting for a verdict on their gun license application for periods of up to five months. All requested their names be changed for fear of hurting their chances. Soha Hassan, a 50-year-old investment analyst, applied for a gun license last May. I provided all necessary documents. I have no criminal records, I had shooting training before and I need to protect myself because the police aren’t as powerful as they used to be, says Hassan, who at the time of the interview was clearly frustrated by the delay. In mid-September, she finally received the license. Similarly, 31-year-old Ahmed Hassan applied for a license almost five months ago. He wants to buy a gun because he travels between Cairo and Daqahliyah each week with cash to run his family farm; the road is unpaved and dangerous. At press time, Hassan had yet to hear back from the police station processing his application.Train Them All, 
Train Them Well But easing or fast-tracking approvals without properly ensuring applicants meet the requirements is a formula for disaster, one that might put guns in the hands of unqualified people or, even worse, criminals. Faster licensing has to come hand-in-hand with strict implementation of the law, which requires all applicants to receive proper training on weapons handling. Among the application requirements is a certificate from the Ministry of Interiors training center [verifying] that the applicant has been trained and is well aware of the rules of handling a weapon and proper usage and has full knowledge of how to load, unload, shoot and secure a weapon. The applicant also needs to be informed about the situations where the law permits the use of weapons.And although the contents of law number 54/394 clearly state this requirement, in practice it is often ignored. As a licensed dealer, Fathalla can only sell to customers with licenses to purchase guns, meaning in theory that they have already fulfilled the training criteria. Nevertheless, when asked if his clients have the necessary knowledge, Fathalla simply answers, If they aren’t aware [of gun safety and handling, we make them aware. General Khaled Shanan, general manager of the operation and information sector at Cairo criminal investigation, explains that although training is obligatory, whether a person actually seeks out the training depends on whether the person understands the importance of the course. Some want to take it to understand how to use the weapon and clean it and so on, says Shanan. Others go to [the center] just to get the letter to receive the license, and they don’t care whether they know this or not. Shanan compares this to a driving license. Although theoretically one should be tested on practical and theoretical driving skills, most people forego the test and they get the license anyway.But this is the time to stick to the laws and regulations, in anything not just this. They were created for a reason.The general continues, What is worrying is not how widespread weapons are but how widespread chaotic behavior is. [Abroad] people are aware of how and when to use weapons and what the law entails. We don’t have this awareness. Without proper training, the risk of accidental death or injury from mishandled guns is high.The least of your worries is that when you use the gun without [really knowing how] the attacker can simply take it from you, says Shanan. You can play around with it and shoot your kid or yourself by mistake. It happens a lot. You need the basic knowledge. Gun enthusiast Mohamed Saiid recounts how his relative was shot by accident while his friend cleaned his gun a few years back. He tells another story of an acquaintance who left his shotgun unsupervised, His son took it and shot his friend to death thinking it was a toy gun. Saiid, who is 60, recalls that when he applied for his license 40 years ago, the law didn’t even require an applicant to take any training. Now, he says, The training is offered in theory, but in practice, it is hardly even provided for those who do want it. Hussain Mohamed, another gun owner, adds that when he received his license a few years ago, he had no training to speak of and never even visited the training center despite the fact that the law did require a certificate from the institution at the time. Like Mohamed, several other gun owners interviewed for this article who had purchased their weapons legally confirmed they had not taken the Interior Ministry training or been to the center. Most reported the training was a mere formality they managed to skip one way or another. Egypt Today made repeated attempts to reach the Interior Ministry for comment on weapon licensing procedures, but at press time the spokesperson was unavailable. And it’s not that the training centers are hard to come by. Shanan says there is one for civilians in each governorate, equipped with a shooting range. Others, like Saiid however, believe the number of facilities open to the public aren’t enough to provide training for all applicants. Most shooting ranges are either restricted to police and army forces, or they are specialized ranges for certain types of long-range weapons, such as shotguns or rifles, he explains. The state could outsource training to private companies or they could seek the help of the Shooting Union for instance, suggests Saiid. Training needs facilities and time, and this isn’t really provided by the states training centers. While training will bring down the number of accidents, it won’t solve the underlying problem. Shanan believes that for people to stop seeking guns, be it through legal channels or otherwise, they simply need to feel security is back on the streets. Once security and stability are back, people won’t need to carry weapons,emphasizes Shanan. In my opinion, the police need to come back as strong as they were before. You need to go out and feel safe seeing a cop in the street. You won’t feel the need to carry a weapon then.