When my family was disarmed: Armenian genocide perpetrated against defenseless populace

By Alex Madajian

The Armenian genocide during World War I was perpetrated against a disarmed populace, whose own government took advantage of a registry of guns to confiscate the weapons from Christian minorities who would use them to defend themselves.
My family hails from the region of present-day Turkey that was ethnically cleansed of nearly all Christian minorities during the First World War. Thankfully, most of my direct ancestors escaped to the United States. But others were not so lucky.
While bigotry, nationalism and other factors contributed to the genocide, the gun registry was one of the most consequential reasons the Turks effectively carried out this barbaric act.
We know from the Ottoman Penal Code that the firearm registry was universal and instituted before the genocide. In addition to a gun registry, there were specific penalties put in place for Christians if they were caught openly bearing arms. Despite these restrictions, I’m proud that people in my ancestors’ village of Tomarza were known to openly carry guns in direct defiance of the tyrannical Turkish government.
Unfortunately, their defiance did not stop the Turks in the long run. My great-grandfather’s brother, an eyewitness, wrote in a letter that after the Turks declared that all registered guns would be

Source: Gun Owners of America