“It seems the destiny of a Lebanese (is) to die of joy,” Lebanon’s Health Minister Wael Abu Faour said Tuesday. After a spate of tragic deaths from celebratory gunfire in the country, his words ring tragically true.
In Lebanon, and across the Arab world, it’s common to fire guns in the air to mark weddings, births, religious festivals, elections, exam results, and eveything in between. But Abu Faour called for the practice to be banned, the Daily Star reported yesterday, after one teenager was killed and another injured by stray bullets fired in happiness.
The horrifying misfire is sadly not too unusual in Lebanon. And it's not the only country where accidents like this are common – here’s some others where you’d do well to stay indoors during special occasions.
1. Turkey
According to the Umut Foundation, 700 people are killed in Turkey, on average, from celebratory gunfire every year. Whether the anti-gun charity’s shocking estimate is accurate, flying casings are a regular fixture of Turkey’s streets: after football matches, and especially when the national team wins, there’s often a surge in reports of casualties as men take to the streets in celebration.
2. Jordan
Jordan’s King Abdullah launched a personal campaign against celebratory gunfire in 2010, after two people were killed and more injured by gunfire let off in jubilation at the close of school exams. "This is a traditional society,” Ayman al-Safadi, a Royal advisor, told The Media Line at the time. “When you shoot in the desert, nothing happens; but when you shoot in a densely populated city - everything that goes up will come down."
3. USA
The weekend of July 4 and New Years’ Even are peak times for accidental gunfire injuries in the States. Victims are often admiring the fireworks in their yard when they suddenly collapse – struck, often in the head, by a falling bullet from an unknown location. According to one study, which monitored gunfire in selected communities across America, 15% of gunfire incidents were recorded on July 4 or over the New Year.
4. Pakistan
Across a four year study period a single hospital in Pakistan recorded 165 injuries from stray bullets, many of which fell during the celebration of weddings or births. In discussing their results researchers called celebratory a gunfire a serious threat: because bullets seemingly came from nowhere, they wrote, local people were afraid even to venture outside during happy times.
5. Palestine
In 2012 in the Gaza Strip, one man was killed and another wounded by bullets which were fired in celebration at the end of Israeli bombing. On other occasions several young people have been killed when shots are fired to celebrate the end of Tawjihi, the punishing end-of-school exams traditionally marked by sometimes raucous celebrations.
