Issue and Opposition: In Lebanon, shooting bullets in the air during special events such as weddings are a common practice. Although celebratory shooting is not legalized in Lebanon, the tradition continues. Every year, some of these shootings end up missing their marks and claiming lives or maiming people for the rest of their lives. This tradition carries on also because of the abundance of guns (mostly not licensed) in Lebanese households from the days of the Civil War (1975 to 1990). Despite legislation against firing into the sky for celebration (Art. 75 of the Firearms Act of 1959) and actions against those breaking the law by law enforcement (arrest, imprisonment, and the imposition of a hefty fine depending on the degree of harm caused by the firing) there has not been a decrease in these gun shows. According to Lebanese law, one can receive 6 months to 3 years imprisonment sentence for a celebratory shooting at a wedding. In case the firing causes death, the shooter can be incarcerated for up to 10 years in addition to a hefty amount of fine. Despite these punitive actions, Lebanon sees many deaths and accidents by festive firing every year. To protest against this tradition, educate the public, and create awareness, Permanent Peace Movement (PPM), a Lebanese nonprofit designed and performed a unique dilemma action. The nonprofit was established in 1986 during the Lebanese civil war.
Dilemma Action: Permanent Peace Movement created a fake service company called “Eleguns” and opened a booth at the largest wedding fair in Beirut, Lebanon (Wedding Follies). Designed to induce laughter and concern, the booth displayed images of different types of guns and offered the visitors lists of shooters for hire to fire during wedding celebrations. To drive home the message, PPM made a video that featured young couples who looked puzzled that gun services for weddings were being offered at the wedding fair openly. Some of these couples who were filmed could be seen declining the gun shows, saying, “The boys from our village are always ready”, or “We don’t need you. We can get them for free”. Some others said that they would fire themselves since Elegun would not take responsibility for gun-related deaths or accidents at the weddings. Some visitors to the booth who wanted to seek Elegun’s service were told about its fake status and were asked to sign a pledge for gun-free weddings. They also pledged to report wedding gun shows in the future. The fake Elegun store also had an online presence where customers could shop for wedding shooters, shooters’ clothes, and different types of guns. In the end, while trying to check out their “purchases”, they would be directed to messages saying that the only expenses were the “lives of friends and family”. The activists popularized the hashtag #gunfreewedding on Twitter and Facebook.
Outcome: About 1500 couples pledged not to have shooters at their weddings. Close to 450 couples initially showed interest in availing of Elegun’s service but when reminded that wedding firing was an illegal activity according to Lebanese law, decided to sign the anti-shooting pledge. PPM’s online action became popular among social media users and the news of this fake wedding company became viral within a very short time. Recent media reports confirm that firing during wedding celebrations is still very much a tradition in Lebanon. The deaths and accidents from celebratory gunshots also continue.