By Abdul Aziz Al-Rubaie
Okaz/Saudi Gazette
THE memory of a stray bullet from celebratory gunfire on the morning of Eid Al-Fitr in 2013 still haunts Ghadir Al-Wadei. It transformed her family’s holiday to a “terrifying morning.” Al-Wadei, 10, was hit by a stray bullet while she was playing on the roof of her house in Taif.
No one did exactly know at the time how Ghadir got injured. Initially, the family thought the wound was caused by fireworks in celebration of the holiday. They rushed the girl to King Faisal Hospital in Taif where the doctors stitched the wounds and discharged her the next day.
However, the family had to take her back to the hospital when she complained of severe pain in the back.
An X-ray revealed the presence of a bullet in the girl’s abdomen but doctors said they discharged her thinking she was injured by fireworks. Ghadir’s family did not know how the bullet got into her. However, it was obvious someone in the neighborhood had fired a gun.
The family got a second shock when the doctors told them that surgery to extract the bullet was risky and the girl would have to live with the bullet inside her body.
In another incident in Taif, residents still remember the death of Shomoukh, who was not yet five years old, from a stray bullet believed to have come from celebratory gunfire in a nearby wedding hall.
Similar scenarios repeated in many Saudi and expatriate households. A stray bullet could turn joyous occasions into funerals.
Despite the drop in what had become a phenomenon during celebrations due to strict legislation, celebratory gunfire has not disappeared completely in many regions of the Kingdom, making life risky on occasions of weddings and national holidays.
Ahmed Al-Zaidi recalled several accidents that happened in the past. “We know that many people fire gunshots during weddings and other occasions as a traditional form of celebration, but we often fear things might go wrong and lead to horrible situations,” Al-Zaidi said.
Fawaz Al-Sawat, mayor of Al-Sar neighborhood in southern Taif, acknowledged a decline in the phenomenon after strict regulations issued by the authorities to combat the practice of carrying firearms and opening gunfire during weddings. He said he was looking forward to everyone’s cooperation to protect “families from the danger of gunfire, which the innocent people pay the price of.”
Retired Maj. Gen. Mirki Al-Ruwaili said the phenomenon of celebratory gunfire at weddings is sort of a security issue as it poses risks to the lives of people. He described it as an “extremely bad and dangerous social tradition.”
The general, who previously headed the police force in the Northern Border province, saw the need for people to loath such actions and deny access to those who practiced them.
He said: “Popular rejection of this violence is essential so that the ship does not sink. If people cannot change their bad habits then they must be punished for making deadly decisions.”
Al-Ruwaili confirmed witnessing a number of tragic events during his tenure as a public security official. “In one of the border cities, I was once invited to a large gathering and after dinner one of the attendees fired a pistol he was carrying. One of the bullets hit a teenager, who was critically wounded and taken to hospital. The 15-year-old succumbed to his injuries later,” Al-Ruwaili said.
He lamented that the incident did not have any lasting effect on the people of the region. “It affected them only for a while and they soon returned to their bad habit, forgetting the fact it had killed the only child of his parents,” Al-Ruwaili said.
On the other hand, Bandar Al-Shamrani saw the difficulty of imposing a total ban on celebratory gunfire at social events and weddings, as it is a custom denoting hospitality and a welcoming gesture in some regions. “Celebratory gunfire happens only in the seasons of weddings and is considered a symbol of joy for the families of the couples getting married,” said Al-Shamrani.
At the same time, he criticized the excessive use of firearms and stressed the need for people to come together to prevent what he considered “too much indulgence in gunfire.”
Laywer Ibrahim Al-Hussein considered the use of weapons during weddings and events to be “a clear violation of the weapons and ammunition act.” The perpetrator of this offense is liable to imprisonment or a fine, or both, according to the law, he said.
Al-Hussein explained that celebratory gunfire is can be a crime from two perspectives: “It’s either that the weapon is licensed and used for a purpose other than what it is licensed for,” he told Okaz/Saudi Gazette. “In this case, the owner can be sentenced to prison for a term not exceeding one year or a fine of not more than SR5,000, or both. If the weapon is not licensed, then the user will face imprisonment for a period not exceeding 18 months or a fine of not more than SR6,000, or both.”
