Celebratory gunfire is a huge issue in Lebanon. I come from Zgharta, a town famous for their affinity to guns and firing them in celebration. Even though that practice has decreased to almost none at all these days, especially compared to when I was a child, it’s still a major issue all across the country.

We keep hearing about someone getting killed or maimed because of a stray bullet when a politician speaks, or a kid shooting their parent by mistake at a wedding reception, or many other horror stories like “hunting accidents” and other silly excuses when it’s obvious the real problem is taking guns lightly or a considering real bullets a viable alternative to fireworks.

“Eleguns” popped up online and in wedding fairs in Lebanon recently. The company offers “professional” squads that will shoot at your weddings for a certain fee. I will admit, the name “eleguns” is awesome, and so is there branding and identity. Just look at their site, it has different weapons, styles (such as traditional vs modern) and they even have the gender-balanced element too!

Luckily though, this isn’t a legit business or service, it’s a kick-ass awareness campaign by Permanent Peace Movement. PPM have spearheaded an attempt to curb celebratory gunfire in Lebanon, and this is a one of the many initiatives they kicked off, including a conference surrounding the harmful effects of lax gun control held at the Grand Serail that I attended last year.

Unfortunately, many of the young men and women who are about to get married thought that this service was real, and showed a lot of interest in hiring “pro” gunmen and women to come do a “show” at their weddings. When it was time to talk about pricing though, the people behind the campaign came at them with the epic reply: “it might cost the life of your friends and loved ones”, and then encouraged the young couples to sign a pledge saying they would never allow guns to be fired in celebration at their wedding.

You can sign the pledge here.

Personally, I absolutely loved the campaign, it’s very beautifully executed and got a lot of people duped for a second. It also delivered a tough message in a really nice way. For a second, I myself thought it had gotten this bad, that people now advertise “gun show” services for weddings in Lebanon. Luckily, I was wrong and hopefully, less and less people will think it’s a good idea to use guns to celebrate.

Big ups to PPM and JWT for the awesome #GunFreeWedding initiative!