Some Iraqi men enjoy shooting celebratory bursts of gunfire into the air during weddings, football games, and other special occasions, with little regard for where the bullets may land.
Both the custom and haphazard gunfire from infrequent gunfights in a society still rife with weapons following decades of conflict and unrest have devastated some Iraqis.
Mother Randa Ahmad of Baghdad was occupied with housework when she was startled by a loud bang. She ran to the living room in alarm, only to discover her four-year-old son Mohamed bleeding on the ground. Weeks later, the 30-year-old mother said, “A stray bullet hit him in the head,” as her young son sat hesitantly by her side in their suburban home.
Ahmad claimed the bullet “came out of nowhere,” although he is unsure of who or why it was fired. Her child now has excruciating headaches and gets tired easily, but the doctors say it would be too dangerous to remove the bullet through surgery. “If the bullet moves,” Ahmad stated, “it could cause paralysis.”
In Iraq, where gun ownership is still common even during times of relative calm, celebratory gunfire and gunfights occasionally sparked by small grudges are everyday occurrences.
A lot of homes say they have guns for defense. According to the Small Arms Survey, a monitoring organization, as of 2017, 7.6 million civilians in Iraq owned firearms, including handguns, rifles, and shotguns. The group believes that number has since increased.
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