By Fahad Al Ghadani — MUSCAT: April 11 - Despite a concerted campaign against celebratory gunfire, the government says the practice is still a public concern in some areas, with authorities threatening tougher penalties against those letting loose a volley of shots just for fun. It comes as the Royal Oman Police (ROP) arrested two persons for firing in the air during a wedding celebration. According to a reliable source, the incident took place in Ibri in Al Dhahirah Governorate. The pair were detained to face legal action, the source stated.
Celebratory gunfire, although a common practice witnessed during weddings in Oman, has been criminalised because of the threat it poses to innocent victims and public property. In 2015, the ROP urged owners of firearms to avoid firing their weapons in celebration, citing directives issued by the Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs. The action followed instances of fatalities resulting from celebratory firing.
Three years ago, a crackdown launched by the ROP against unlicensed firearms and conventional guns in some governorates, yielded a haul of weapons, according to the source. More than 500 firearms, most of them unlicensed, were collected during the period of the campaign from May to August 2013, the source said.
“There is a fine prescribed for those who use firearms for pleasure, as well as for those who set off firecrackers, engage in pyrotechnics or set off explosions whether within a neighbourhood, public street, and so on, without a licence from the police,” he said.
Article 29 states: “A person holding a licence for a firearm or ammunition may import, export, trade or repair his firearm, but he must not breach regulations governing the handling of the firearm, nor use it in residential areas. He must notify the licencing authority at the ROP of any change in the owner’s address or change in the licence terms.” In a gun-related incident in 2014, two Omanis aged 18 were killed in a shooting incident in North Al Sharqiyah Governorate, while 16 others, including seven children, sustained bullet injuries.
In the same year, a 12-year-old boy was killed when he accidentally shot himself while cleaning a traditional gun in the Wilayat of Nakhal. Possessing conventional guns and other weapons without a licence is illegal, with defaulters liable to be fined RO 100. The weapon will be confiscated as well.
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