The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

Turkish groom accidentally sprays wedding guests with bullets

Father, aunts slain in freak nuptial firearms blunder

Ensure Ease of Recovery with Asigra’s Agentless Software

A bridegroom in Turkey, seeking to enliven his nuptial celebrations by the traditional local practice of firing an automatic weapon into the air, has accidentally gunned down 11 of his wedding guests in a freak tragedy bloodbath firearms discharge mishap.

The BBC reports that the unfortunate groom, intending only to let off a magazine of 7.62mm ammunition into the sky to indicate exuberant happiness, "lost control of the weapon" - apparently an AK47 assault rifle - and inadvertently peppered his assembled friends and relatives with a withering hail of lead. The gunfire apparently killed the man's father and two of his aunts, and left another eight people injured.

According to the BBC, firing live rounds into the air "is commonplace as a celebration in parts of Turkey and has on many occasions led to deaths and injuries". The practice of "happy firing" is certainly routine in the adjacent Middle East, where especially cheerful locals will sometimes cut loose with even heavier weapons such as RPG antitank rockets.

The practice is a dangerous one even where celebratory shooters succeed in getting their weapons' muzzles above head height before opening fire. Bullets - to say nothing of rocket-grenades - fired into the sky have to come down somewhere, and will still generally hit with lethal force when they do.

In some instances results can be even deadlier, as in the well-known 2002 case in Afghanistan where partygoers opened fire in a massed volley celebration. The crew of a passing American AC-130 Spectre gunship assessed this as hostile action and responded with a devasting volley of cannon shells, followed up by seven tons of bombs from a B-52.

Apparently the Turkish government is trying to stamp out the practice of "happy firing" by the use of "harsher penalties" - though not as harsh as those meted out by the US air force - but is so far having no luck. The unfortunate Turkish groom has reportedly been arrested. ®

Regcast training : Hyper-V 3.0, VM high availability and disaster recovery

If ever there was a reason why Turkey shouldn't be in the EU...

...the sort of place where civilians are permitted to have AK-47s, never mind use them in jubilation, probably isn't quite ready to be a part of the European Union just yet...

28
2

@ What?

Yes, we realise. Are you trying to reinforce heyrick's point?

24
1

Maybe stating the obvious but

Haven't these cretins heard of blank ammo?

10
0

More from The Register

Reg hack prepares to live off wondergloop Soylent
Our man puts eating people powder Food 2.0 to the test
Oracle's Ellison outlines plans for Hawaiian Electriclarryland
Solar-sourced eau d'Oracle the key to island revival
Soylent days and soylent nights
Food 2.0 fails the post-pub nosh test
 breaking news
Who's to be the next Dr Who? Sherlock beats Maurice - says you
Cumberbatch EXTERMINATES Ayoade, Atkinson, Pegg - and Tilda Swinton
Chewbacca held up by TSA stormtroopers for having light sabre
'Mrauuun' 'Right, Chewie, giant man do need giant cane'
 breaking news
I told you I'd be back: Arnie set for another career revival
Don't worry voters, Schwarzenegger's talking about Terminator 5
Waving an Eye-of-Sauron pulsating mock cock? STOP IMMEDIATELY
Mains-powered sex aid recalled ... Ultimate O turns into ultimate OH NO
ROBOT COW teaches Saudi kids where milk comes from
Udderly ridiculous bovine intervention is beyond the pail
At #guardiancoffee, we can now TASTE THE FUTURE through a PRISM!
I have measured out my life in espresso spoons
Google erases G8 venue from Earth: Microsoft doesn't
Cameron and chums to hold confab in empty field, apparently