The Lebanese have become increasingly obsessed with owning weapons and training to use them since the battle between armed Sunni extremists and the Lebanese army in Arsal on Aug. 2. A state of panic ensued in several regions near the clashes. Fear spread to other Lebanese regions, helping shelter more than a million displaced Syrians after official military sources and the media announced that a significant number of the militants who fought the army had come from Syrian refugee camps.
The idea of owning a weapon is not foreign to the Lebanese. It often seems that almost every Lebanese household possesses at least one firearm. This, in part, is related to memories of the civil wars, in addition to many Lebanese perceiving the government as weak even before it proves itself to be powerless in reality. Thus, what happened after the Arsal battle goes beyond owning a weapon. It's a phenomenon that has been known for decades as “self-security,” a polite way of explaining the existence of militias.