Packing heat is de rigueur in age of designer violence

Fadi Abboud, Lebanon's caretaker tourism minister, flew the flag in Dubai this week urging Arab tourists to visit the country after it had invested US$4 billion (Dh14.69bn) in the hospitality sector.

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The first to heed his advice appear to be hundreds of Syrian who are popping over the border to buy weapons, either for personal protection or more sinister reasons, after the violence that has gripped their country for the past month. Because of this new demand, prices have increased on average by about 25 per cent across the board.

Shotguns appear to be among the weapons of choice and sporting gun outlets in the Bekaa border town of Chtaura are reportedly doing brisk trade.

Those wanting weapons designed for use against persons must head to less salubrious, smoke-filled offices of dealers in the suburbs of Beirut and Lebanon's other urban centres.

Guns are part of Lebanese life. Even before the civil war, most mountain houses would have at least one weapon, most often a shotgun, although it was not unusual for wealthier homes to have something a bit "tastier", such as an AK-47 or a Belgian-made FN Fal. They were seen as status symbols.

Esper Karam, my grandfather, "won" a handgun in a bet with a man who said it wasn't shooting straight, while the son-in-law of Kamal Hamadeh, the late American University of Beirut urologist, tells me that the respected physician was given a luxury edition AK-47 by Yasser Arafat for services rendered.

Elsewhere, Hizbollah might be the only "legitimate" militia but it's a fair bet that there are thousands of weapons lying wrapped under beds or on top of wardrobes … just in case.

Meanwhile, Lebanon's nightclub scene has brought out the worst in young Lebanese men, many of whom feel underdressed without a Glock, the Cristal of handguns, tucked into their jeans.

In a town where personal influence, or wasta, is king, a permit to carry a weapon is highly coveted, upping the odds of a night on the town ending like a scene from Scarface.

Mr Abboud must be thankful such incidents are rare but last year he witnessed a highly publicised episode at Maison Blanche, one of Beirut's most popular clubs, where a personal feud developed into a gun battle. Thankfully, no one was killed.

Designer violence aside, the recent demand from fearful Syrians has injected new life into the more workmanlike end of the arms trade, in which the iconic AK-47 rifle is still the most highly sought. Tough and reliable, it is the small arm Arab men who care about such things will choose.

Designed in Russia in 1945 by Mikhail Kalashnikov, a recuperating Red Army sergeant, it was adopted by the Russian and Warsaw Pact armies in 1947. It is considered the most effective close-quarter fighting weapon of the modern age and has since been patented by the Chinese, East Germans and Czechoslovaks.

Before the recent violence in Syria, Russian models - known locally as the Circle 11 or Rocket 11 - in Beirut were changing hands for $1,100, with the less prestigious versions fetching about $750. Today, dealers are making offers in excess of $1,700 for "used" Russian models just to meet demand.

Those with smaller budgets can buy an FN FAL, a rifle similar to the British army's 7.62mm self-loading rifle, which was phased out in the late 1980s, for $500. It is a respected weapon among gun buffs over here, but is not as compact as the AK-47.

The AKS-74Us - also known as the bin Laden and essentially an AK-47 with a folding stock - are changing hands for more than $3,000, a $200-plus increase on the March market price of $2,800.

For customers who prefer something with a bit more "oomph", the M72 light anti-tank weapon has increased in price by 30 per cent. In March, you could pick one up for $1,500, but today you won't get much change out of $2,000.

At the budget end of the big bang range, rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and RPG ammunition are both 10 per cent pricier this month, with both retailing at between $90 and $100.

All this talk of the Lebanese obsession with guns made me think of my late aunt's driver. Hussein had been a fighter with the Syrian Social Nationalist Party from 1982, when the Israelis invaded Beirut, until the end of the war in 1990.

With peace came the boredom usually experienced by adrenalin junkies, even though Hussein consoled himself by carrying a Browning 9mm pistol. It made my wife, then my fiancee, very nervous, but it gave Hussein a sense of self.

A few years later, I saw Hussein driving a new Mercedes on Beirut's Hamra Street. When he saw me, he jumped out of the car amid the honking traffic and opened the boot. Inside were a "full" ammo vest and a lovingly oiled AK-47.

"I got a job as a bodyguard," he beamed. "I am allowed to carry all this. It's great."

Last I heard he was doing very well as a salesman for one of the major car dealerships in Beirut. Like the region, I guess we've all got to move on eventually.

Michael Karam is a communications and publishing consultant based in Beirut