Omar Regi, 27, is a businessman who lives in Tripoli. He founded Freedom Ship

When Tripoli was freed, I started going to Martyrs’ Square every evening to celebrate with my fellow Libyans. At first I would take my mother and sisters, but I stopped taking them because it was too dangerous. Every night rebels celebrated by shooting into the air. The first time, I thought it was kind of cool, because I had never seen a gun shot right in front of me. But every day? Come on. We may live in a third-world country, but still, this is no way to celebrate.

I tried to talk to some of these rebels who were shooting. I told them, ‘Guys, please stop, my ears hurt! You’ve been shooting for six months now; maybe it’s time to stop!’ But they just thought that I was a sissy, that I was scared.

They’re shooting less than in the beginning, but they’re still doing it. I think they keep shooting into the air because it gives them a sense of power. It’s their way of saying, ‘We are here, Gaddafi is gone, we’ve won this war.’

I decided to make a video to try to educate people about this problem. At Martyrs’ Square, there’s a hotel in front of which a big screen has been put up. I asked the people in charge of the screen if they could play the video, which they did. Everybody in the square clapped and cheered. Guns killed so many in this war, and people are fed up with them. Not only does this celebratory shooting need to stop, we now need to get rid of all the guns out there , and fast. If we don’t, we’ll become just like Iraq. I don’t want my country to be like that.”