Thousands of Serbians hand over weapons to curb mass shooting incidents

Europe, News May 21, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

Serbian Police displayed more than 13,500 guns, grenades, rocket launchers, and several other kinds of weapons that were turned in by the citizens as the government’s one-month amnesty period comes close to an end.

The Serbian government started a month-long campaign to crack down on guns and weaponry after two deadly incidents of mass shootings occurred last month. As a result of the horrifying incident of mass shootings, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in the capital city, Belgrade, while hundreds of protests were arranged in the smaller cities around the country. All the protestors were demanding a crackdown on illegal guns.

The incidents of two mass shootings occurred consecutively on two days on May 3 and May 4, 2023, resulting in 18 deaths in total. The first shooting happened in an elementary school in Belgrade when a 13-year-old boy took his father’s gun to open fire on his fellow pupils, killing nine children and the school’s security guard. One day later, a 20-year-old man used an automatic weapon to kill eight people on a random rampage.

In the wake of shootings and public outrage, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic swiftly announced a policy for the “general disarmament” of the country. Vucic set an amnesty deadline until June 8, 2023, for all guns and weapons to be surrendered.

The Serbian president announced that there will be “huge punishments” for anyone found with illegal weapons after the amnesty ends. He also announced a thorough review of the country’s gun licensing process and weapons ownership policy.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic inspects weapons collected as part of an amnesty — ^{In this photo provided by the Serbian Presidential Press Service, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, left, inspects weapons collected as part of an amnesty near the city of Smederevo, Serbia, on May 14, 2023. (Image Credit: Serbian Presidential Press Service/AP)}

President Vucic recently visited the warehouse where the collected weapons have been stored and displayed. Vucic said that almost half of the collected weapons are illegal and unregistered, while the other half of the collected weapons are registered weapons handed over by the citizens voluntarily. He said that the collected weapons would go to the Serbian ammunition factories where they would be repurposed for the use of armed forces and law enforcement agencies.

Serbian police officials highlighted that during the collections period, people also threw their unregistered weapons in the garbage containers or left them unattended instead of bringing them to the police. Experts believe that thousands of weapons still remain out of the reach of the authorities. Serbian police is expected to launch a national wide operation soon after the amnesty period ends, to further probe into the illegal weapons.

Serbia has one of the highest ratios of gun owners among citizens in Europe. According to a Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey, Serbia ranks third in the world for the number of weapons in private hands. About 39 for every 100 people in Serbia own a weapon.