Serbian President Aleksander Vucic has vowed to disarm his country after twin mass shootings occurred in the country in two days.
On Thursday, a man rampaged through two villages on the outskirts of Serbia’s capital Belgrade, killing eight people and wounding 14 more. An overnight manhunt ended with a 21-year-old suspect being arrested.
The previous day, a 13-year-old seventh grader attacked his school with pistols and Molotov cocktails, killing eight classmates and a security guard. Despite carrying them, the boy did not use the homemade Molotov cocktails. He and his parents have since been arrested.
In response to both shootings, Vucic promised sweeping changes to the country’s gun laws, which he hoped would conclude with the “almost complete disarmament” of Serbia.
“We’ve been walking around like zombies for the last 24 hours, looking for a reason something like this could happen,” Vucic said at a news conference about his proposed changes.
Serbia has the third-highest gun ownership rate in the world and the highest in Europe. Many of the weapons are stockpiles leftover from the Balkan wars. Despite the high gun ownership levels, Serbia does not normally have mass shootings like the two that occurred this week and have become increasingly commonplace in the United States.
From 2015 to 2019, 125 people were killed in homicides that included a firearm. Serbia’s total population is about seven million people. Before Thursday’s shooting, Serbia’s last mass shooting was in 2016.
According to a 2018 survey, Serbia has roughly 39 guns per 100 residents. In comparison, the United States has about 120 guns per 100 residents.
Vucic is calling for a full audit of the country’s legal gun owners, including psychological and drug tests, harsher fines and prison terms for illegal gun possession, and hiring another 1,200 cops with the aim of putting a police officer in every school.
The Serbian government already announced it plans to implement suggestions Vucic made shortly after the Thursday shooting, including a two-year moratorium on new gun licenses and increased surveillance of shooting ranges.
Serbia has strict gun laws compared to the United States. Owners must store their weapons in a safe location, have no history of imprisonment, no criminal record in the last four years, undergo routine medical examinations, and be trained in handling firearms.