13,500 weapons, including guns, grenades, and rocket launchers, have been turned over in Serbia
Authorities in Serbia on Sunday showed stacks of weapons, including anti-tank rocket launchers and thousands of rifles, that they claim citizens have turned in the wake of two devastating mass shootings that rocked the Balkan nation.
Following the two killings in two days this month that left 17 people dead, many of them children, the government announced a one-month amnesty period for citizens to turn in unregistered weapons as part of a gun control drive.
Top police officials accompanied the populist president Aleksandar Vucic to see the array of weapons positioned close to the town of Smederevo, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the capital, where his government has come under pressure from the public following the separate shootings at a school in Belgrade and in two villages.
Officials reported that since the amnesty began on May 8, residents have turned up around 13,500 items.
Photos taken at the scene revealed hand grenades and wooden boxes filled with rifles, automatic weapons, and handguns lined up neatly on the floor in a warehouse.
Tens of thousands of weapons from the Balkan warfronts in the 1990s have been transported to Serbia. Previous attempts at similar weapons amnesties met with only patchy success.
According to Vucic, almost half of the firearms seized since last week were kept unlawfully, while the other half were legally owned weapons that people nevertheless chose to surrender. According to the president, the returned weapons would be sent to Serbian ammunition and weapon companies for potential use by the military forces of the nation.
After the amnesty period expires, anyone who are caught possessing illegal firearms may be sentenced to up to 15 years in jail, according to the authorities.
In the aftermath of the amnesty, “the state will respond with repressive measures and punishments will be very strict,” Vucic added. “For what purpose would someone require an automatic weapon? Or all these firearms?
Serbia is thought to have one of the highest registered weapon populations in Europe, and many more are believed to be illegally carried.
The gun crackdown was instituted by the authorities after a 13-year-old boy on May 3 used his father’s gun to shoot other kids in an elementary school in the heart of Belgrade. A day later, a 20-year-old guy shot indiscriminately in a rural area south of Belgrade with an automatic weapon.
Vucic also pledged greater regulation of gun owners and shooting ranges as anti-gun measures. Gun owners must have a coded safe in which to store their registered firearms, according to police officials, and any guns not stored correctly will be seized.
According to anti-crime department official Bojana Otovic Pjanovic on Serbian state TV network RTS, authorities intend to request inspections of registered addresses “to check whether there exist conditions for safekeeping.” If not, the weapons will be taken away, and severe sanctions will be imposed.
According to the police, after some previous collection initiatives, people disposed of their guns in trash cans or left them unsecured rather than taking them to police stations.
According to experts, tens of thousands of illicit firearms have continued to exist but have eluded detection by law enforcement.
In response to recent shootings, police officer Otovic Pjanovic insisted that “citizens became aware of the risks of keeping guns at home.”
The two mass shootings, which left 17 people dead and 21 injured, shocked the country and led to calls for change in a nation that has experienced decades of upheaval and disasters.
Since the shootings, tens of thousands of people have gathered in Belgrade for two protest marches, calling for the resignation of government ministers and a ban on television networks that support violent content and feature war criminals and criminal characters.
On Sunday, Vucic rejected calls from the opposition for Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic to quit. Gasic was also present at the weapons show on Sunday. But during a rally he has scheduled for May 26 in Belgrade, the president said that the administration might dissolve and that he will declare an early election.
“We have no intention of replacing (interior minister) Gasic, who is doing a great job,” declared Vucic. “What have the police done wrong?”
Government officials have been charged by opposition politicians with inciting violence and hate speech against opponents, propagandizing in the media, and establishing autocratic authority in all institutions under Vucic, which they claim causes societal splits.
To further their demands, protestors in Belgrade on Friday shut down a crucial bridge and highway in the city. As a result of the shootings and the populist government, protests have also been conducted in other Serbian cities and towns.
In an effort to minimize the number of demonstrators, Vucic, along with other officials and media outlets that were under his control, portrayed the bridge blockade as harassment.
