The picturesque town of Centinje in Montenegro started 2025 with a familiar disaster - a mass shooting. The news drained what optimism local Vesna Pejovic had in her goal to reduce gun violence. Pejovic's fight has proved challenging as Montenegro, like its Western Balkan counterparts, has a deep history of gun culture and surplus of weapons from years of conflicts. - REUTERS
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00:00The picturesque town of Cetinje in Montenegro had a bloodied start to 2025.
00:07On January 1, a gunman killed 13 people with an illegal firearm, then shot himself.
00:16The crime shook Vesna Petrovic.
00:20She lost her daughter and two grandsons in a mass shooting in 2022.
00:26This was another blow in her battle to reduce gun violence in the country.
00:30Acquiring a firearm here is akin to buying bread in a shop.
00:38The incidents highlight the challenges of eradicating violence in a region where the
00:42culture of weapons runs deep.
00:45Petrovic has lobbied politicians to bring in stricter gun controls in the small Balkan
00:50nation.
00:51And after this year's shooting, Montenegro's prime minister, Miliko Spajic, announced
00:56just that.
00:57But past measures across the region have had limited impact.
01:02While gun-related deaths have remained relatively steady, annual gun-related incidents in the
01:07Western Balkans rose more than 70 percent between 2019 and 2024, according to CSAC,
01:14a UN and EU-backed regional gun control initiative.
01:19Montenegro ranks third globally in gun ownership per capita, data from the Small Arms Survey
01:24shows.
01:25The country's attitude to weapons stems from centuries of wars with Turks, Venetians
01:31and Austrians.
01:36It appears there is a certain, let's say, tradition in Montenegro, that there is no
01:40house in Montenegro that doesn't have a weapon.
01:46Vukita Vukitic is a local historian.
01:49In 1910, the king mandated that all male citizens buy a gasser-patterned gun to bolster his
01:55small army and deter invaders.
01:58Yes, it's true that it has a very long genesis.
02:05It has deep roots in Montenegrin tradition.
02:08And therefore a pistol, or precisely a revolver, was seen as an integral component of the Montenegrin
02:14national attire.
02:19Then the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s triggered a series of bloody ethnic conflicts
02:25that left six million surplus firearms in the region.
02:30Today, antique guns can be seen across Cetinje.
02:35Like this church fence, made of ancient musket barrels, their cultural significance means
02:41arms controls are unpopular.
02:44When the prime minister announced his stricter gun control measures in January, he gave the
02:49owners of illegal weapons two months to freely hand them over.
02:54Three weeks later, 1,535 weapons had been surrendered.
03:00Experts laud the efforts, but it's thought up to 100,000 illegal weapons are still circulating
03:06in Montenegro, says a source at the Independent Police Union.
03:10The country already has a years-old gun amnesty program, but it has done little to stop access
03:16to the illegal market.
03:19And psychologist Radoje Serevic is skeptical of more recent attempts to control the problem.
03:29The declaration of stringent measures will likely only lead to an even greater concealment
03:34of hidden weapons and a greater push of a large amount of these weapons into illegality.
03:41Some implemented changes may help.
03:44In November, Western Balkans countries agreed to harmonize gun laws with the EU and clamp
03:50down on illicit weapons.
03:53But three experts told Reuters that even when governments pass stricter laws, many cash-strapped
03:58countries don't have the resources or sometimes the will to enforce the legislation.
04:04And in part, they say that's because the weapons trade is run by powerful criminal gangs.
04:12As for Petrovic, her campaigning helped introduce Marko and Masin's law after her dead grandsons.
04:18It never passed, but last month, a draft of tougher legislation was proposed.
04:23Her fight continues.