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.
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