Prime Minister Milojko Spajić said that holders of registered guns will undergo new security and psychological checks while ‘draconian’ punishment is planned for those who hold weapons illegally.
ADVERTISEMENTA memorial service has been held in Montenegro for the 12 victims of a mass shooting that happened on New Year’s Day.
The ceremony in the central town of Cetinje was attended by family members of the victims as well as political and church leaders.
« Every word we say today seems weak, powerless to mitigate the suffering of those who lost their loved ones, » Nikola Đurašković, the mayor of Cetinje, said at the commemoration.
« There are no words to explain this senseless tragedy…At this moment, the only thing we can do is to express our deepest condolences to the families of the killed, to extend our hand in support and to convince them that they are not alone in their pain. Because this is not just a loss for the families, this is a loss for all of us. »
There has been shock and dismay across Montenegro since the shooting in Cetinje on Wednesday.
The victims included seven men, three women and two children, born in 2011 and 2016.
Police said the gunman, identified as Aco Martinović, eventually shot himself in the head and died shortly after.
At least four others were wounded, officials said.
In a separate massacre in the same town in August 2022, an attacker killed 10 people, including two children, before he was shot and killed by a passerby.
A top-level meeting in the capital Podgorica on Friday promised tough measures to curb illegal weapons after the second such tragedy in less than three years in the small Balkan country.
An emergency session of Montenegro’s National Security Council announced a new, strict gun law and urgent actions to confiscate what are believed to be abundant illegal weapons in possession of Montenegro’s 620,000 citizens.
Prime Minister Milojko Spajić said that holders of registered guns will undergo new security and psychological checks while « draconian » punishment is planned for those who hold weapons illegally.
Spajić specified that authorities would give people a period of two months to surrender illegal weapons without facing any consequences.
After that, he said, « the law will be explicit and even minimal sentences handed by judges will be drastic. »
State television broadcaster RTCG reported on Friday that Montenegro is sixth in the world when it comes to the number of illegal weapons per capita.
