Montenegrin authorities have announced measures to curb illegal guns following the rampage by a gunman who killed 12 people this week - the country's second mass shooting in less than three years.
A 45-year-old man opened fire in a restaurant in the town of Cetinje on Wednesday, setting off a series of killings that prompted the government to declare three days of national mourning.
"The presence of weapons is excessive and horrific and cannot be justified by tradition," Prime Minister Miloiko Spaic said at a news conference after a meeting of the country's National Security Council.
The Cetinje attacker, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, had a history of illegal weapons, some of which were seized from him in 2022.
According to the Swiss Small Arms Survey (SAS) research programme, there are approximately 245,000 firearms in circulation in Montenegro, a country with a population of just over 620,000.
Spaic said new searches for illegal weapons would be carried out, giving people in possession a two-month period to hand them over without being subjected to legal consequences.
"After that, a new law will come into force under which possession, especially carrying illegal weapons, will be severely punished," Spaic said, warning that "there will be no mercy."
The government will also review all permits issued for legally owned firearms.
"We will pass a new law, and those who have permits will have to go through new, more stringent security and health checks by January 2026," Spaic said.
His statements came as dozens of people gathered outside the government building in the capital Podgorica to demand accountability for the killings.
Protesters left 12 flowers on the security fence in front of the building in memory of the 12 victims.
Three other victims wounded in the Baic attack remain in hospital, one of them in critical condition, the Clinical Centre of Montenegro said on Friday.
"The tragedy in Cetinje is a heavy burden for our small country," Spaic said. | BGNES
