Serbians surrender firearms as president threatens ‘repressive measures’
Serbia President Aleksandar Vučić this week threatened “repressive measures” against citizens who do not comply with the national disarmament.
Vučić vowed this month to “almost completely disarm” the Serbian population after two back-to-back mass shootings on May 3rd and 4th claimed 17 lives, nine of them at a school in Belgrade.
Mass shootings are rare in Serbia, which boasts the third-highest level of civilian gun ownership in the world, according to some estimates. With around 39 guns per 100 residents, Serbia also has the highest rate of civilian firearms in Europe.
Serbia’s last mass shooting occurred in 2013 when a war veteran killed 13 people in a house-to-house rampage.
“We will do an almost complete disarming of Serbia,” Vučić promised following this month’s shootings. Serbian citizens have been given a month of “amnesty” to surrender their firearms to the government.
“After June 8th, the state will respond with repressive measures and punishments will be very strict,” the Serbian Progressive Party leader said. “What does anyone need an automatic weapon for? Or all these guns?”
Over 13,500 weapons have already been turned in to government authorities. The firearms will be used to further arm the country’s military.
“Some people say it’s not the gun that shoots the bullet but a man,” Vučić added. “But if that man doesn’t have a gun, the evil in his head can’t do any harm.”
Other locales which use similar arguments include California, a state with strict anti-gun measures and the most mass shootings in the United States.
Serbia is not the only Western government disarming its citizens, but it is currently the only one doing so forcefully.
Last month, New York residents surrendered 3,000 firearms to the state in exchange for gift cards.
The submissions, part of a program coordinated by New York Attorney General Letitia James, took place in one day at nine different “buyback” locations throughout New York, including two in New York City.
Residents were offered a range of gift cards in exchange for their guns. Surrendering a non-working replica, antique or 3D-printed gun was rewarded with a $25 gift card. Rifles and shotguns received $75 gift cards, and handguns, assault rifles, and “ghost guns” — guns which cannot be traced back to its owner — received $500 gift cards, with an extra $150 awarded for each additional gun surrendered.
Authorities asked no questions about how the firearms were obtained or information about those surrendering the guns.
In a statement, Attorney General Letitia James said the state’s acquisition of the firearms is for New Yorkers’ own protection.
