Serbia has been devastated by a school shooting. Here's what we know thus far.
May 3, 2023Tweet
A 13-year-old boy opened fire on his classmates at a school in the Serbian capital Belgrade on Wednesday, killing at least eight children and a security guard. The suspect had two guns in his possession, a 9mm pistol, a small calibre pistol, as well as four Molotov cocktails. The alleged shooter was filmed being taken from the school in handcuffs with a jacket over his head and wearing blue, skinny jeans. The suspect's parents were arrested on Wednesday and the father had previously gone to a shooting range with his son. As news broke, a crowd of anxious parents gathered outside the school.
The most important details in this text are that Serbia has more than 2,700,000 guns in private ownership, and only 44% of those guns are officially registered. This means there are 39 guns for every 100 Serbians, and 1.5 million guns that people in Serbia own are unregistered. This is the highest level of civilian gun ownership in Europe and the fifth-highest in the world, and shootings of this kind are comparatively rare due in large part to the country’s strict gun laws and amnesties for owners who hand in or register illegal firearms. This is due to the country’s strict gun laws and amnesties for owners who hand in or register illegal firearms.