There are 6 million guns in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo, according to an earlier international study, which also shows that 90 per cent of these are in the possession of ordinary people.

Serbia: 40 firearms per 100 people

Nine times as many pistols and rifles are owned by civilians in the Balkan countries as by the military and the police combined, writes a recent article by B92, referring to a study in 2018. According to a survey on the website of the Security Policy Center in Belgrade, the number of households in the region with firearms can be estimated at between half and one and a half million. Relatively speaking, Serbia and Montenegro have the most lightweight handguns, 40 per 100 people. Estimates claim that Serbs alone possess one and a half million weapons illegally, while 1.1 million are officially declared.

Photo: Screenshot Security Policy Center

The situation has not changed since then. According to an article by the Serbian 021.rs news portal, in 2021 there were 39 guns per 100 people in both Serbia and Montenegro, which is consistent with the 2018 data.

In the view of psychologist Zarko Trebjesanin, this stems from the tradition and belligerent history of the region In the Balkans, just as there is a picture or an icon in every house, so, too can firearms be found almost everywhere, the expert said.

The website of the Security Policy Center points out that the problem of illegal possession and smuggling of firearms intensified during the conflicts of the 1990s, when weapons became easily accessible due to the wars, and it was impossible to control who had them. Due to fear and distrust of institutions, a large number of citizens acquired weapons legally or illegally, for self-defense purposes.

Political and socio-economic crises, as well as threats of war in the last 30 years, have resulted in people clinging to their weapons, saving them for the worst case scenarios, the Center writes. They note that the accumulation of illegal weapons in the hands of civilians clearly represent one of the serious security problems of the region and Europe.

‘Guns’ can go off at any moment

The very fact that someone has a gun involves a risk and it only depends on the circumstances whether that person will use it, Predrag Petrovic, the research director of the Centre said.

Photo: Pixabay

The firearms that have accumulated in the Western Balkans pose a great security risk, as they are used for smuggling, organised crime, acts of violence within the family and murders. The news coverage is always full of horrific crimes involving firearms.

In a recent, bloody incident, a man opened fire in Montenegro‘s Cetinje following a family dispute. He shot at random passers-by and killed ten people, including two minors. He also wounded several others before he was shot dead by his neighbour.

Data suggests that most crimes are committed with unlawfully held weapons, Mr Petrovic recalled. The perpetrator of the bloodshed in Cetinje had a licence for his gun, but it is unknown whether it was still valid, or whether the firearm his neighbour used when he killed him was held legally, or without a licence.

Photo: Pixabay

Some weapons have been with their owners in the Balkans for decades, expert says

„These weapons remained in the territory of the former Yugoslavia partly after the wars of the 90s, and also partly from earlier confrontations or conflicts in the 20th century,” Mr Petrovic explained.

The governments of both Serbia and Montenegro have launched several campaigns to collect unlawfully held guns and rifles, but residents still possess plenty of them. One initiative is encouraging residents to hand in their illegally possessed weapons with no consequences. One of the most successful campaigns was held in Serbia in 2003, when citizens ended up handing over some 50,000 illegal weapons to the authorities.