A memorial service was held this Saturday in Montenegro for the 12 victims of a mass shooting on New Year’s Day.
Members of the victims’ families as well as political and religious leaders attended the ceremony which took place in the central town of Cetinje.
“Every word we say today seems weak, powerless to alleviate the suffering of those who have lost their loved ones”said Nikola Đurašković, the mayor of Cetinje, during the commemoration.
Montenegro has been in shock and dismay since the killings last Wednesday.
Among the victims are seven men, three women and two children, born in 2011 and 2016.
Police said the gunman, identified as Aco Martinović, ultimately shot himself in the head and died shortly after.
At least four other people were injured.
During another massacre in the same city in August 2022, an attacker killed 10 people, including two children, before being shot dead by a passerby.
On Friday, during a high-level meeting in the capital Podgorica, tough measures were promised to combat illegal weaponsafter the second tragedy of this type in less than three years in this small Balkan country.
In an emergency session, Montenegro’s National Security Council announced the adoption of a strict new gun law and urgent actions to confiscate what is believed to be an abundance of weapons illegal possessions in the possession of Montenegro’s 620,000 citizens.
Prime Minister Milojko Spajić said holders of registered weapons would be subject to new security and psychological checks, while “draconian” sanctions are planned for those who hold weapons illegally.
Spajić said authorities would give people a two-month period to make their weapons illegal without having to face consequences.
After that, he added, “the law will be explicit and even the minimum sentences handed down by judges will be drastic.”
State television RTCG reported on Friday that Montenegro is the sixth country in the world in terms of the number of illegal weapons per capita.
