BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) – Serbian authorities on Sunday displayed many of the approximately 13,500 weapons they say have been handed over to people since this month’s mass shootings, including hand grenades, automatic weapons and anti-tank rocket launchers.
Authorities have imposed a one-month amnesty on citizens who hand in unregistered guns or face jail time. This is part of the crackdown on guns following the two mass shootings that killed 17 people, including many children.
Populist President Aleksandar Vucic accompanied senior police officials to a gun demonstration near the town of Smederevo, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the capital Belgrade, on Sunday.
Vucic said about half of the guns collected were illegal, while the other half were registered guns that citizens turned in anyway. He added that the weapons would go to Serbia’s arms and munitions factories, where they could potentially be used by the armed forces.
“After June 8, the state will respond with repressive measures and the penalties will be very severe,” he said of the post-amnesty period. “What does anyone need an automatic weapon for? Or all those guns?”
According to estimates, Serbia is among the countries with the highest weapons rate per capita in Europe. Many are remnants of the wars of the 1990s and are being held illegally.
Other anti-gun measures include stricter controls on gun owners and shooting ranges.
Authorities began the shooting after a 13-year-old boy took his father’s gun and opened fire on his classmates at a primary school in central Belgrade on May 3. A day later, a 20-year-old man shot indiscriminately with an automatic weapon in a rural area south of Belgrade.
The two mass shootings killed 17 people and injured 21. That sent the nation into turmoil and sparked calls for change in the country, which has been experiencing turmoil and crisis for decades.
Tens of thousands of people have gathered for two protest marches in Belgrade since the shootings, demanding the resignation of government ministers and a ban on television channels that promote violent content and harbor war criminals and criminals.
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Vucic on Sunday rejected opposition calls for the resignation of Interior Minister Bratislava Gasic, who was also present at the gun demonstration on Sunday. However, the President hinted that the government could resign and he would announce snap elections at a rally scheduled for May 26 in Belgrade.
“We have no intention of replacing (Home Secretary) Gasic who is doing a great job,” Vucic said. “What did the police do wrong?”
Opposition politicians have accused Vucic’s populist authorities of inciting violence and hate speech against critics, spreading propaganda in the mainstream media and imposing autocratic rule in all institutions, which they say fuels divisions in society.
On Friday, protesters in Belgrade blocked a key bridge and highway in the capital to push through their demands. Protests also erupted in other Serbian cities, expressing sadness and anger at the shootings and the populist authorities.
Vucic called the bridge blockade a nuisance, while he and other officials and media under his control attempted to downplay the number of protesters.