
School Shooting In Bosnia Highlights Gun Violence in Balkans
What can we do as a global community to reduce gun violence?
Updated on June 16, 2023
- On June 14, one month after two mass shootings shocked neighboring Serbia, a 13-year-old shot his former teacher at an elementary school in Bosnia.
- The 38-year-old teacher has been identified as Ismet Osmanovic. He worked at Lukavac Elementary School and was seriously wounded. He is in a stable condition but remains in critical care.
- The identity of the shooter has not been released but police confirmed that he was expelled from the school earlier this year for unruly behavior.
- The Mayor of Lukavac, Edin Delic, posted on Facebook, "There are no children [wounded], so I ask parents to control their panic. The perpetrator is a minor child and he was immediately arrested. A difficult day."
- The legacy of the Balkan Wars has led to a high degree of gun ownership in the region. According to a report by the Small Arms Survey, 31 out of every 100 Bosnian citizens own a gun, many of them illegal.
Updated on May 12, 2023
- Following back-to-back shootings that left seventeen people dead last week, the Interior Ministry has called for citizens to turn in all unregistered weapons between now and June 8.
- Citizens who comply will not face charges, but those who ignore the order will risk prosecution and a prison sentence.
- Police official Jelena Lakicevic said:
"We invite all citizens who possess illegal weapons to respond to this call, to go to the nearest police station and hand in weapons for which they do not have proper documents."
- Serbian Education Minister Branko Ruzic also resigned in the aftermath of the first shooting, at Vladisav Ribnikar elementary school.
- He explained his decision on Twitter:
"At the end of three days of national mourning, as a responsible and educated man, professional in performing all previous public duties, as a parent and citizen of Serbia, I made the only rational and honorable decision in these circumstances."
Updated on May 5, 2023
- The second mass shooting within a week in Serbia has shocked the country and highlights the growing threat of gun violence internationally.
- A man has been arrested after killing eight people and injuring 14 others in an attack 37 miles from Belgrade. The event occurred after midnight when the suspect started shooting indiscriminately with an automatic weapon from a moving vehicle in the villages of Mladenovac and Dubona.
- Serbian media reported that the suspect, a 21-year-old, started firing after an argument with a police officer in a Dubona park.
- After a short search, police found him hiding in his grandfather's house, where they also discovered hand grenades, an automatic rifle, and ammunition. Police have also arrested the suspect's grandfather and uncle.
- In a speech following the tragedy, President Aleksander Vucic said the gunman was wearing a T-shirt with neo-Nazi symbols at the time of the shooting. In light of the two fatal shootings, Vucic said he would take steps toward the "practical disarmament" of the country by banning new gun permits, increasing penalties for illegal gun ownership, and enforcing psychological checks on gun owners.
- He continued, calling the shooting "an attack on us all" and vowed to hire 1,200 new police officers. He said:
"There will be justice. These monsters will never see the light of the day, neither the little monster nor the little older monster."
What's the story?
- Serbia is consumed with grief and disbelief after the arrest of a seventh-grade 13-year-old boy who killed eight children — seven girls and one boy — and a security guard at a school in Belgrade on Wednesday.
- The security guard, Dragan Vlahovic, was killed while trying to intervene and stop the attack. Six children and a teacher were also seriously injured in the attack.
- The student and his father, who had previously taken him to a shooting range and taught him how to shoot, are both in custody. The suspect is too young under Serbia's criminal code to be held criminally responsible but will be placed in a psychiatric facility.
What happened?
- The teen entered the Vladisav Ribnikar elementary school on Wednesday, May 3, and opened fire with pistols he had taken from his father's home. He also came armed with four homemade Molotov cocktails.
- The police have released more information on the shooting, saying that the suspect, identified as Kosta Kecmanović, had planned the attack in advance and had written a list of children he wanted to kill.
- The police also confirmed that the suspect had called their office himself after committing the atrocities, telling them what he had done.
What is the response?
- Serbia has declared a three-day period of national mourning over the tragedy. During this period, broadcasters cannot show comedies or light entertainment, and all radio broadcasts must be played in a melancholic, minor key.
- Serbia's interior minister, Bratislav Gašić, said:
"The father claimed the arms were locked in a safe with a code, but apparently the kid had the code. He took the pistols and three magazines with 15 bullets each."
"Nobody thought this could happen here in this neighborhood, here in Serbia."
- Hundreds of people have shown solidarity with the victims by donating blood and campaigning for others to do the same.
- President Aleksandar Vucic vowed to introduce a raft of new legislation to stem the threat of growing gun violence. He wants to create a moratorium on new gun licenses not intended for hunting and establish enhanced surveillance of shooting ranges.
- Serbian NBA basketball player Luka Doncic said he would pay for the funerals of all the people killed.
What are the stats on gun violence in Serbia?
- The shooting has prompted a larger conversation about Serbia's gun culture. Although it has a low gun violence rate, it has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world due in part to the legacy of the Balkan Wars.
- A 2018 Small Arms Survey study found 39 guns for every 100 Serbians, the highest in Europe and the fifth-highest globally. The survey found that while 1.2 million guns are legally registered, approximately 1.5 million are not.
- For comparison, the U.S. has 120 guns per 100 residents, the highest rate in the world.
What can we do as a global community to reduce gun violence?
—Emma Kansiz
(Photo Credit: Twitter/NEXTA)
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"Željko Brkić, the deputy interior minister in charge of the gun recall program, said... It was not possible for the state to protect every citizen...
To those arguing that guns were required for defense, he said he would urge people to “trust the police,” because it was their job to take care of the population." (quoted from NBC news article)
Yes, that's actually the reasoning given, give up your means of defending yourself, trust us to generally look out for you, but it's impossible for us to keep you safe individually.
If someday Russia were to threaten Bosnia or Serbia, nobody would bat an eye at sending boatloads of "free" modern military weapons over there for indiscriminate distribution.
One of the reasons Ukraine was able to hold off an invading army until Western support arrived was because there were military weapons already readily accessible and enough citizens who knew how to use them.
License requirement, background check, mandatory gun safety course, red flag notifications to law enforcement, ban on assault weapons, no gun purchases until age 21. Common sense approaches to eliminating over 50 % of criminal gun violence.
How is this getting the guns out of the bad guys hands? They are more than likely guns that have been stolen.
At this time, Austalia banned assault weapons after the FIRST mass shooting, and now Serbia is taking action to remove all unregistered weapons, but in the United States, the NRA RULES US! If our Federal Government would pass a law requiring a mental health evaluation and greater requirements and training in use, people can easily own a gun or rifle in accordance to the 2nd Amendment. However, the Second Amendment doesn't include assault weapons that kill many! The united States has now had many deaths due to the use of assault weapons, and still there is no law against their use! I can see Swat or the military using assault weapons, but not the rest of the population. In addition, we need parents to not teach their children to HATE, and to keep their gun or rifle locked up when not in use! When you teach hate for any group of humans, & leave your guns easy to reach that child will use it to kill, because that's what they have been taught! All humans are decendants of the first humans! Skin color means nothing!
we need to be rid of guns. Guns kill people. Please, no BS about how guns don't kill people, people kill people. Baseball players cannot hit a home run without a bat, photographers can't take a photo without a camera, football players cannot score a touchdown without the ball, killers can't do a mass shooting without a gun. It's the gun that is the problem. The sooner we admit the truth, the better off we will be.
Good for Serbia! I'm glad the people spoke, and their leaders listened.
So what's wrong with our country that we can't have the same results? Is it the profit-driven greed of the politicians and the gun companies?
It's the gun industry and people profiting from it. Would it help to close down all gun companies and supply only our military through socialized, publically owned arms manufacturing?
There you go. Once again, the statistics bear up the fact: MORE GUNS MEAN MORE MASS SHOOTINGS. GUNS ARE THE PROBLEM. STOP SUPPORTING THE GUN AND AMMO INDUSTRY. STOP VOTING FOR LEGISLATORS WHO REFUSE TO PASS GUN CONTROL LAWS. JUST STOP.
Treat gun violence as a Public Health issue and ban the assault weapons from the streets, and keep them in the hands of of Service members because they are weapons of war.
Anything they do is more than we will do with our pro life cult that loves guns.
We need to take care of the gun problem in the United States FIRST.
Causes appears to be dumbing down
there have been 200 mass shootings in 97 days here and not much discussion but we are discussing serbia?
causes has no options to communicate with congressional committees / scotus / agencies / administration / cabinet heads
unless they can hear directly from us the whole purpose of this site is diluted
looking for other platforms
We have a sin problem, not a gun problem! If children were taught morals like do not kill or if they read The Ten Commandments in the Holy Bible we would not have this problem.
It's the gun companies, the arms dealers, and all the others who profit from the sales. There will always be a need for firearm technology, but I hope that someday they will not be used in this way.
"A 2018 Small Arms Survey study found 39 guns for every 100 Serbians, the highest in Europe and the fifth-highest globally. The survey found that while 1.2 million guns are legally registered, approximately 1.5 million are not.
For comparison, the U.S. has 120 guns per 100 residents,"
However, I'm sure this was a "tragic rare event", a "mental health issue", "not related to gun regulation at all". America will do what we have done since the 1990's, disregard the statistics and send our thoughts and prayers.
CAUSES ASKS: "What can we do as a global community to reduce gun violence?" ME: Simple: get rid of the guns. At least Serbia's president is on the right track...
Because life is not highly valued, particular individuals have no qualms in taking a life or lives. In the past, nations did not kill their unborn children. Neither were the elderly and ill put to death because they are not considered to be contributing to society. God is to determine the time of birth and the time of death. The United States government says that is permissible to kill an unborn child, but says guns should be taken from law-abiding citizens to protect society. Citizens need to be able to defend themselves and others. Our Founding Fathers were gifted with much wisdom and foresight. States and cities with the strictest gun laws are still plagued by violence. A study will prove that knives and machetes are the second weapon of choice for killing or injuring one's fellow man. A claw hammer comes in third place. If the government removes the aforementioned weapons, individuals will turn to another vice. Man's heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Man's heart is the problem, and government cannot solve problems of the heart. Support the Second Amendment.
When countries, governments, religious sects, video gqames, movies, and television programs quit glorifying gun play and war, then and only then, will we see a decrease in the violence we are experiencing today. Sadly, this will never happen since it brings in the profits for those involved. YES! "The love of money IS the greatest of all evils.". Enough said.
All I can think to do is shut down the NRA. It is owned and promoted by Russia via a Red head American woman living in the Northwest. Shut that down!
Gun violence is world wide but we lead the pack. Other countries work gift change but republicans and the NRA say more guns. Wrong answer