Montenegro to consider ban on possession of weapons following Cetinje killing spree News
Milica Buha, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Montenegro to consider ban on possession of weapons following Cetinje killing spree

Montenegro will consider a complete ban on the possession of weapons following the killing spree in Cetinje, Prime Minister Milojko Spajić confirmed on Wednesday.

Spajić assured that urgent actions will be taken and stated that the Ministry of Internal Affairs along with the Police Directorate are doing everything in their power to hold the perpetrator accountable.

On January 1, a gunman carried out a mass shooting in the town of Cetinje. Local news sources reported that 12 people, including two children aged five and nine, lost their lives. The perpetrator of the murders was a middle-aged man named Aco Martinović. The head of the Police Directorate, Lazar Šćepanović, confirmed that Martinović shot himself in the head once surrounded by police officers. The gunman also critically wounded four individuals, who are receiving medical care. The government of Montenegro decided to declare three days of mourning, until January 4, following this tragedy.

Local news sources claimed only nine police officers were present in Centinje at the time when the gunman initiated the killing spree using an illegal firearm. This prompted the National Security Council to plan an extraordinary session on January 3. Prime Minister Milojko Spajić urged the Council to consider all options, including a complete ban on the possession of weapons. The session will consider actions to detect and seize illegal weapons. Moreover, it will recruit new police officers to tackle the limited personnel in security institutions. Finally, the session will consider implementing new legal provisions, including a new Law on Weapons to prevent the presence of guns in the streets.

The tragedy has not come without political discontent. Former President Milo Đukanović claimed that while leaders of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) and the Police Directorate each held press conferences, the killer practically continued his “bloody feast” behind their backs.

This is the second mass shooting that occurred in the town of Centinje in less than two and a half years, as recognized by the president of the Parliament of Montenegro. In August 2022, a shooter killed 10 people in the same town west of Podgorica. Now, government officials will initiate actions on security and control of firearms in an attempt to ensure the safety of citizens, as confirmed by the prime minister.

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