Mass shootings horrify the Balkans. But illegal guns still thrive

Illegally owned firearms that were handed over by Montenegrin citizens at early days of action called "Respect the life, return your weapons" are destroyed in Niksic, Montenegro, May 27, 2003. REUTERS/Stevo Vasiljevic/File Photo

CETINJE, Montenegro (Reuters) - Vesna Pejovic vowed to reduce gun violence in Montenegro after her daughter and two grandsons were killed in a mass shooting in the town of Cetinje in 2022. Then came news on Jan. 1 that drained what optimism she had left.

A brawl in a tavern had triggered another rampage across the country's picturesque old capital in which a gunman killed 13 people with an illegal firearm then shot himself.