{"id":13500,"date":"2025-01-21T16:28:21","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T21:28:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/?p=13500"},"modified":"2025-01-21T16:28:21","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T21:28:21","slug":"tragedy-urges-change-in-montenegro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2025\/01\/21\/tragedy-urges-change-in-montenegro\/","title":{"rendered":"Tragedy Urges Change in Montenegro"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Abigale Giordano<\/b><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Staff Writer<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<div class=\"ose-gettyimages ose-uid-ae4192f47d180b246f345fb4081294af ose-embedpress-responsive\" style=\"width:723px; height:623px; max-height:623px; max-width:100%; display:inline-block;\" data-embed-type=\"GettyImages\"><a id=\"_E0YHk8dTCVQ8-tvI4BuZg\" class=\"gie-single\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2193666488\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:\"_E0YHk8dTCVQ8-tvI4BuZg\",sig:\"bceTDwHcNwXfilh715nZShq5YB00yug6iMB0eiGP5jY=\",w:\"594px\",h:\"396px\",items:\"2193666488\",caption: false ,tld:\"com\",is360: false })});<\/script><script src=\"\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\" async><\/script><\/div>\n\t\t\t<script>\n\t\t\t\tif (typeof gie === 'function') {\n\t\t\t\t\tgie(function(){\n\t\t\t\t\t\tvar iframe = document.querySelector('.ose-embedpress-responsive iframe');\n\t\t\t\t\t\tif(iframe && !iframe.getAttribute('title')){\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tiframe.setAttribute('title', '')\n\t\t\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\t\t});\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The new year began with calls for action against gun violence in Montenegro, a small Balkan country on the Adriatic Sea, after a gunman opened fire in a bar, killing 12 on impact and another who succumbed to injuries in the days following the shooting. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/01\/01\/world\/montenegro-shooting-new-years-day-intl\/index.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cable News Network<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> reports that the gunman, later identified as 45-year-old Aleksander Aco Martinovic, died of self-inflicted injuries after being cornered by police. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/International\/wireStory\/montenegro-tackle-gun-control-after-mass-killing-left-117301496\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">ABC News<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> reports that Martinovic carried out the massacre with an illegal 9 mm gun. Police said they found 37 casings at the shooting location and over 80 additional pieces of ammunition in the gunman\u2019s possession. Martinovic had been convicted of violent behavior and illegal weapons possession in the past and had received psychiatric treatment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Two of the victims were children, and another was the gunman\u2019s sister. Montenegro\u2019s national police director, Lazar Scepanovic, highlights that many of the victims had close links to the gunman, claiming \u201cAll the victims were his godfathers, friends\u2026the motive is still unknown,\u201d according to CNN. The attack is one of the small nation\u2019s worst mass killings, and the second shooting in less than three years in the same small town, Cetinje. In August 2022, a man shot and killed 10 people before being gunned down, according to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/2025\/01\/02\/montenegro-shooting-new-years-gun-ban\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Washington Post<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. The Washington Post emphasizes the nation\u2019s shock at the tragedy, sharing President Jakov Milatovic\u2019s post on X, formerly Twitter, that evening: \u201cInstead of holiday joy\u2026we have been gripped by sadness over the loss of innocent lives.\u201d The state entered a three-day mourning period following the events. Hundreds lit candles in silence on January 2 in memory of the victims.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/montenegro-shooting-victims-death-5a3f39bc515bfd35cb55116a7d831c70\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Associated Press<\/span><\/a><a href=\"blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Associated PressThe Associated Press<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> reports the calls for change due to concerns about the level of violence in Montenegrin Society, which is politically divided. The Montenegrin government has pledged to adopt measures to curb the widespread illegal possession of weapons. Thousands of Montenegrins are demanding the resignations of top security officials over the tragic events, accusing the authorities of failing to boost security amidst the two shootings in Cetinje.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The small nation has a strong gun culture. Small Arms Survey, a Geneva-based project, found that Montenegro has the third highest civilian firearms per 100 citizens at 31.9; tied with Serbia and only less than Yemen and the United States. The survey estimated there are about 245,000 firearms in use in the nation of just over 620,000 people. 2022 police data indicates only 100,000 of those firearms are legal. There are an estimated 40,000 to 80,000 illegal firearms in Montenegro. The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/my-europe\/2025\/01\/04\/montenegrin-officials-discuss-curbs-to-illegal-guns-after-12-killed-in-mass-shooting\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">European News Network<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> reports that Montenegrin broadcaster RTCG reported that Montenegro is sixth in the world when it comes to the number of illegal weapons per capita.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Euronews reports the questions raised by civilians about the readiness of state institutions to tackle the problem of gun ownership, as well as the concerns raised about the level of violence in the politically divided Montenegrin society. An emergency session of Montenegro\u2019s National Security Council was called to establish new gun laws and urgent actions to confiscate an abundance of illegal weapons throughout the state. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rferl.org\/a\/montenegro-new-gun-control-measures-cetinje-shooting-response\/33263200.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Radio Free Europe<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> reports that the government has announced many new gun control measures. Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajic announced the proposed new Law on Weapons on January 3, following the seven-hour Security Council session, which was chaired by President Milatovic. Radio Free Europe details that \u201cThe proposed law will mandate the re-verification of existing weapons licenses and impose severe penalties for those who fail to surrender illegal weapons within a two-month period.\u201d Hunting clubs also must be \u201cverified by the government and authorities will establish an anonymous tip line where citizens can report illegal weapons possession for a reward.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Image courtesy of <em>Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The new year began with calls for action against gun violence in Montenegro, a small Balkan country on the Adriatic Sea, after a gunman opened fire in a bar, killing 12 on impact and another who succumbed to injuries in the days following the shooting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5738,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[382],"tags":[2847,2850],"class_list":["post-13500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international-news","tag-2025-winter-edition","tag-montenegro"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - 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