Serbia: Guns, grenades and rocket launchers among 13,500 weapons surrendered after mass shootings

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Authorities in Serbia on Sunday displayed stacks of guns and cartons of hand grenades from the thousands of weapons, including anti-tank rocket launchers, that they said people handed over since back-to-back mass shootings stunned the Balkan nation.

The government declared a one-month amnesty period for citizens to surrender unregistered weapons as part of a crackdown on guns following the two shootings in two days this month that left 17 people dead, many of them children.

Populist President Aleksandar Vucic, whose government has faced public pressure in the wake of the separate shootings at a Belgrade school and in two villages, accompanied top police officials to view the assortment of arms arrayed near the town of Smederevo, some 30 miles south of the capital.

Officials said residents had turned over about 13,500 items since the amnesty opened on May 8.

Authorities have said that people caught with illegal weapons once the amnesty period ends could face prison sentences of up to 15 years if they are convicted.

“After June 8, the state will respond with repressive measures and punishments will be very strict,” Vucic said of the post-amnesty period.

“What does anyone need an automatic weapon for? Or all these guns?”

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