Grenades and anti-tank rocket launchers among 13,500 weapons surrendered by Serbians
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Serbians have turned in around 13,500 weapons to the authorities after two mass shootings rocked the country.
Among the weapons which have been turned in are hand grenades, automatic weapons, and anti-tank rocket launchers.
Police declared a one-month amnesty period for Serbs to hand over unregistered weapons or face prison sentences as part of a crackdown on guns following the two mass shootings that left 17 people dead, many of them children.
Populist President Aleksandar Vucic accompanied top police officials on Sunday for the weapons' display near the town of Smederevo, some 30 miles south of the capital, Belgrade.
Mr Vucic said around half of the weapons collected were illegal while the other half were registered weapons that citizens nonetheless handed over. The weapons will now go to Serbia's arms and ammunition factories for potential use by the armed forces.
“After June 8, the state will respond with repressive measures and punishments will be very strict,” he said of the post-amnesty period. “What does anyone need an automatic weapon for? Or all these guns?”
Serbia is estimated to be among the top countries in Europe in guns per capita. Many are left over from the wars of the 1990s and held illegally. Other anti-gun measures are to include stricter controls of gun owners and shooting ranges.
Authorities launched the gun crackdown after a 13-year-old boy on May 3 took his father's gun and opened fire on his fellow-students in an elementary school in central Belgrade. A day later, a 20-year-old used an automatic weapon to shoot randomly in a rural area south of Belgrade.
The two mass shootings left 17 people dead and 21 wounded, shocking the nation and leading to calls for reform in a country that has been through decades of turmoil and crises.
Tens of thousands of people have taken part in two protest marches in Belgrade since the shootings, demanding resignations of government ministers and a ban on television stations that promote violent content and host war criminals and crime figures.
Mr Vucic on Sunday rejected opposition calls for the resignation of Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic, who was also present at Sunday's weapons display. But the president suggested that the government might resign and that he will announce an early election at a rally he has planned for May 26 in Belgrade.
“We have no intention of replacing (interior minister) Gasic, who is doing a great job," said Vucic. “What have police done wrong?”
On Friday, the protesters in Belgrade blocked a key bridge and motorway in the capital to press their demands. Protests also have been held in other Serbian cities and towns, in an outpouring of grief and anger over the shootings and the populist authorities.
Mr Vucic has described the bridge blockade as harassment, while he and other officials and media under his control sought to downplay the numbers of protesters.
