According to research by the Institute for International and Development Studies in Geneva, Montenegro ranks third in the world and first in Europe in terms of the number of weapons owned by its citizens, both legally and illegally.
According to the Institute's global list for 2017, there are 100 weapons per 39,1 inhabitants in Montenegro, on the basis of which Montenegro ranks third, right after the United States of America and Yemen, which has been in conflict since 2014, when the Houthi rebels occupied most of the country.
Serbia is in fourth place with also 39,1 pieces of small arms per 100 people.
"The other Balkan states also have a significant amount of weapons in private ownership," according to the Small Arms Survey.
Among the top 25 countries with the most armed civilians are, in addition to Montenegro and Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina with 31,2 weapons per 100 inhabitants (fifth in Europe and tenth in the world), while the high seventh place on the European scale is held by Macedonia with 29,8 (13th in the world), while Kosovo is in 11th place with 23,9 pieces (18th in the world).
The authors of the research stated that legal and illegal small arms, the number of which they estimated, includes a wide range of weapons, from improvised to factory. In terms of the amount of weapons in civilian ownership, the citizens of the United States of America lead the way, with about 393 million guns in their hands, which is more than the 25 countries with the largest gun ownership combined, and it is stated that the total figure also includes weapons owned by law enforcement agencies.
According to the research, Montenegro with 626 thousand inhabitants has an estimated 245 thousand weapons among civilians. Of these, 103.536 were registered, and 141.464 were unregistered.
In Serbia, with 6.946.000 people in 2017, the estimated number of firearms owned by civilians was 2.719.000, in BiH (3.793.000 inhabitants) 1.185.000 pieces, in Macedonia (2.083.000 inhabitants) 621.000 pieces, and in Kosovo, with a population of 1.831.000, the estimated number of firearms owned by civilians was 436.000. In Croatia, with a population of 4.210.000 people, the number of firearms among civilians was 576, and in Albania (2.911.000 inhabitants) 350.
According to data published by TV Vijesti at the end of last year, more than half of the citizens who were prosecuted for illegal possession of weapons in the last five years ended up with probation instead of prison sentences.
And since the start of the "Respect life, return weapons" campaign, since mid-2015, citizens have returned around 1.500 weapons, but recent crackdowns by criminal clans and police actions during which a large number of weapons were confiscated are an indication that citizens still there is a large amount of illegal weapons.
According to the Criminal Code, the penalty for illegal possession of weapons and explosive substances is from three months to eight years in prison. In 2003, Montenegro organized an action to return illegal weapons without sanctions, and at that time almost 1,8 thousand pieces were returned.
Among the top 25: Canadians, Finns, French, Germans...
Among the top 25 countries with the most armed citizens are Canada, Uruguay, Cyprus, Finland, Lebanon, Iceland, Austria, Norway, Malta, Switzerland, New Zealand, Sweden, Pakistan, Portugal, France, Germany, Iraq and Luxembourg.
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