More than a third of the weapons confiscated during 2023 were in illegal possession, and the Prime Minister Milojko Spajic announced last night increased controls and draconian penalties for people who still possess it, if they don't voluntarily surrender it within the next two months.
According to the data of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) stated in the regular annual report, the police seized 2023 firearms from citizens in 403, of which 139 were in illegal possession.
Spajić announced the revision of licenses for the possession of weapons, the improvement of control of persons with mental illnesses who the police register for criminal offenses of carrying weapons and violent behavior, actions "from tomorrow" to suppress illegal weapons, the abolition of private shooting sports organizations, the rapid recruitment of new police and eventually retired staff, as well as NATO's help in implementing some of these measures.
"If people who own illegal weapons return them within that period, there will be no legal consequences. However, those who do not pay back will be draconianly punished. After that deadline, the new law will enter into force, where possession, and especially carrying, will be the most draconian punishment," said Spajić at a press conference after the session of the National Security Council.
He said that "there will be no mercy" for these people.
"They will end up in prison and we are not sure that, with draconian norms, it will become the norm to carry illegal weapons. I can't justify it. The law will be explicit and judges will have minimum sentences that are drastic. Hunting societies will undergo checks. They will have to renew all permits with the strictest criteria. Sports-shooting organizations, of which there are too many, are often used to recruit members of organized criminal groups, to radicalize people, to give them places where they arrange the acquisition of illegal weapons - we are not crazy to do that.
He added that, in his opinion, private shooting sports clubs should be abolished, and that all such clubs should be under state control.
After the tragedy in Cetinje, in which twelve people died and four were wounded, Spajić said last night that "we have concluded that we will adopt a new law on weapons" and that everyone who has weapons in legal possession will undergo "the biggest checks that Europe has ".
"People who have permits will have until January 1, 2026 to pass new checks, much more rigorous. Those who do not pass will have to return the weapon or it will be counted as illegal. We will be the most uncompromising so that people who want to have weapons pass the biggest checks that Europe has".
from Cetinje Aco Martinović On January 1, he killed twelve fellow citizens, seriously wounding four, only to succumb to his injuries after trying to kill himself...
The Minister of Justice is also of the opinion that it is necessary to additionally tighten the criminal policy regarding the possession and carrying of weapons Bojan Božović. In addition, Božović told "Vijesti" two days ago that it is necessary to analyze "all the shortcomings of the system in terms of providing adequate psychological and psychiatric help in competent institutions".
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Spajić said that no one previously remembered to connect the database of people with mental disorders, the so-called code F, with the information of the MUP.
"NATO countries are ready to help us. They have a problem with people who have been in wars and have so-called PTSD".
LAW STRENGTHENED AFTER BORILOVIĆ WAS DEATH
Similar announcements followed two and a half years ago, when, also in Cetinje, Vuk Borilović killed 10 neighbors, including two boys, with a legal hunting weapon, and injured six more people.
Meanwhile, in December of last year, the Amendments to the Criminal Code (CC) were adopted. Then Article 403 was amended in such a way that the actions of keeping and carrying firearms, their parts, ammunition and explosive substances are separated.
At the same time, according to the new Criminal Code, the punishment for possession of weapons is now threatened from three months to three years, in contrast to the previous solution, in which the basic form was a prison sentence of three months.
The new Criminal Code stipulates a prison sentence of one to five years for illegal carrying of a weapon, and more serious forms of that criminal offense are also prescribed.
From the European Commission, in the Report for Montenegro published at the beginning of November last year, they noted a significant amount of illegal weapons in circulation. As written in that document, during 2023, 261 criminal offenses of illegal possession of weapons and explosive materials were recorded in Montenegro, with a total of 724 confiscated weapons.
"This shows a significant amount of illegal weapons in circulation, and the number of seized weapons remained relatively stable compared to the previous year," the report says, adding that the Montenegrin law on weapons needs to be further harmonized with the legal regulations of the European Union.
UP TO 80.000 MORE ILLEGAL "PIPES"
According to the data of the MUP, which was published by Portal Analitika at the end of last year, in Montenegro, 105.826 active category B weapons are registered in the records of weapons with issued documents, in the possession of 69.593 owners. Of these, 69.230 are individuals and 363 are legal entities.
Rough police estimates are that citizens still have 40.000 to 80.000 illegal weapons.
Acting Director of the Police Administration Lazar Scepanovic he said a few days ago that in the course of last year UP officers confiscated more than 1.100 firearms from citizens and that this was three times more than the year before.
"During the whole of last year, we carried out a series of operational preventive, repressive activities with a primary focus on finding weapons in illegal possession, all with the aim of creating a favorable security environment for citizens. On that occasion, in the activities of the Police Administration, with all regional security centers, more than 1.100 firearms were confiscated, three times more than in previous years."
Šćepanović said at the time that they were continuously implementing the "Respect life, return the weapons" campaign.
The action "Respect life, return weapons" has been implemented since 2015, since the entry into force of the Law on Weapons. The action envisages that citizens, without any legal consequences, can freely and voluntarily hand over their firearms to the police, regardless of whether they own the weapon illegally or legally and regardless of which category it belongs to.
According to UP data from June last year, since the entry into force of the Law on Weapons, citizens have voluntarily returned 2.929 firearms...
The suggestions of NGOs should have been listened to
Spajić did not answer the question of "Vijesti" why the Law on Weapons was not adopted 14 months after the formation of the Government, even according to the proposals of non-governmental organizations. "It was necessary," he said, justifying that there were two ministers of justice, and that the current minister, who was elected in July, has actually only been dealing with laws since September.
He added that all proposals will be incorporated into the law.
The Ministry of Justice is not responsible for proposing the Law on Weapons, but the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The NGO Action for Human Rights and the Center for Women's Rights reminded yesterday that on December 28, 2023, they submitted requests to Spajić, among other things, to establish "community police", to instruct the competent institutions to carry out controls and report on the fact that whether persons who have permission to keep weapons do so in a safe manner (separated from ammunition) and whether access to weapons and ammunition to minors and other unauthorized persons is adequately prevented persons.
Among the demands, they recalled, was the prevention of the legal purchase of weapons without a prior possession permit, and they also requested the declaration of a moratorium on the issuance of permits for the possession and possession of any weapon until the Law on Weapons is amended.
At that time, it was also requested to review all granted permits for the possession of weapons through police checks of persons possessing weapons and through serious, not only formal, psychiatric and other medical and psychological examinations, including testing for psychoactive substances.
"And tightening the conditions for owning hunting weapons, strengthening the control of shooting clubs that issue membership cards and fictitious certificates to citizens just to get a license to carry weapons more easily, introducing a high monthly tax on owning and keeping weapons."
When asked by journalists how to motivate citizens to report individuals who possess illegal weapons and deviant behavior, Spajić replied that there will be a "hotline" where citizens will report anonymously, and receive a reward for it.
"Citizens must understand that it is not unfair to the individual, even if it is from their home. Citizens can report illegal weapons at all police stations. We had some good initiatives from citizens and the NGO sector. New legal solutions will be based on that as well".
About the work of Šaranović and other ministers, at least once a year
Spajić did not give a concrete answer to the repeatedly repeated question of the journalist whether he would from the Minister of Internal Affairs Danilo Saranovic to request his resignation, but hinted that the work of all ministers will be evaluated at least once a year after the Government adopts a new "quantitative and qualitative methodology" for this in mid-January.
"Regarding the reconstruction that I announced - we have a new methodology for the work of ministers, and through that methodology we will consider each minister individually. That methodology will be clear so that we don't make any quick moves now, but based on the data, what each minister has done, to draw a line and see how and how much everyone has done".
Spajić called Saranović's statement after the end of the police operation in Cetinje to return people to normal life "unfortunate".
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