Mass shootings horrify the Balkans, but illegal guns still thrive

CETINJE, Montenegro –

Vesna Pejovic vowed to reduce gun violence in Montenegro after her daughter and two grandsons were killed in a mass shooting in the town of Cetinje in 2022. Then came news on Jan. 1 that drained what optimism she had left.

A brawl in a tavern had triggered another rampage across the country’s picturesque old capital in which a gunman killed 13 people with an illegal firearm then shot himself.

“We had to relive all our horrors all over again,” said Pejovic, 63, who for three years has lobbied politicians to enact stricter gun controls in the small Balkan country.